A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 37 - Tuesday, September 14th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Important Petition for Palestinian Children Greetings from the Holy Land! As the new school year has started with a deeper cycle of violence and the continuation of these awful checkpoints that simply make each and every day a misery for us, I am sending you some information on making a difference by signing a petition for Palestinian children (http://www.palestinechildren.org). The creator of this petition was born in Bethlehem and his father was a Greek Orthodox priest named Fr. Issa Kanavati. Like many Christian families when one member of the family leaves they invite the sisters, the brothers, the entire extended family to join them in their new location thus over the years the Holy Land has lost much of its Christian population. I am sure you might already know more than 2,000 Christians have left the Bethlehem area since September 2000. The Holy Land without Christians for me is unthinkable because this land was made sacred by Christ our Lord Himself and we need faithful people of God giving glory to God in this precious land that has seen so much bloodshed over the centuries but the current bloodshed and violence can actually be stopped by the United States government if their blind support to Israel can end. We need your help and we need you to care or else we are looking at future of empty churches in the Holy Land. The new Apartheid Wall is a prime example of the Israeli government confiscating more land from the Palestinian people and literally squeezing them out of Palestine. There are no words to describe what it’s like looking up at this 26 foot barrier and knowing that the world allows Israel to get away with anything and everything. Instead of building walls we really need to build bridges and see the humanity on the other side. Israel’s policies are inhumane. The Wall will not stop young people from blowing themselves up. A comprehensive just peace with basic human rights will give these young people a future and a reason to live and prosper. The Wall will bring a new generation of suicide bombers or martyrdom bombings because we are locked up like in prison fostering revenge, hate, anger and frustration at our daily deplorable conditions. Since 1948, more than 100 billion dollars has gone for military aid to Israel, these days we are experiencing death from this military aid on the ground. Weapons and war are not the answer to solving our problems. This is another reason why we must continue our witness for Christ’s love and Christ’s peace especially in this region. We must raise and unite our voices as Christian people. One way to have a stronger voice as a Christian community from the Holy Land will hopefully be with the new Ecumenical centre that the World Council of Churches hopes to open in Jerusalem representing all of the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem in association with the Middle-East Council of Churches. I pray that such a collective venture can play a vital role in promoting understanding and justice in Palestine/Israel. This new office will serve as the coordination point for ecumenical reflection and action for the Holy Land. Such a centre can strengthen the local Church and encourage Christian delegations across the world not to forget about the Holy Land but continue to travel here for study seminars and pilgrimages. Non violent action to stop the occupation is very important and that is why I am asking you to make a difference by signing this petition. Please share with others. I wish you all of God’s blessings and may all of our efforts always be for the glory of God, in Christ, maria khoury You may be interested in signing our petition and/or placing a link to the site. There are instructions on how to do this at the site: http://www.palestinechildren.org.
Maria Khoury
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