2009 Conference of Bishops

JERUSALEM (ELCA) — One man mourns a daughter, the other grieves a father.

Their losses put them on an unlikely path to friendship in an area of the world marked by Palestinian-Israeli strife.

Rami Elhanan, an Israeli, and Mazen Faraj, a Palestinian, shared their stories recently with 45 bishops from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada visiting the Holy Land Jan. 6-13 to support Christians and promote peace.

As the two men spoke, the bloodshed in Gaza continued to escalate, adding to the toll of about 7,000 lives already snuffed out by violence since 2000.

The violence “will not stop until we talk,” said Elhanan, who lives here. His 14-year-old daughter died in Jerusalem in 1997 in an attack by a Palestinian suicide bomber.

Faraj, who lives in a refugee camp in Bethlehem, said an Israeli soldier fatally shot his 62-year-old father in 2002.

The losses drove Elhanan and Faraj to find constructive ways to understand and respond to the carnage. They are members of Parents Circle – Families Forum, an organization of bereaved families promoting peace and reconciliation for all who live in the region.

At least 500 Israeli and Palestinian families are members of Parents Circle. They engage in public speaking, raising awareness and advocating for peace. Members also travel at great personal risk to donate blood for victims on either side of the conflict.

Meetings with young students are eye-opening for the teens, Faraj said. “For the Israeli students in the Israeli high school, it’s the first time in their lives (that) they meet with a Palestinian as a human being,” he said, “because most of the time, they meet with a Palestinian in the media, through the government and through the newspaper.”
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