African Americans for Justice in the Middle East & North Africa is an initiative that has been created in order to build solidarity, in a true Pan-African and Black Internationalist tradition, with the peoples and progressive social movements in North Africa and the Middle East that have been engaged in struggles for democracy, justice and national liberation.  We come together from different organizations, institutions and movements, and some as simply individuals of conscience, who have concluded that silence in the face of injustice and oppression is unacceptable.  We believe that African Americans in the United States of America have a special role in speaking out against enemies of peace, justice and democracy, both foreign and domestic.

So states the preface of a statement by fifty-five black activists and scholars.  They say the time has arrived for an African American voice on US policy towards the regions of North Africa and the Middle East.  They call themselves a “process rather than an organization,” and one of their action points is:

Promoting a clear demand for justice for the Palestinian people as central to peace and stability in the Middle East.  In doing so we join together with non-African Americans, people of different faiths, including but not limited to Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animists and others, who are committed to justice for the Palestinian people.  We believe that there is a special significance to working with progressive Jews in the USA and Israel who share our abhorrence to the system of oppression experienced by the Palestinian people.

Read the full statement | For more information about African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa, email aajmena@gmail.com.

Here Palestinians Sally and MaryAn and wall team leader Lisa Jeffreys greet youth gathering participants in Palestine.

Youth at the ELCA Youth Gathering were guided through a section called The Wall, with exhibits from places in the world where there are actual or metaphorical walls between people. There were examples of how God is helping to tear down the walls between people. The Palestinian exhibit had 12-foot walls, information, maps, history and videos about the situation.  Many were detained in a prison for a short-time due to lack of proper permits and many added graffiti to the walls in paint.

Palestine youth team member Jenna Dwierzma prepares to write a letter to her member of congress to protest Palestinian home demolitions by Israelis, as a recent Action Alert from the ELCA Washington office requested.

All of the youth exited through a section called “Making us Whole,” a chance to act, reflect and pray about what they had seen.  An advocacy station allowed people to write letters to their members of congress. Here Jenna Dwierzma prepares to write a letter about ending Palestinian home demolitions by Israelis, as a recent action alert from the ELCA Washington office requested.

http://youtu.be/QH_7xn7IZY4

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson toured The Wall section of the ELCA Youth Gathering, and responded about the Palestine section. See more comments on The Wall section  here.  See more videos and images of the Gathering here.

httpv://youtu.be/m4oCyZjMZOw

If you’ve ever been to Jerusalem and wanted to worship in English, you may have been welcomed in the English-speaking congregation of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.  The main Lutheran Church of the Redeemer is an Arabic Lutheran  congregation, and also hosts a German-speaking congregation as well.  It is one of the 6 churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, a small but vibrant and vocal force for justice and peace in the Holy Land.  It’s Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, is also the president of the Lutheran World Federation.

Each Sunday, this is the worship home for many internationals of all denominations who work for justice and peace in the area, as well as countless pilgrim groups just visiting.  If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know what a gift it is for the community, as this video by Laurin Whitnet-Gottbrath shows. Laurin is a Young Adult in Global Mission in Jerusalem finishing up her mission year.  Learn more about the program here.

The Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb has edited a new book called The Biblical Text in the Context of Occupation: Towards a new hermeneutics of liberation.  A wide variety of scholars write on the importance and meaning of the biblical narrative in the midst of occupation and the need for liberation in the Palestinian context.  Read more about it and find it soon on Amazon.com.

Here is the table of contents:

1. Toward a New Hermeneutics of Liberation : A Palestinian Christian Perspective    Mitri Raheb

2. Engaging the Palestinian Theological-Critical Project of Liberation: A Critical Dialogue   Fernando F. Segovia

3. Palestinian Theology: Between Construction and Identification: A Comparative Analysis of the Theology of Naim Stifan Ateek and Mitri Raheb      Peter Lodberg

4. Toward an Emancipatory Palestinian Theology: Hermeneutical Paradigms and Horizons   Luis N. Rivera-Pagán

5. (Home)Land, Diaspora, Identity, and the Bible in Imperial Geopolitics:   What does the Asia-Pacific Region have to do with Israel-Palestine?    Eleazar S. Fernandez

6. Interpreting the Bible, Interpreting the World:  Anglo-American Christian Zionism and Palestinian Christian Concerns Robert O. Smith

7. The Hermeneutical Predicament: Why We Do Not Read the Bible in the Same Way and Why it Matters for Palestinian Advocacy    Julia M. O’Brien

8. Talmudic Terrorism in Bethlehem   Santiago E. Slabodsky

9. One Text, Many Meanings: Reading a non-Zionist Judaism from the Hebrew Bible   Steven Friedman

10. The Contribution of Hermeneutics to Peace and Reconciliation     J.H. (Hans) de Wit

11. Arab Christian Fundamentalist Reading of the Book of Daniel:  A Critique     Munther Isaac

12. Biblical Hermeneutics in the Kairos Palestine Document     Jamal Khader

13. The Context of the Christians of the Arab World as a Key to Biblical Interpretation according to the Six First Pastoral Letters of the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs      Rafiq Khoury

14. I Am a Presbyterian Christian: Toward a Dialogical Contextual Hermeneutics   Patricia K. Tull

15. What has the Bible to do with us?   Erik Aurelius

16. The Theological and Historical David: Contextual Reading     Samuel Pagán

17. The Ambiguity of Identity and Responsibility toward the Other       Dexter Callender, Jr

18. “Contact Zone”: Exploring Land, Liberation, and Life      Yak-Hwee Tan

19. The Dignity of Resistance in Solidarity:   The Story of Rizpah   Allan Boesak

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) has written a new book called OurShared Witness: A Voice for Justice and Reconciliation.    Bishop Younan is known as a bridge-builder, an ambassador of reconciliation, a prophetic voice and an advocate for justice, peace, and non-violence.

In the world in which he lives – where Palestinians struggle for life and coexistence with their neighbor Israelies – one might imagine that despair and hopelessness dominate. However, in reading Bishop Younan’s writings readers will find unending hope for a future of peace and goodwill, along with an optimistic determination to be part of the solution for this troubled Holy Land.

This collection of writings, speeches, and sermons reveals Bishop Younan’s context, his perspective, and his hope. Readers will find his theology to be contextual—deeply rooted in his daily reality as a Palestinian Christian —while at the same time being universal, offering insights and principles that apply to other situations in vastly different parts of the world.  

Order his book at http://www.lutheranupress.org/Books/Our_Shared_Witness.

Table of Contents

Biographical Sketch
Foreword

Part One: The Life and Work of Lutherans in the Holy Land
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
       Adapting to a Changing Environment while Drawing Strength
       from Deep Christian Roots
Lutheran Interest in the Middle East: A Historical Survey
Fifty Years of Living Witness and Creative Diakonia 
Word for Graduates of ELCJHL Schools
 

Part Two: Messages of Reconciliation for a World of Division

Justice, Reconciliation, and Hope: United for God’s Mission
Reforming Luther: Toward a Prophetic Interfaith Dialogue
        Among Christians, Jews, and Muslims 
Give Us Today Our Daily Bread
What’s Lutheran about Health Care? Insights from Martin Luther
Ecumenism Is Reconciliation in the Middle East and in the World
Jerusalem Today and Tomorrow: Four Visions
What Does the Lord Require of Us? A Vision of Peace through Justice
The Church’s Commitment to Non-Violence
Bring Religion Back to the Front Lines of Peace
The Role of Religion in the Middle East
Why Lutherans Should Recognize Interfaith Harmony Week
A Suggestion for Christian–Muslim Dialogue

Part Three: Sermons about Love for Neighbor and Reconciliation

Fear not! (Luke 2:10)
Living Stones (1 Peter 2:5)
Reformed for Costly Discipleship and Creative Diakonia
With Eyes and Ears on Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9)
Jesus’ Strategy Session for the Early Church (John 14:1-14)
I Am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
One in the Apostles’ Teaching (Acts 2:42)
Living as the Children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)
Welcoming the Stranger (Matthew 25:31-46)
Christ–the Hope of the World (Ephesians 1:15-23)
Planting a Tree for the Future (Genesis 8:11)

httpv://youtu.be/mgbKvBY0CDQ

Maya, an 8th-grader at one of the schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), speaks about her family as she wins the 8th grade English speech contest at the ELCJHL Educational Fair for 2012.  The ELCJHL schools are a great asset to the West Bank, as they emphasize many worthwhile practices such as academic excellence, holistic growth, democratic principles,  interfaith dialogue and women’s rights. In the schools as a whole, about half of the students are Muslim, the other half Christian, and they learn to understand and live with one another as friends.

To see more about the Educational Fair, including photos and more videos, see www.elcjhl.org.

One of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike has been transfered to the hospital, and his request to be released denied.  Read more

At the same time, more prisoners are being arrested.  Here is a blog post from Lauren-Whitney Gottbrath, a Young Adult in Global Ministry who has recently had a good friend arrested.  Below is her blog prayer for him.  UPDATE:  Lauren recently wrote and said that Mousa has been released.  Loren thanks all for their prayers, but says that he has been profoundly affected by this experience.

Salaam Friends and Family,
As I sat down to write my newsletter on Sunday, I couldn’t stop thinking about some terrible news I had received earlier that day; one of my really good friends, Mohamad (better known as Mousa), was arrested by the Israeli Defense Force right outside his home the night before.  At this point no one knows exactly why he was arrested. Unfortunately, that is the sad reality of many prisoners currently within Israeli jails.  Israel uses administrative detention to hold prisoners without charging them or giving them a reason for their arrest.  Mousa is just one of many prisoners who are under this sort of detention.  I have so many things that I could share with you about the last two months, but to be quite honest, it is Mousa’s story that I want to share in hopes that you will feel in some small way the great man that he is and offer your thoughts and prayers for him and his family

Mousa is 22 years old and is from Aida Refugee Camp.  I met him through my work at the Lajee Center within the camp.  Basically he is my boss there.  I work most closely with him since he is the director of the media center of Lajee.  At the age of 22 with no formal training, he is one of the most talented photographers and filmmakers I know.  He is more creative and knows more about the craft than do I, even having graduated from college.  From the time I started working at the Lajee Center in October, I have learned more about filmmaking and photography than I did throughout the last four years.  He also teaches the kids that come to the center about photography, film and radio.  He gives them an outlet to share their story.

Not only is he a fantastic photographer and filmmaker, but he is also one of the most kind-hearted guys I have met.  He is always welcoming me into his home for lunch or calling me to invite me to go with him and others from the center to the Dead Sea or to a bbq.  I will never forget the hospitality that he showed both my parents and friends on their visits.  He arranged for my family to spend the entire day at the camp and have lunch with his family.  He also made sure there was enough room on a bus for all my friends to go to a dance festival…something that most visitors never experience.   Just two weeks ago when I was having terrible tooth pain, he called and texted me time and time again to make sure I was feeling better.  And he would be the first person I would call if I were ever in need of any help.

Over the last few days, I keep thinking about what he must be feeling or thinking about right now, but no part of me can even imagine what he is feeling.  It makes me sad that something like this can happen to such an amazing person.  He certainly doesn’t deserve it.  I am angered that this is the reality in this place I live.  Sadly, many of my friends here could tell you the same exact story of their friends and family members.  It isn’t something I understand no matter how hard I try.

In the Lajee Center there is an exhibit of some of the photographers entitled Hopes and Nightmares.  The photographers took photos, one representing their dream and one representing their nightmare.  Mousa’s still hangs on the wall (he took the photos when he was 16 years-old).  He had dreams of becoming a professional football player, playing on the Palestinian National Team, but his nightmare was being arrested and taken away by the occupation.  I have heard him tell visitors to the center about these photos time and time again and sadly his nightmare has come true.  (follow link to see his photographs, 8th one down on the screen)

I pray that God is watching over Mousa and his family.  I pray that Mousa is feeling the love that his friends are sending from all over the world.  I especially pray that he will be back home and in the center soon.  Mousa is a friend that I quite possibly may never see again due to this occupation; but he is a friend that I certainly will never forget.

I know that this is far from a newsletter, but it is something I needed to share, far more than sharing about my many trips to the Dead Sea.  I promise I will get a “newsletter” out soon enough, but in the meantime, I ask that you too pray for Mousa and his family because right now that is all we can do.

I have dreams of going into the center on a Friday to find Mousa there, sitting in “his” chair (only to give it up to me as he always does) ready to start a day’s work… I have nightmares of never getting to see him again.

Thank you for listening.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath      lwgottbrath@gmail.com

The UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk said he is appalled at the conditions that have led to more than 1500 prisoners taking part in a hunger strike.  Prison authorities have reportedly taken punitive measures against those on hunger strike, including denying them family and lawyer visits, confiscating their personal belongings and placing them in solitary confinement.   

“I am appalled by the continuing human rights violations in Israeli prisons and I urge the Government of Israel to respect its international human rights obligations towards all Palestinian prisoners.  Israel must treat those prisoners on hunger strike in accordance with international standards, including by allowing the detainees visits from their family members,”  Falk said in a statement.

Falk noted that since the 1967 war, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians including 23,000 women and 25,000 children have gone through detention in Israeli jails. This constitutes approximately 20 percent of the total Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory or 40 percent of the total male Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Falk also made mention of the practice of administrative detention, whereby Israel can hold prisoners indefinitely without charge, so prisoner and lawyers have no idea of the charges against them.  Though it has at times been much higher, the number of prisoners on administrative detention today is 300.

“Israel’s wide use of administrative detention flies in the face of international fair trial standards,” Falk said. “Detainees must be able to effectively challenge administrative detention orders, including by ensuring that lawyers have full access to the evidence on which the order was issued,”  Falk said.

Two of the hunger strikers appealed to the Israeli courts to end their administrative detention.  Thaer Halahla and Bilal Diab, suspected by Israel of security offences, and two other men have passed the 60-day mark of the hunger strike. Ten stopped eating about 40 days ago while the others began the protest on April 17, Palestinian officials said.

Read BBC’s article   |  Read Reuters’ article on appeal to the Israeli courts