O
openyoureyespeople!
Guest
Israeli citizens who do learn the truth about the stark suffering and loss of all human rights in Gaza and the West Bank are usually horrified at the conditions. They form groups, they protest, they write, and they march in solidarity with the Palestinian refugees.
One such group is Gush Shalom. They are planning to assemble a Convoy of trucks carrying water filters and other supplies desperately needed in Gaza. Their Convoy will go to one of the Israeli checkpoints along the Gaza border on January 26th, 2008.
There, the assembled people of the Convoy will stand not as Jews or Christians, or Muslims, or anything else that separates one group from another. They will stand together as human beings and ask the Israeli guards for permission to cross into Gaza so that they may deliver the needed goods to the Palestinians waiting on the other side of the fence. When I read about this planned convoy, I sent a donation to help purchase supplies. I sent it to the Eschaton Foundation, Resource Center for Nonviolence, which is accepting donations in the US for the Gush Shalom Convoy. (10)
Yesterday, I received a thank you letter from Eschaton, and in the envelope was a charming little card with pressed flowers on it.
The card read, "Flowers fromPalestine." I touched the delicate flower petals that had somehow endured their journey from Palestine to Eschaton in California, and from there to my home in Florida, still intact. The petals seemed to suggest there might be a simple and enduring way out of this terrible situation in the Holy Land.
Turning the card over, I read the message on the back. "We don't want you to bring the Israelis to their knees, but to bring them to their senses. We believe in restorative justice: to redress the wrongs rather than avenge them, (signed) Zoughbi Zoughbi of Wi'Am, Palestinian Conflict Resolution. Bethlehem - Palestine."
Perhaps having spent the day researching the violence and watching videos of the carnage in Gaza left me emotionally vulnerable, but when I read this, I was overwhelmed. Now came the tears that I had fought back all day long. A flower does indeed have a far better chance of bringing about enduring peace than bullets and artillery fire ever will.
Above is an extract from Sparrowdancer dot org and the kind woman who wrote the above.
One such group is Gush Shalom. They are planning to assemble a Convoy of trucks carrying water filters and other supplies desperately needed in Gaza. Their Convoy will go to one of the Israeli checkpoints along the Gaza border on January 26th, 2008.
There, the assembled people of the Convoy will stand not as Jews or Christians, or Muslims, or anything else that separates one group from another. They will stand together as human beings and ask the Israeli guards for permission to cross into Gaza so that they may deliver the needed goods to the Palestinians waiting on the other side of the fence. When I read about this planned convoy, I sent a donation to help purchase supplies. I sent it to the Eschaton Foundation, Resource Center for Nonviolence, which is accepting donations in the US for the Gush Shalom Convoy. (10)
Yesterday, I received a thank you letter from Eschaton, and in the envelope was a charming little card with pressed flowers on it.
The card read, "Flowers fromPalestine." I touched the delicate flower petals that had somehow endured their journey from Palestine to Eschaton in California, and from there to my home in Florida, still intact. The petals seemed to suggest there might be a simple and enduring way out of this terrible situation in the Holy Land.
Turning the card over, I read the message on the back. "We don't want you to bring the Israelis to their knees, but to bring them to their senses. We believe in restorative justice: to redress the wrongs rather than avenge them, (signed) Zoughbi Zoughbi of Wi'Am, Palestinian Conflict Resolution. Bethlehem - Palestine."
Perhaps having spent the day researching the violence and watching videos of the carnage in Gaza left me emotionally vulnerable, but when I read this, I was overwhelmed. Now came the tears that I had fought back all day long. A flower does indeed have a far better chance of bringing about enduring peace than bullets and artillery fire ever will.
Above is an extract from Sparrowdancer dot org and the kind woman who wrote the above.