Kairos Palestine Easter Alert 2016 Email

8/19/2019 Kairos Palestine Easter Alert 2016 Email

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3/62Kairos Palestine Easter Alert2

IntroductionBy Hind Khoury, KP Secretary General

WEEK 1 – THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS ON ME

A call for action is a call for hope!

By His Excellency Patriarch emerit. Michel SabahWEEK 2 – PROCLAIM GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR

The cross of injustice – Easter reflectionsBy His Excellency Bishop Atallah Hanna

Palestine: Destruction, Distortion, Domination and AnnexationBy Dr. Nassar Ibrahim, AIC Beit Sahour

WEEK 3 – TO PROCLAIM FREEDOM FOR THE PRISONERS

No Way to Treat a ChildBy Defense for Children International - Palestine*

WEEK 4 – RECOVERY SIGHT OF THE BLIND

Christian Zionism through Palestinian EyesBy Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac

Staring into the abyss: Effects of 10 yearsof closure on Gaza and its peopleBy Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

WEEK 5 – TO SET THE OPPRESSED FREE IN PALESTINE

The Israeli Settlement EnterpriseBy The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ)

WEEK 6 – TO SET THE OPPRESSED FREE IN ISRAEL

Love liberates us from being Prisoners of HatredBy Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho

The oppression of Palestinian citizens of IsraelBy BADIL

WEEK 7 – PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR!

Ending Israels impunityBy Al Haq Center for Human Rights

A Moment of Truth - Year of SalvationRev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

JOIN THE MOVEMENT!

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4/62Year of Jubilee3

“The spirit of The Lord is on me,because he anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim reedom or the prisoners

and recover the sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”

(Luke 4, 18-19)


5/62Kairos Palestine Easter Alert 4

IntroductionBy Hind Khoury, KP Secretary General

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Easter is the time to turn to Jerusalem where Jesusmaniested his infinite love to all people. Through hisimmeasurable sacrifice he redeemed us rom sin andthrough his human ullness, made us all worthy olie. Through his death and resurrection, He elevatedus to be one with Him, i we so choose.

More than anything else, it is this “new human beingcapable o rising up in the spirit to love each one o his or her brothers and

sisters” (Kairos Palestine -KP- 10) that is direly needed today. This aching HolyLand needs to be healed rom the wounds o violence, the blindness o extremismand the destructive orces o oppression and death. Together we need to beempowered by love and truth so that we can roll away the stones o injustice tobring reedom and dignity to the oppressed and downtrodden.

We, the Palestinian people and the indigenous people o this Holy Land, stillseek salvation rom oppression and occupation afer a century o struggle orlie with dignity. The hope or peace, which we all seek in this part o the world,is not looming on the horizon. Unortunately, Israel is adamant to continueto plague us with colonial settlement expansion, the grabbing o our naturalresources, and the denial o our basic reedoms and God given rights in order torid the land o as many Palestinian Christians and Muslims as possible.

The latest escalation o violence began in October 2015 in the Holy City. Thisis the revolt o a new generation o young Palestinians who object and stand inthe ace o painul discrimination, land expropriations, home demolitions, illegaldetentions, daily oppression and humiliation. This new wave o violence killedover 180 Palestinians and 28 Israelis by the end o February 2016. While wemourn all loss o lie, we condemn Israeli collective punishment o the Palestinianpeople which is bringing more destruction, poverty, devastation and despair tothe our million Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bankand the besieged Gaza. No one is spared, even the youngsters between the ageso 9 and 18 years. Clearly the occupation seems adamant to terrorize and paralyzea whole generation o young Palestinians so that they never lif their heads toobject to their own oppression and humiliation.

Jerusalem continues to be out o reach to Palestinian Muslims and Christians

or pilgrimage and or prayers, except through a hard-to-obtain permit system,made especially rigorous during the last ten years. Upon arriving at the Old Cityo Jerusalem, even with permits, Christians ace road blocks and the closed gates



o the Holy City by Israeli security orces. Armed with the excuse o security,Israeli occupation seems determined to destroy the spirit o Easter, not onlyby imposing conrontations and violence but also by denying us the continuedpractice o our centuries-old Christian traditions so ar preserved in Palestine inspite o millennia o occupations and wars.

We, Palestinian Christians, will not stop seeking the salvation promised to usthrough the crucifixion and resurrection o Jesus Christ in Jerusalem: a salvationrom the five-decades long occupation o our land; a salvation rom the mourningand sadness we eel with every Palestinian killed, held in prison or evicted romhis or her home. As people o aith and conscience, we hold on to the promise olie with dignity.

This Easter we mark the orty-ninth commemoration o the occupation o East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights. The Old Testament callsthe aithul to celebrate the fifieth year as a Jubilee (Lev. 25:11-12), a specialyear, a KAIROS year, a special moment to raise the voice o the righteous, to takethe side o justice and to promote just peace and true reconciliation. This EasterAlert is guided by the scripture o Luke 4:18-19:

“ The spirit o The Lord is upon me,because he has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim reedom or the prisonersand recovery o sight or the blind,to set the oppressed ree,to proclaim the year o the Lord’s avor.”

For this Easter celebration, all the way to Pentecost, we invite our brothersand sisters to share and pray with us over seven weeks, guided by theologicalreflections and proessional reports. Let us all, congregations, seminaries,organizations and individuals, ampliy the voice o justice as called upon in ourKairos Palestine document, and insist on accountability and liberation o both

the oppressed and the oppressor .

In the ollowing literature, H.B. Michel Sabah is calling Israel and the worldor a new human vision which will bring reedom and security to all.Bishop Atallah Hanna reminds us how the Palestinian people are still waitingor their resurrection rom occupation and injustice.

Dr. Nassar Ibrahim rom the Alternative Inormation Center (AIC) in BeitSahour describes the systemic destruction o the Palestinian economy and its

subjugation to Israeli hegemony.



Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) describes the inhumanconditions and flagrant violations o the rights o Palestinian children throughdetentions, investigations and torture.

Reverend Dr. Munther Isaac shed the light on how Christian Zionists are

viewed through the perspective o Palestinian Christians.

Al Mezan for Human Rights, Gaza shares with us the experience o one o thebiggest human catrastrophes: lie in Gaza. Gaza is the isolated little strip o landon the Mediterranean coast, where Palestinians are conronted with devastatingliving conditions, the inability o reconstruction under conditions o siege andthree consecutive wars and the apathy o the International Community.

The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ) describes “Israel’ssettlement enterprise” which may end with a tiny and ragmented Palestinianstate tailored to Israeli colonial interests, ar away rom justice and a lie withdignity or Palestinians.

Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho beautiully presents the power o liberating lovewithout which no peace can be built, no ear can be overcome and no hope canbe ound.

BADIL, which ollows the situation o the reugees, tells us the story o millions ointernally displaced Palestinians and their second class treatment as Palestiniansliving inside Israel. Little is known about the dramatic discriminatory situationPalestinians are living under in the so called “only democracy in the MiddleEast”.

Al-Haq, the Ramallah-based human rights organization, reminds us o theresponsibility o the international community. How many resolutions have beenpassed? How many International Laws have been violated? It is time to hold theoccupying power as well as the International community accountable or whatis happening in Palestine!

Finally, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb introduces us to the claim o Jubliee and itsbackground and interpretation in the Bible. Afer nearly fify years underoccupation, he call upon the Arab, Islamic and Western nations to sieze themoment now beore it is too late.



We hereby provide you, dear brothers and sisters, with different perspectiveso the truth and recall a theology that can lead to liberation, justice, dignityand security or all. We seek the prophetic in each one o us to struggle orwhat we believe is true; we also seek the courage that will expose and rejectalse accusations and reject ongoing patterns o criminalizing the victim andvictimizing the criminal, or launching accusations o terrorism, anti-Semitismand replacement theology to hide injustice and instill ear.

Let us promote truth, lie and joy. Join us in this campaign o love and justice.Let us work incessantly or true peace and reconciliation. Let us partake in theredemption o our shared humanity.

Wishing you all, our dear brothers and sisters, an Easter o renewal and rebirth.

Hind Khoury,Secretary General, Kairos Palestine



Week 1 – The Spirit of the Lord is on me

A call or action is a call or hope!By His Excellency Patriarch emerit. Michel Sabbah

Christ is risen. We believe. We rejoice. In ourendless Palestinian-Israeli tragedy, we look to theResurrection. It is the joy o the risen Christ. For us itis the power o lie over death and sin.

Beore his death, Jesus said to his apostles: “Theprince o this world has come. He has no power onme” (Jn 14:30). The prince o this world is here now

present in our tragedy. But Jesus told us also, and webelieve: “He has no power over me», neither over us. He can kill bodies, but hecannot kill the human being created by God. Jesus said, “Do not ear those whokill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Mathew 10:28).

Our situation, i.e., the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in its essence has been atan impasse or years. There is no light in the deep, long tunnel in which welive. The Israeli will is clear: no Palestine, no peace, the taking o more andmore Palestinian land or settlements and settlers, and keeping Palestinians in

bantustans with a shadow Palestinian Authority.

The situation is unbearable: no reedom, no dignity, no normal economy. Dailyhumiliation at checkpoints, where Israeli soldiers have carte blanche to humiliateand even to kill a Palestinian, or the least threat, real or perceived.

Palestinians do not know what to do. There are Palestinians today, in the presentIntiada, who want revenge; they seek to kill and to be killed. They do so out odespair: no reedom, no dignity, sometimes no home and no bread.

With this desperate situation, our Easter message is an Easter alert. A cry tothe Israeli authorities: change your vision. Embrace a human vision. Your ownsecurity depends on a broadened vision in which you see the Palestinian as ahuman being, not someone to crush and to make disappear. Free yoursel roma distorted vision. Stop sending settlers to Palestinian land. Share the land, keepthe land you conquered in 1948, the 78% o historic Palestine. Give back to thePalestinians the land you have occupied since 1967, the shrinking 22%.

I you want to make the land human, i you want to make it once again a land orGod and humans, you have to change your vision. You will be the winners, i youachieve peace, both or yourselves, and or the Palestinians.



Palestinians, be patient. You, who go to get killed, keep your lives. Do not die.Do not kill. Listen to the Holy Scripture: “I shall not die, I shall live” (Psalm118: 17). Peace, justice and Palestine need you alive. Do not despair. You believein God. He is great. He is almighty, he is greater than all earthly powers. TrustHim, though His time is long. Try to bring dignity to your daily lives despite

all the humiliation and oppression that the Israelis impose upon you. The bestresistance to the Israeli occupation is to remain alive and to believe in your Godgiven dignity.

Israelis, who see the right vision, help your government to see. Help your peopleto understand that Palestinians are not terrorists, but people deprived by yourgovernment‘s policies and your actions o their reedom and dignity. They want

reedom and independence. They do not want to kill. They are able to live inpeace, side by side, with you. Your own security depends on the security o thePalestinians. The Palestinians, ree and independent, will be your protectors andyour key to embrace and be welcomed by the entire Arab world.

Israeli authorities, listen to the word o God who is peace. Who speaks peace.Who listens to the poor and the oppressed. “I am listening to what God the lordwill speak; He will speak peace” (Psalm 85: 8). “They cry in anguish and Godhears. His ear turned to their cry. God is near to the broken hearted. He helps

those whose spirit is crushed” (Psalm34: 17-18).



It is Easter. It is Pesach, with its memory o the Exodus. Moses said to Pharaoh:“Let my people go” (Exodus 5: 1) rom slavery to reedom. Moses and God tellyou today: find your own reedom again by giving reedom to the Palestinianpeople whom you keep under occupation. “Free the Palestinian people rom youroccupation.”

Palestinian leaders, maintain your attitude o readiness to make peace. Yoursituation is difficult as you ace the rebellion o your people. Palestinian people,you have to resist, in a way that will help your leaders, and the Israelis themselvesput an end to the Occupation. Claim your reedom, your land, your independence.Your aim is not to kill Israelis but to be given back your reedom and dignity.With the logic o lie, o humanity, resist and insist on your rights, to be humanbeings enjoying what God has given just as He has given every human being onearth.

Easter is Resurrection afer the Passion and death o Our Lord Jesus Christ. Webelieve that our suffering which has gone on or generations has redemptivevalue. We believe that our lives in the light o the Resurrection will enlighten usand the Israelis to bring our tragedy to an end.

Jesus, the risen Lord, confirms us in lie: “In the world you will have hardship;but be courageous, I have conquered the world” (Jn 16: 33).

Christ is risen. We believe. In the risen Lord we renew our lie, our aith, and ourstrength.

H.B. Patriarch Michel Sabbah served as the Latin (Roman Catholic)Patriarch o Jerusalem rom 1987 to 2008.

He made higher studies and obtained PHD in Arabic philology. Aferhaving taught Arabic language, and afer several pastoral works, he wasappointed President o Bethlehem University. In 1987, Pope John Paul II

appointed him Patriarch o Jerusalem.

Since 1999, Patriarch Sabbah has been the International President o PaxChristi, a Catholic organization promoting peace.

Patriarch Sabbah is a co-author o the Kairos Palestine Document andbelieves in pluralism and equality in order to preserve the dignity ohuman beings.



Week 2 – Proclaim good news to the poor

The Cross o Injustice – Easter ReflectionsBy His Excellency Bishop Atallah Hanna

In the period o Lent we seek repentance and a return to God.

During Holy Week we put the cross o our redeemerin ront o us, contemplate his sacrifice, redemptionand what he gave us or our consecration andemancipation rom sin. His love was incarnatedon the cross. He was buried in the tomb and rose

triumphant over death on the third day. Thereore,on Easter we share greetings among ourselves bysaying Christ has truly risen.

Palestine is the land o the cross, suffering, burial and resurrection: the landwhere the love o God or man was personified. Thereore we have the right asPalestinians, Christians and Muslims, to be proud and gratified that our homelandis a sacred place and honored by all believers o the three monotheistic religions.It is the land o redemption and holiness, and every corner speaks o its history,culture, spiritual and human identity.

Palestinian Christians during Holy Week carry the cross and walk through theVia Dolorosa in Jerusalem to Calvary and the empty tomb. They carry the crossand pray to our crucified Lord in order to bless them and grant them mercy,peace and justice.

Palestinian Christians carry the cross o passion and agony o the Lord JesusChrist and walk toward Calvary knowing that they are also carrying anothercross o a different kind: the cross o injustice, racism and oppression against thePalestinian people or many years. It is the cross o occupation and discriminatorypractices carried by the Palestinians Christians and Muslims as they walk withpain and suffering without interruption rom1948 and 1967 until today. Theylive in the hope that the day o reedom will come and the dawn o resurrectiono Christ and his holy light will enhance their conviction that there is an end tothe suffering and pain o their people.

The Easter message to our Palestinian people is a message o hope and aith inthese difficult days that we are living. Our Arab region is inflamed, the Palestinian

divisions are still going on and the occupation is persisting in its policies intargeting our holy places, land, identity, culture and humanity.



At Easter we emphasize that we are united with the light o resurrection. Ouraith and resolve, consistency and steadastness will not quench our resurrection.Our enemies want us to be in a state o deeat and despair. At Easter, as in all oureasts and events, we say that we will not despair and will not give up our rightto live in reedom and dignity in our homeland.

Christ was resurrected or all. The Resurrection o Jesus is or all human beings.He was resurrected to remove the barriers which separate man rom his ellow-man; to say to the suffering people that he is with them in their pain and suffering;and to the oppressed and mistreated that he wants to remove injustice andoppression so that they can enjoy reedom. His resurrection is a message to eachand every one o our people that they deserve reedom; they have to continuetheir struggle and quest or liberty, and keep devoted to the high values, ethicsand principles. Our cause is just and we should all strive to deeat the occupationand liberate our people rom all discriminatory practices.

Kairos Palestine is a document o hope at this difficult time in which violenceand terror is spreading everywhere and our people are still under occupation.This document is not a message o solidarity with the Palestinian people only,but a message which adopts our just cause and deends it by peaceul, humanand civilized means.

At Easter as in all our easts and events, we, the Palestinian Christians, emphasizethat we are supporting the just cause o our people and their legitimate struggle



or reedom. Let the resurrection o the Lord Jesus Christ be a source o blessing,hope and good or this tormented Holy Land. Let the end o pain and suffering oour people lead to reedom, decent lie, saety and peace in our dear homeland,

away rom the walls o segregation and inhumane practices, oppression andinjustice.

I hope that the churches o the world in this period o Lent, Holy Week and Easterwill remember our people in their prayers, and pray or the city o Jerusalem, thecity o Passion, Resurrection and light o the Lord.

Born in 1965 in the Galilean village o Al Rameh, Theodosius (Atallah)Hanna attended local primary and secondary schools beore enteringthe Clerical Patriarchate School in Jerusalem. In 1983 he matriculatedat Thessalonica University in Greece in the Faculty o Theology. Afergraduating with honors, he went on to complete a master’s degree anddoctorate. In 1991 he was ordained as a deacon and priest in the Churcho the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The late Patriarch Diodoros investedhim as Archimandrite, and there afer he was appointed Head o theArabic Department or the Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem in whichhe acted as a spokesman or the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and theHoly Land.



Jerusalem is the oundation o our visionand our entire lie. She is the city to which

God gave a particular importance in the

history o humanity. She is the city towardswhich all people are in movement – and

where they will meet in riendship and lovein the presence o the One Unique God,

according to the vision o the prophet Isaiah:“In days to come the mountain o the lordshouse shall be established as the highest

o the mountains, and shall be raised abovethe hills; all the nations shall stream to it.(...) He shall judge between the nations, andshall arbitrate or many peoples; they shallbeat their swords into ploughshares, and

their spears into pruning hooks; nation shallnot lif up sword against nation, neither

shall they learn war any more” (Is. 2, 2-5).Today, the city is inhabited by two peopleso three religions; and it is on this propheticvision and on the international resolutionsconcerning the totality o Jeursalem thatany political solution must be based. Thisis the first issue that should be negotiated

because the recognition o Jerusalem’ssanctity and its message will be a source oinspiration towards finding a solution to theentire problem, which is largely a problemo mutual trust and ability to set in place a

new land in this land o God.

Kairos Document, Chapter 9.5



Palestine: Destruction, Distortion,Domination and AnnexationBy Dr. Nassar Ibrahim, AIC Beit Sahour

Palestinian economy has not been independent in centuries. Like the economieso other Arab countries, or our centuries, it has undergone control, looting anddestruction during the Ottoman rule. Then it came under the British colonialrule in Palestine, ollowed by the Nakbah in 1948 which uprooted the Palestiniansrom their land. Following the Israeli occupation, the Palestinian economy cameunder the control o the Israeli colonial power. All o this made the already weakPalestinian economy an easy target or mutilation and destruction resulting indeep structural disparities.

When the Oslo Accords were signed on 13 September 1993, it was said thatPalestine would witness tremendous economic prosperity, becoming somethinglike ‘Hong Kong’. Since that date, many efforts were made to enable thePalestinian economy, yet we did not see a new Hong Kong in Palestine, nor evenwhat is much less than that. In act, the Oslo Accords and its different annexes,like the Paris Economic Protocol signed on 29 April 1995, and the Cairo SecurityAgreement signed in 1994, placed the Palestinian people in the grip o a tight



triangle, like the Bermuda triangle, in which the incoming disappeared and theoutgoing is not seen yet.

The three sides o this triangle are: First, a political blockade set by the Declarationo Principles o the Oslo Accords, which specified that the responsibilities and

powers o the Palestinian Authority should not conflict with the interests othe occupation or realities imposed on the ground. Second, the Paris EconomicProtocol tightened the control on the Palestinian economy, without leaving achance or development or independence. Third, the Oslo Accords eased theburden on the Israeli occupation by giving the responsibility o security in theWest Bank and Gaza to the Palestinian security services.

In act, understanding the size o the suffering o the Palestinian people atthe economic level requires an awareness o the contexts experienced by thiseconomy and the actors which control it. The first o these actors is the Israelipolicies and strategies or its control and destruction. These policies began withthe occupation o Palestine and were designed to expel its inhabitants, confiscatetheir homes, land, and natural resources,and urthermore, restructure theireconomy to become subordinate to the requirements o the Israeli economy.

The awareness o this reality necessarily requires an attention to the equationwhich controls the relationship between the Israeli powerul and sophisticatedeconomy and the Palestinian traditional agricultural economy. In this equation,the strong economy is using the weak economy in a way that increases itsdestruction and distorts its structure in order to increase the profit or the strongand dominant economy. It is enough here to point out the enormous differencebetween the Palestinian and Israeli economies, taking into account that there isno serious difference in terms o population: the GDP o the Palestinian Authorityin 2013 was 5,435.1 million US Dollars in the West Bank, and 2,020.5 million inGaza (totaling 7,455.6 million), while the GDP in Israel is 290.555 million. TheGDP per capita in 2013 was $ 2,202.2 in the West Bank, and $ 1,187.5 in Gaza(overall rate o West Bank and Gaza $3.016 ), with the average GDP per capita inIsrael being $ 36.067.1

In lieu o this perspective, we can see the conditions provided by the ParisEconomic Protocol. In act, the role o this protocol was to control the processo development o the Palestinian economy in order to prevent any possibilityo building a deying national economy. “This agreement was not an economiccooperation agreement between the two countries in the literal sense o the word,but an agreement to regulate the relationship o the Palestinian economy with theoccupation, and to keep the control o the occupation on the Palestinian economy.One o the most prominent eatures is the continuous control o goods, people,

crossings by land, sea and air, and thus the control o movement o exports andimports, and urthermore, the continuous control o the tax collection revenues

1 Zaytuna Center or Studies and Consultancy - Beirut 2015.



to the Palestinian authority, which make up about 60 percent o local revenues,and the use o the return o this revenue to the authority as a tool to blackmailand subjugate the Palestinian people.”2

All o these ongoing operations resulted in a weak and ragile Palestinianeconomy and its subordination to the Israeli economy. Furthermore, the externalfinancing according to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’sterms and conditions, is based on privatization which increased the economicburdens on the Palestinian citizen. This process was not spontaneous at all, buthas been planned consciously. In act, Shimon Peres, the Israeli Prime Ministerduring the first phase o the negotiations included in the negotiating team manybusinessmen and representatives o the Israeli economic interests. The goal o

the Israeli businessmen was the transormation o the occupation into a newcolonial enterprise in which the Palestinians cannot get autonomy, but at thesame time, ensure the continuation o dependence o the Palestinian economyon his Israeli counterpart.3

These economic arrangements did not lead to any positive change in the Palestinianeconomy, but promoted the pattern which was prevailing since 1967, representedby the unilateral Israeli control o the customs system. The Palestinian economylosses rom the customs revenue as a result o the application o unilateral

customs system has been estimated in the period between 1970 and 1987 in therange o 6-11 billion US dollars, representing 13% o the Palestinian national

2 Zaytuna Center or Studies and Consultancy, Beirut, 20153 Selby, 2003: 9-76, 7-95.



income. Thus, it is possible to assume here that this revenue level has risen withthe beginning o the year 1995, the year when Israel began to transer customsrevenues to the treasury o the Palestinian Authority. The agreements signedbetween the two parties did not reer to this revenue and did not oblige Israel toreturn it to the Palestinian treasury. 4 In the same context, a study prepared by

the Alternative Inormation Center and KAV Foundation indicates that the totalamount with the bank interest owed by the State o Israel or Palestinian workersor the period 1970 - 2009 equals 8 billion and 346 thousand US dollars. 5

These acts make us aware o the structural problem acing the Palestinianeconomy, despite the launch o several strategic development plans sincethe establishment o the Palestinian Authority under the title o sustainabledevelopment. The result was an evident decline in the standard o living andthe erosion o wages due to higher prices and the increase in unemployment.According to the Palestinian Central Bureau o Statistics (PCBS) report in 2015,the GDP in Palestine ell 2.5% in 2014 compared with 2013, resulting in alower income per capita in gross domestic product by more than 5% during2014 compared with 2013. The total number o Palestinian workers in the locallabor market has been stable in 2014 compared with 2013 despite the naturalincrease o the population. This shows the weakness o the capacity o the locallabor market. The unemployment rate experienced an increase during 2014, upto about 27% rom 24% in 2013.

Finally, the losses suffered by the Palestinian economy are the direct result othe systematic, historical and political process that led to the annexation o thiseconomy to the Israeli economy. It is a deep and long-term process targetinga control over the natural resources, especially land and groundwater, as wellas the industry sectors which have been marginalized and subjected to therequirements o the Israeli market and economy, as well as the exploitation o ahigh proportion o the Palestinian labor orce in the Israeli black market; controlo the oreign trade; taxation and financial movement.

Facing all these acts and policies is only possible through a radical Palestinian

resistant economic strategy as part o the national political and social liberationprocess. In this context, the Palestinian people must ocus on the importanceo social solidarity and resistant economy. This requires an investment o allavailable capacities, fighting corruption, strengthening social solidarity, goodmanagement o human and natural resources with priority to the public sectorand public inrastructure. We should resist any attempts aimed at subjugatingthe basic needs o the people to the mercy o the brutal market governed by thedevastating Israeli neoliberal economy approach.

4 Gordon, 2008 p.186. Sher Heer. Political Economy o the Israeli Occupation: The Exploitation as a Tool orRepression. Pluto Press, London, 20105 Hanna Zohar, Sher Heer. State o Israel Owes Billions o Shekels or Palestinian Workers. 2010, p. 7.



Nassar Ibrahim is a Palestinian political analyst, writer, author and Co-Director o the Alternative Inormation Center (AIC). The AIC believesthat peace can be just and lasting only when based on ending Israel’scolonial occupation, securing the right o the Palestinian people to sel-

determination and the right o reugees to return. Only such a just peace,based on international law, can guarantee individual and collective rightso both Palestinians and Israelis.

Founded in 1984, the AIC acts as a material bridge and platorm orpolitically responsible cooperation between Palestinians and Israelisand a counter to the prevailing philosophies and practices o separationbetween the two communities. What has allowed the AIC to flourish over30 years when so many other joint initiatives came and went, is its clearsocio-political oundation.



What is the meaning ofresistance to us?

We say that our option as Christians in the ace o theIsraeli occupation is to resist. Resistance is a right anda duty or the Christian. But it is resistance with love asits logic. It is thus a creative resistance or it must findhuman ways that engage the humanity o the enemy.

Seeing the image o God in the ace o the enemymeans taking up positions in the light o this vision o

active resistance to stop the injustice and oblige theperpetrator to end his aggression and thus achieve thedesired goal, which is getting back the land, reedom,

dignity and independence.




Week 3 – To Proclaim Freedom for the Prisoners

No Way to Treat a ChildBy Defense for Children International - Palestine

Amid heightened violence in the all o 2015, the number o Palestinian childrenin Israeli prisons skyrocketed to the highest it has been since February 2009. Bythe end o December, 422 Palestinian children were in the Israeli prison system.Among them were 116 between the ages o 12 and 15, the highest known totalsince January 2008 when the Israel Prison Service began sharing data.

Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, like adults, ace arrest,prosecution, and imprisonment under an Israeli military detention system that

denies them basic rights. Military law has applied to Palestinians in the WestBank since 1967, when Israel occupied the territory ollowing the Six Day War.Israeli settlers, however, who reside within the bounds o the West Bank, inviolation o international law, are subject to the Israeli civilian legal ramework.Accordingly, Israel operates two separate legal systems in the same territory.

Estimates place the number o Palestinian men, women, and children convictedin Israeli military courts in excess o 700,000, according to UN sources. TheU.S. State Department’s 2014 human rights report on Israel states that military

courts have more than a 99 percent conviction rate or Palestinian deendants.

Israel has the dubious distinction o being the only country in the world thatsystematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children in military courts eachyear. Since 2011, Israel has held an average o 201 Palestinian children in custodyeach month, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service.

Ill-treatment in the Israeli military detention system remains “widespread,systematic, and institutionalized throughout the process,” according to theUN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, Children in Israeli Military DetentionObservations and Recommendations.

Deense or Children International – Palestine (DCIP) collected affidavits rom 429 West Bank children detained between 2012 and 2015 that three-quarters othem endured some orm o physical violence ollowing arrest. In 97 percent othe cases, children had no parent present during the interrogation or access tolegal counsel. Israeli police also did not properly inorm them o their rights in84 percent o the cases.

Interrogators used position abuse, threats, and isolation to coerce conessionsrom some o these children. DCIP documented 66 children held in solitaryconfinement, or an average period o 13 days, during the reporting period. In



2015, Israeli authorities held Abdel-Fatah Ouri, 17, in isolation or 45 days. Morethan 90 percent o children held in solitary confinement provided a conession.

Recent amendments to Israeli military law concerning children have had littleto no impact on their treatment during the first 24 to 48 hours afer an arrest,when most o the ill-treatment occurs at the hands o Israeli soldiers, police, andthe security service.

Israeli military court judges seldom exclude conessions obtained by coercion ortorture, even those drafed in Hebrew, a language that most Palestinian childrendo not understand. In act, military prosecutors rely, sometimes solely, on theseconessions to obtain a conviction.

Children most commonly ace the charge o throwing stones – 235 out o 297cases closed by DCIP attorneys between 2012 and 2015 involved at least onecount o the offense – which carries maximum sentences o 10 or 20 years,depending on the circumstances.

Children must appear beore a military court judge within 24 to 96 hours afertheir arrest, depending on their age. For most, this serves as the first time theysee a lawyer and their amily.

Many children maintain their innocence, but plead guilty – most receive pleadeals o less than 12 months – as the astest way to get out o the system. Trials,



on the other hand, can last a year, possibly longer, during which children remainbehind bars as the military courts deny bail in the majority o cases.

Israeli authorities transer nearly 60 percent o Palestinian child detainees romoccupied territory to prisons inside Israel in violation o the Fourth Geneva

Convention, according to Israel Prison Service data. As a practical consequence,children have limited amily visits as parents struggle to obtain entry permitsto Israel.

East Jerusalem

Palestinian children living in the West Bank might sometimes envy their East Jerusalem peers or their relatively higher levels o reedom o movement andenshrined legal rights. The latter o these is particularly salient as Palestinian

children living in Jerusalem are generally entitled to trials in Israeli civiliancourts.

The legal distinctions between East Jerusalem and the West Bank trace back to1967, when Israel captured that part o the city and declared all o Jerusalemits “indivisible” capital. Since then, Palestinian children who happen to live in Jerusalem all under Israeli civilian law.

The legal gap between Palestinian children in the West Bank and Jerusalem

expanded urther—at least, in theory—when Israel amended the 1971 Youth Law



(Adjudication, Punishment and Methods o Treatment) in 2008. The amendmentspromised new protections or children, including East Jerusalemites, in conflictwith the law during the entire process— arrest, transer, interrogation, and trial.These saeguards included the use o arrest as a last resort, advance notice beorequestioning takes place, minimal use o restraints, and the presence o a legal

guardian or adult amily member during questioning.

Given the prescribed differences in these two legal systems, one would logicallyexpect airly different rights outcomes or Palestinian children in conflict withthe law based on whether they live in Jerusalem or the West Bank. At least onpaper, Palestinian Jerusalemite children are entitled to more protections thanWest Bank youth.

However, data compiled by DCIP ound that, in practice, Palestinian children in Jerusalem are not enjoying their enshrined rights. Out o 65 cases documentedby DCIP in 2015, more than a third o Jerusalem youth were arrested at night(38.5 percent), the vast majority (87.7 percent) were restrained during arrest andonly a slim minority o children (10.8 percent) had a parent or lawyer presentduring interrogation.

In act, in the last year, East Jerusalem children suspected o committing criminaloffenses saw rights violations in several categories at comparable rates to WestBank children. For example, cases documented by DCIP showed 69.2 percento detained Jerusalem children suffered some orm o physical violence at the



hands o Israeli orces compared to 74.5 percent o West Bank children. For nightarrest cases, there was nearly no difference between the two groups.

Although they had better outcomes than their West Bank peers along a ew axis,such as rights notifications and access to a toilet between arrest and interrogation,

they also suffered much higher rates o position abuse during interrogation.

As a whole, it is apparent that Israeli civilian laws, when applied to Palestinianchildren rom Jerusalem do not approach “guarantee” rates. DCIP analysis oundthat this is because Israel over-applies the exception clause o its Youth Law toPalestinian children—meaning that or East Jerusalem children, the exception isthe rule.

Administrative Detention

In December 2015, Israeli authorities approved a six-month administrativedetention order or a 17-year-old youth rom Jerusalem, Mohammad Hashlamoun.Up until October 2015, DCIP had never documented cases o administrativedetention or Palestinian children rom East Jerusalem. That month, the measurewas used against three East Jerusalem youth. Administrative detention is theimprisonment o individuals by the state or prolonged periods without chargeor trial.

Mohammad was arrested rom his home in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhoodo Jerusalem around 2 a.m. on December 3, 2015. He was denied access to anattorney, and subjected to repeated prolonged interrogation sessions whilebeing held in solitary confinement or 22 days. He denied accusations that hewas planning to carry out unspecified uture attacks, even when the interrogatorthreatened to have his amily home demolished.

“The last time I appeared in the magistrates’ court in Jerusalem, the court decidedto release me on bail,” Mohammad told DCIP. “But beore my amily could postthe bail, an intelligence officer came to the detention center and asked me to signa document stating that I had received an order o administrative detention.”

The administrative detention order against Mohammad will expire on June 20,2016. However, the Emergency Powers Law o 1979 permits the administrativedetention o any person in Israel or a period o up to six months, subject toindefinite renewals.

Between October 2015 and February 2016, Israeli authorities also placed ourPalestinian teenagers rom the West Bank under administrative detention. IsraeliMilitary Order 1651 permits a military commander to issue an administrativedetention order or a period o up to six months, subject to indefinite renewals.



The most recent order was against the youngest o the children, 15-year-oldAbdul-Rahman Kmail, rom Jenin. An Israeli military court confirmed hisadministrative detention order on February 16, but reduced the period rom sixmonths to our.

These cases mark the first time Israel has used the measure against Palestinianchildren in the West Bank since December 2011.

Control System

Arresting children rom their homes in the middle o the night, abusing themduring arrest and interrogation, and systematically denying them basic airtrial guarantees works to stifle dissent and control Palestinian amilies andcommunities throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

There is a notion that Israeli military courts are «broken» and can be improvedor “fixed.” This mistakenly presumes that the Israeli military detention and courtsystem is interested in administering justice. In Jerusalem, increased legal rightshave done little to increase protections or Palestinian children.

As Palestinian children continue to experience widespread ill-treatment andtorture and the systematic denial o due process rights, it becomes evident thata system o control is masquerading as justice.

Deense or Children International Palestine (DCIP) is committed tosecuring a just and viable uture or Palestinian children in the OccupiedPalestinian Territory. For more than twenty years, DCIP have supportedand advocated or this child population: investigating and documentinggrave human rights violations, holding both Israeli and Palestinianauthorities to account, and providing legal services to children in urgentneed. DCIP will continue to demand national and international bodiesenact stronger measures to saeguard this vulnerable demographic oPalestinian society.



This is a time or repentance. Repentancebrings us back into the communion o lovewith everyone who suffers, the prisoners,

the wounded, those afflicted with temporaryor permanent handicaps, the children who

cannot live their childhood and each one who

mourns a dear one. The communion o lovesays to every believer in spirit and in truth: imy brother is a prisoner I am a prisoner; i his

home is destroyed, my home is destroyed; whenmy brother is killed, then I too am killed. Weace the same challenges and share in all that

has happened and will happen.Kairos Document, Chapter 5.2



Week 4 – Recovery Sight of the Blind

Christian Zionism through Palestinian Eyes

By Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac

How do Palestinians perceive Christian Zionism?I will argue, that Christian Zionism is more thanjust a theological belie about Israel and Jews – itis an Imperial Theology. Today, it is also – willinglyor not – a political movement. Let me start with ashort definition o Christian Zionism as Robert Smithdefines it:

Christian Zionism is political action, informed by specifically Christian commitments,to promote or preserve Jewish control over the geographic area now comprising Israeland Palestine.

With this paper I want to show that Christian Zionism is an Imperial Theology.These thoughts are the result o years o engagement with evangelical Christiansaround the issue o Palestine and Israel. The quotes I will use are representativeo what I heard over the years. My aim is not to attack individuals, but beliesand positions.

A Chosen State!

Christian Zionists emphasize that the Jews are the chosen people o God today,and with that chosenness comes entitlement and privilege. This is not simply atheological belie about the Jewish people. But with the modern state o Israelbeing conused with the Jews and biblical Israel, any opposition to the state oIsrael or the occupation is deemed anti-Jewish, and by implication anti-God! Joel Rosenberg, a regular Fox News analyst and NY Times bestseller, explains

that i the US would turn against Israel, this would result in an existential threatto the uture o the United States. Rosenberg, like numerous others, bases thison Genesis: “In Genesis 12:1-3, the Lord God vows that He will bless those whobless Israel and the Jewish people, and curse those who curse them.”What amazes me is that Gen. 12:1-3 does not actually mention Israel. It is aboutAbraham. This verse comes in the midst o a glorious mandate to Abraham tobecome a blessing to the nations – a mandate that was eventually ulfilled in Jesus, who is Abraham’s seed according to Paul, when he died on the cross. Howwas this glorious promise turned into the recipe o oreign policy today towards

a secular state?



Justice Relativized

In this rational even the justice o God is relativized or qualified – it is relativeto Christian Zionists presuppositions. As such, Daniel Juster, a Messianic Jewishtheologian, can argue: i Palestinians reuse to recognize what God says about

the Jewish people and their connection to the land o Israel, then suffering willresult. Justice in regards to the Land requires that there be a submission to whatGod has declared about this Land. So i the Palestinians do not acknowledgeGod’s promise, they are oundationally unjust and are themselves resisted byGod and lose their rights in the Land. The quote speaks or itsel.

Control the narrative

Christian Zionism is strong and powerul in controlling the narrative. Languagehere matters. Consider, or example, the notion that Jews “returned” to “their”Land. So, now, i someone who is born in Russia today can prove that hisgrandmother is Jew, he has more right to live in this land than a Palestinianreugee who was born here and who can trace his roots in the land or hundredsi not thousands o years.

We can also speak here about the role o archaeology and historiography, wherePalestine is portrayed as ‘virtually barren, desolate and empty, waiting to bemade ertile and populated by Israel.’

There is also a double standard when it comes to contemporary realities. Almostevery time I speak to a Christian Zionist group I am asked: “Do you acknowledgeIsrael’s right to exist?” It is quite amazing to me that I, the occupied am beingasked to recognize the right o my occupier to exist! Does Israel acknowledge myright to exist? And do you as Christians who seek to deend Israel give me theright to exist and the right or sel-determination? The same applies about sel-deense. Christian Zionists insist that Israel has the right to deend itsel. But doPalestinians have the right to deend themselves when their land is confiscatedor when settlers burn their fields or homes?

Palestinians Dehumanized

A theology that privileges a people group produces prejudice and even bigotry.In the theology o Christian Zionism, Palestinians are ofen viewed as anirrelevant afer-thought. They are secondary to the interest o Israel. From thevery beginning, even beore the birth o Zionism, Lord Shafesbury (who was

president o the London Society or Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews(now known as CMJ) argued or: “A country without a nation or a nation withouta country”. I ofen wonder, did he know that the country had a nation? I am sure



he did, but you see, we were irrelevant. There was something more important.This, I believe reflects a typical colonial – dare I say even Christian – mentality.The land had people, but they can be easily moved.

Fear

This attitude o marginalizing becomes dehumanizing - and even the demonizingis utilized to create ear. Christian Zionism instills ear! Today, it is so easy toportray the Arabs and Islam as the enemy that we all need to fight and uniteagainst. The world is divided into “good” vs. “evil”. The tragic persecution oChristians in the Middle East has provided the perect opportunity or some tomake political gains. This is why it suits many people in the West to characterizethe conflict in Palestine as a religious one, where the good becomes the Judeo-Christian tradition (us), and the evil is Islam (them: the Palestinians). This, in

return, justifies actions by Israel as war on terror, even fighting the war o God!

Judeo-Christian Tradition and Cultural Superiority

One o the common phrases we hear today in many Christian circles is thereerence to the “Judeo-Christian” tradition or values. There is no time to considerthe roots o this phrase. At first glance the phrase seems to affirm the commonroots o Christianity and Judaism. Clearly, such an affirmation was and is neededin response to years o anti-Judaism.



The problem however is that the term is used today in such a way that itcommunicates superiority and prejudice. I am more and more convinced thatthe use o this term today has come to reer to cultural superiority. Mitri Rahebsays, “It is utilized theologically and implicitly against the Palestinian peopleand within the context o the clash o civilization against Islam.”

“Proper” Theology

Christian Zionism has no place or opposing views. You are either a ChristianZionist or anti-Semite! There is no middle ground. As a result, PalestinianChristians must conorm to the Christian Zionist theology or else we are hereticsor anti-Semites! This, again, reflects a mentality o superiority, a colonialmentality.

Don’t get me wrong. We do reject and condemn any theology that teaches thatGod rejects the Jewish people today, or that they are cursed, or that the Jews otoday are to be blamed or the death o Christ. But to demand rom us that weshould endorse Christian Zionist belies about the Jewish people and the land inorder to have the right to protest our 68 years o tragedy is unacceptable!

A Kingdom of Meekness: An Alternative

The theme o the Christ at the Checkpoint conerence is ‘the Gospel in the Faceo Religious Extremism.’ We should offer a Gospel response – a Gospel message.

Jesus’ theology – his kingdom theology – is solidarity with the marginalized!Who were his riends? Whom did he honor? Where did he mostly preach? Thisis important! Jesus never let ear cripple him rom meeting people – even therejected and despised.

What I call or is or Christians to reclaim the ethics and lie style o Jesus, i weclaim that he is the LORD - and to live out and declare what I will call a “Kingdomo Meekness”. Probably the best place where we find this is the sermon on themount, and in particular in the Beatitudes.

I suggest that we read the Beatitudes as Jesus’ way o challenging the empire.Consider or example the qualities Jesus introduces or the people o the kingdomand how radically these qualities are different rom those o the empire:

The poor in spirit – not the proud. Those who mourn – not those who live inprosperity. The meek – not the powerul; not empire builders. Those who hunger

and thirst or justice – not or money, comort, power, or ame. The merciul – notthe powerul or the ruthless. The pure in heart – not those who seek a “pure”society. The peacemakers – not those who are indifferent to suffering! Those



persecuted or justice’s sake – not the ones who stay in their comort zone anddo not speak the truth.

Jesus’ way, his kingdom way, is radically different than that o the empire, romthat o Christian Zionism.

Jesus said: “Blessed are the Meek, or they shall inherit the Land”. The Meek –the powerless – empowered by truth and love – inherit the Land – any land. Thisis the Gospel in the ace o power and extremism. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac (PhD, Oxord Centre or Mission Studies) isassistant proessor at Bethlehem Bible College and director o theInfluential Christ at the Checkpoint conerences. He is also a Reverand at

the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. His PhDresearch ocused on the theology o the Promised Land.



Staring into the Abyss: Effects o 10 Yearso Closure on Gaza and its PeopleBy Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

The continuously deterioratinghuman rights situation in Palestine,particularly in the besieged GazaStrip, is largely shaped by the 49-years-long Israeli occupation andclosure, requent military attacksincluding large-scale militaryoperations, as well as the internal

Palestinian political schism.

Since the complete lockdown othe Strip began in 2006, Gaza’spopulation had to endure three devastating wars that exacerbated the alreadyprecarious humanitarian situation. The Strip, stretching over 360 squarekilometers, is home to roughly 1.8 million people, making Gaza the mostdensely populated area in the world. 1.1 million o the entire population inGaza are reugees who need daily assistance by the United Nations Relie and

Works Agency or Palestinian Reugees in the Near East (UNRWA). With one oyoungest populations in the world, where more than 50% are below the age o18, Gaza is strained with the world’s highest unemployment rates amounting to38.4% (63% among youth, and 59.2% among women). As such, roughly 80% oGaza’s inhabitants are dependent on humanitarian aid.

In September 2015, developments in Jerusalem, including Israeli police raids atthe Al Aqsa mosque plaza in Jerusalem’s Old City and Israeli government threatsto alter Jerusalem’s status quo, instigated a wave o protests and attacks in the

occupied West Bank. These developments gripped the already volatile region,with the conflict claiming more victims. The events have not gone unnoticedin Gaza. Demonstrations have also regularly been held in Gaza, resulting in 11deaths and dozens o injuries. Since the beginning o the latest wave o violence,at least 170 Palestinians have been killed, thousands wounded, and dozens oPalestinian homes punitively demolished.

With the Gaza closure measures inflicting urther harm to the population, thereconstruction o Gaza proving to be impossible under closure measures, violent

Israeli responses to demonstrations, and deeper de-development pushing thepopulation, especially the younger generations in Gaza, into despair, there isa growing concern that another escalation o the conflict in Gaza is looming



on the horizon. There is greater concernby this situation as the plight to ensureaccountability and justice to improveprotection has not been met with anyadequate responses on either domestic or

international levels.

As Israel’s tight closure continues to beimplemented in ull effect, the qualityo lie or the people in Gaza has gonerom bad to worse: the electricity and water supply are at an all-time low withoutages reaching up to 16 hours a day or both water and electricity. Roughly80 tons o untreated sewage continues to daily flow into the sea and permeateGaza’s already exhausted aquier under the ground, all while the prohibition oimporting materials essential or repairing the supply o these basic necessitiescontinues to be strictly imposed by the occupying power. In addition, Israel stillcontinues to control movement o people and goods, and comprehensively limitsthe access o people to healthcare and other basic services available in the WestBank and Jerusalem. Gravely ill people are largely denied permissions to traveland seek treatment, and when permitted, they are ofen detained or hours andcoerced into collaboration with Israel in exchange or a ree passage to a healthacility.

The imposition o access restricted areas (ARA) or Gaza’s armers and fishermen,and Israel’s embargo on export o most o Gazan produce have put a heavy burdenon the already perishing economy. In spite o the act that the Oslo agreementguaranteed sea-access o 20 nautical miles (nm) off the shore, Gaza’s fishermenare today limited to fish within 3nm, and even within those limitations aresubjected to requent armed attacks, arbitrary detention and confiscation o boatsand fishing gear by the Israeli navy. At the same time, Israel heavily inhibitsimport o building materials and goods that would help rebuild actories andinrastructure destroyed in previous wars.

In addition to these, in spite o the promise that Gaza would be reconstructedafer Israel’s military operation in 2014, rebuilding o housing is to this dayalmost non-existent, complicating the already catastrophic situation even more.The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) has completely ailed to satisypeople’s needs: the houses that were completely destroyed have not yet beenrebuilt and the victims continue their lie in displacement a year and a hal aferthe destruction o their homes. The mechanism itsel has proven to be a ailurebecause it re-institutionalizes the closure over Gaza by the very severe measureson who is eligible or reconstruction and how.The shipments o cement are highly

restricted, and responsibility is pushed rom one party to the other, wherebyvictims suffer enormously. More than 60.000 amilies are still waiting to receiveany kind o unding to reconstruct their partially damaged homes, while roughly



7.000 amilies have yet to receive financialsupport to start rebuilding their totallydestroyed homes. In the background othese conditions, the prevalent culture oimpunity blocks any attempts to change

this situation, thus allowing or urtherviolations to be committed and denyingvictims their right to justice or redress.

Although Israeli occupation is principallyresponsible or the devastating

deterioration o living conditions or besieged Gazans, the internal split andits dangerous dynamics have had a significant role as well. Very little progresshas been made to reconcile the two Palestinian political parties. The May 2014agreement between the two political actors to bring the intra-Palestinian split toan end ailed to be honored by both parties. At that time, Gaza had just started torecover rom a devastating war in the summer o 2014, which led to thousandso casualties, injuries and property destruction. Although both parties haverecently been claiming commitment to the cessation o the political divide,concrete actions have yet to be made in order to administratively unite the WestBank and Gaza Strip.

These developments have been used to excuse tightened control over Gaza’scitizens. 2015 has seen urther restrictions on reedom o speech and deteriorationo respect or human rights in general. The Strip has seen an increase in criminalbehavior, and with governmental employees receiving their salaries irregularly,the police have less resources to work with towards criminal cases. More peopleare choosing to take justice in their own hands. The internal split has also stronglyaffected the legal and justice system, where lack o unity starkly prevents thejudiciary system rom being in service o the people.

In its 2012 report, the United Nations Country Team in the Occupied PalestinianTerritory noted that by 2020, Gaza would become unlivable. With Israel’s

impunity being modus operandi, tight closure over the Strip and effective controlover land, sea, air, population registry and movement o goods and people,deteriorating environment and perishing natural resources, this UN report isslowly and steadily becoming a reality.

Al Mezan has declared its mission to be: ‹to promote respect andprotection or all human rights; particularly ESCR, in the Gaza Stripas part o OPT throughout research, legal intervention, advocacy andawareness with a sound combination o proessionalism and community

participation. Our guiding principles include equal human worth, equalrespect o all human rights, individual and collective, as enshrined ininternational law and jurisprudence’.



We believe that our land has a universalmission. In this universality, the meaning othe promises, o the land, o the election, othe people o God open up to include all ohumanity, starting rom all the peoples o

this land. In light o the teachings o the HolyBible, the promise o the land has never beena political programme, but rather the prelude

to complete universal salvation. It was the

initiation o the ulfillment o the Kingdom oGod on earth.




Week 5 – To Set the Oppressed Free in Palestine

The Israeli Settlement EnterpriseBy The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ)

The injustice in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) will continue as longas people are unable to get their hold on their God given rights in this land.Following the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation o the West Bank, includingEast Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, Palestinians aced an Israeli package opolicies that aim to eradicate their rights as inhabitants o the land. To this end,Israel launched its settlement program right afer the war, starting rom theheart o the oPt rom the Old City o Jerusalem, demolishing more than 700Palestinian Jerusalemites houses and established what came to be known as the

“Jewish” Quarter. From that point on, Israelis continued to build and expandsettlements relentlessly and in a continuous manner that has built to this day196 Israeli settlements accommodating approximately 750,000 Israeli settlers.The settlements stand as a built-up area on 196 km square and have a jurisdictionarea o 485 km square (3,5% and 8.5%) respectively o the West Bank total area.

To accommodate the settlers‘ occupation o the oPt, the Israeli Civil Administration(ICA) constructed in length a 939 km web o roads and called them bypassroads to acilitate the settlers‘ movements within the oPt and beyond the 1949Armistice Line (AKA: the Green Line). The purpose o such roads is to create twoseparate road systems, one or the Palestinians and the other or the Israelis.In 1996, the Israeli government and ICA indirectly acilitated the establishmento 232 outposts that exist in close proximity to settlements in an attempt byIsraeli radical youth to take whatever land they can beore any arrangementsare concluded with the Palestinians. These radical Israeli youth come romsettlements and have carried out organized attacks against Palestinians and theirproperties and places o worship, particularly in the past ew years. During 2015,there have been 898 Israeli settlers’ attacks on Palestinians and their properties,fields, and religious sites (20% increase rom 2014), o which 373 attacks (42%)were recorded since the onset o the Palestinians’ protests o October 2015. Theescalating attacks certainly reflected negatively on the peace process as manywitnesses and indications show the Israeli military providing protection or thesettlers and the government manipulating legal issues or cover-ups.

Furthermore, the Israeli occupation took all possible measures and steps toortiy its grip on the oPt and established some 210 military bases on a totalarea o 49km square and have taken control o 1580 km square (28% o thetotal West Bank Area) along the eastern side o the West Bank under various

pretexts, starting rom declaring parts as “state land”, “closed military areas;including firing zones”, “nature reserve areas” down to being classified as area“C”. Israel established in the eastern zone area 38 Israeli settlements, 20 o which



are classified as agricultural settlements, cultivating 65000 km square o the Jordan Valley area within the eastern zone. Between the 9000+ Israeli settlersliving in the eastern zone and the cultivated lands, the Israelis use some 45MCMo water, which counts or some one-third o the total use o the entire WestBank Palestinian population o 2.6 million. A World Bank report indicates that

continued Palestinian inaccessibility to agricultural land and water resourcescontinues to carry significant opportunity losses in terms of output and employment.Irrigated agriculture is an important economic sector, contributing about 12% to GDPand employing 117,000 people.

Also, to enorce their will and practice the alse jurisdiction in the oPt, the ICAdemolished Palestinian houses, which came simultaneously with the Israelisystematic orced eviction policy o Palestinians in area “C” throughout theWest Bank, including East Jerusalem. In the latter, the party that carries out thedemolition and thus the eviction is the Israeli Municipality o Jerusalem andthe Israeli Ministry o Interior. In other areas o the West Bank (area “C”), theIsraeli Civil Administration carry out the demolition and eviction orders, hence,all demolitions are orced eviction and displacement o Palestinians. To this day,Israel has demolished more than 25000 Palestinian houses in the oPt, in additionto more than 20,000 houses with pending demolition orders.

On 28 September 1995, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) andIsrael signed the second Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the GazaStrip commonly known as Oslo II or the Taba Agreement. It classified the oPt tovarious levels o control:



Area “A” (1,005 km square 17.7% o the West Bank Area) and it designatesPalestinian absolute autonomy over administrative and security issues andincludes the main Palestinian cities.

Area “B” (1,035 km square 18.3%) and it designates Palestinians civil/

administrative responsibilities on education, health and restricted development.It includes populated rural areas, many o which are close to the main cities othe West Bank.

Area “C” (3456 km square 61%), where the status quo o the occupation remainsas is and Israel retains ull control.

While the vast majority o the Palestinian population (83.5%) lives in areas“A” and “B”, the vast vacant land available or construction to cope with thePalestinian population growth and or investment opportunities is situated inthe bulk area (61%) o the West Bank defined as area “C”, which is the onlyremaining area available or the Palestinians to realize a sustainable and ablestate.

It is easily concluded that both areas “A” and “B” (36% o the West Bank area) arealready congested with a population density exceeding 4620 per 1km versus apopulation density o 1546 Israeli settlers within the approved master plans othe settlements.


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42/62Year of Jubilee 41

Israel is sparing no opportunity to take advantage o the circumstances thatsurround its existence. It carries out steps that serve its long-term plan to createan independent Jewish state, in spite o its claim o being the only democracy andsecular state in the Middle East. To this end, Israel persists to pave the way totake unilateral steps to create a Palestinian state tailored to its interests chained

by the 500+ various types o obstacles controlling the movement o the peopleand the borders to the outside world. It uses whatever possible means to realizeits goals,starting with multiple turmoil storming the region, and turbulences inthe relations among the big players in the international arena, right down to thedivision o the Palestinians and even its own settlers’ greed to quench itsthirstor more stolen Palestinians’ rights.

Founded in 1990, the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ) /Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainabledevelopment in the occupied Palestinian territory and the sel-relianceo the Palestinian people through greater control over their naturalresources. ARIJ works specifically to augment the local stock o scientificand technical knowledge and to introduce and devise more efficientmethods o resource utilization and conservation, improved practices,and appropriate technology.


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Week 6 – To Set the Oppressed Free in Israel

Love liberates us rom being Prisonerso HatredBy Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho

I live in a country that treats its Arab ethnic population as second class citizens.Beginning with Herzl’s vision up to the present, the dream o the State o Israelhas always been associated with the Jewishness o its population and the Jewishidentity o the state, even i that came at the cost o Palestinian and Jewishbloodshed. The State o Israel connects the past with the history o the Jews,thepresent with their welare and the uture with their aspirations. Israeli institutions

in Israel and outside the country serve this dream, work hard to maintain it andfight all those who prevent it rom happening. The Jewish dream has becomemore sacred that human beings, and human rights are transgressed or the sakeo this dream. Judaism in Israel has become a nightmare because o its extremistviews and the determination to create a world not only ull o masters but alsoslaves. Jewish dreams have become a nightmare or Palestinians and a mantraor the hatred o the neighbor. This filled my living environment with hatredthat was translated into discriminatory laws and other channels o injustice andmurder.



My world has become a world o death and hate, a world ar rom God’s envisionedcreation that was supposed to be driven by God’s love deeply entrenched in humanhearts and motivating a true love and respect or the other. Theologians speak osin and the all o man. In Israel, this sin is embodied in hatred and humiliationo human beings. I live in a state that does not want its inhabitants i they are

not Jews. While some are shouting “Death to Arabs”, others are hard at workto enact laws that prevent us, the Arab ethnic in Israel, rom talking about theNakbah or teaching our children about their identity and heritage or connectingwith our amilies and relatives in the occupied Palestinian territories. Even loveis orbidden; the state will punish those dreaming to marry a Palestinian partnerrom the occupied Palestinian territories. In lieu o this context, Jesus speaks tous with a prophetic message that still echoes strongly in Nazareth where it wasfirst delivered, a message o divine love and human liberation rom hatred, wherethose who do not love their ellow humans hate God. We cannot cure hate withhate, but with love that liberates us. This is what I see in the work o Jesus asmentioned in the Gospel o Luke, chapter 4.

Lord Jesus entered the Synagogue in Nazareth, and in accordance with thetraditions o the first century in the synagogues, they initiated the worshipwith a reading rom Deuteronomy (6: 4) to remember that the worship o God isinseparable rom loving God wholeheartedly and the love o every member o hishuman creation. Later Jesus spoke o liberation and presented in his preachingthe two examples o Elijah and Elisha, as mentioned in the book o Luke. Hismessage o liberation was intertwined with the message o love. God’s divine



love liberates us rom racism. God has sent Elijah to a non-Jewish woman (Luke 4: 26) and God’s wisdom wanted Elisha toheal Naaman the Syrian. Naaman is anon-Jewish commander who wanted to fight Israel. Jesus in Nazareth challengedracial divides and privileges. In God’s love and his quest to save mankind, thereis no distinction between Jew and non-Jew. There is no second-class citizen in

God’s vision o his created world. In Nazareth, Jesus angered in his liberatingprogram all those who insisted on the logic o hatred and anger, void rom loveand filled with violence and murder. The logic o hatred deprived people in thetime o Elijah and Elisha rom the celebration o God’s work and the call or hispeople to bless every human being created in the image o God. Thus, Jesussurprised his Jewish listeners with a message which included non-Jews, becauselove and deliverance o God is or everyone equally. The rejection o the crowd othis inclusive divine love will not invalidate the true emphasis o God’s love. Therejection o the message o Jesus Christ does not make it untrue, but shows thatthe path o liberation is in the conrontation o hatred with love, violence withreconciliation, and racism with God’s insistence on blessing all his creation. Loveliberates rom the prison o hatred and releases the prisoners o racism.

The liberation program o Jesus culminated in his death and resurrection. There,the hatred o man was met with the love o God. The logic o violence was acedwith the message o truth. The sin o man killed the messenger o love andpeace, our lord Jesus Christ. He was hanged on the cross but he rose to declarethat God’s love is stronger than hatred o people and that the liberation o manwill not be completed without conquering hatred, violence and sin, individually



or collectively. We conquer hatred with the reconciling power o orgivenessand its notion o love towards our ellow man and despise all sin. The uture oour country is linked with the stimulation o liberating love in our hearts and inthe hearts o the peoples o the region. Political solutions are good but withoutlove they will not be sustained. The military solutions are temporary and will

captivate us with hatred and bloodshed. Religion without love is lethal andpolitics without love will not saturate the heart and liberate it. Love is the wayto liberation. Love rejects slavery, racism and human humiliation. Love triumphsover ear and lack o orgiveness, and gives hope afer a history o ailure. Loverejects occupation and inequality. Love does not resist injustice with injusticeand mistreatments with mistreatments, but resists evil with good. Love wantsjustice and peace, not only or Jews but also or Palestinians. Love fights racismand all that spreads hatred; it challenges unjust laws and seeks to build a betteruture in which justice and equality or all prevail. Christ is risen in order toortiy our love or God rom all our hearts and to love neighbors in a ashionsimilar to how we love ourselves.

Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho is a Palestinian Evangelical who studiesat Bethlehem University (B.S.c.), Wheaton College (M.A.) and TrinityEvangelical Divinity School (M. DIV.; PhD.). Dr. Katanacho serves as theAcademic Dean or Bethlehem Bible College and as the Team Leaderor Nazareth Evangelical College. He has authored several books inEnglish and Arabic including “The Land o Christ: A Palestinian City”; “ACommentary on Lamentations”; “The Seven ‘I AM’ Sayings in the Gospel

o John”; and “The King o Peace and His Young Followers”. He is alsoone o the authors o the Kairos Palestine Document.



The Oppression o Palestinian Citizens o Israel

By BADIL

The general narrative regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict tends to mainlyocus on the situation o Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt),and only in rare occasions are Palestinian citizens o Israel taken into account bythe media or international actors. Despite having different identity documents,their situation has many parallels to that o Palestinians in the oPt, and they aresubject to very similar policies o orcible displacement, although these mightrepresent themselves in a different orm. This overlooking is especially obviousin the case o internally displaced Palestinians, who are seldom included whentalking about Palestinian reugees, even i they view themselves as part o it.

Internally Displaced Palestinians in IsraelThere are around 1.6 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.6 Ofen reerredto as Arabs, Arab Israelis, or simply a minority, they account or around 20percent o the population o Israel. From the 1.6 million Palestinians, around380,000 are Internally Displaced People (IDPs).7 This group is composed by thosePalestinians who were orcibly displaced rom their homes during the ‘Nakba’,but remained inside Israel, as well as o those who were subsequently displaceduntil today.

Following the war in 1948 until 1952 UNRWA provided assistance to IDPs anddealt with them in the same way as with all other reugees scattered acrossthe Arab world. In 1952, however, an agreement was reached between UNRWAand Israel according to which Israel would administer and take responsibilityor those Palestinians internally displaced. In exchange, UNRWA would stopproviding them with assistance and discontinue their registration as reugees.UNRWA’s reasons were economic, as it lacked unds to attend to the needs oall Palestinian reugees displaced ollowing the Nakba. For Israel, on the otherhand, it was a political move, as the moment the agreement went into place it

claimed that “the reugee problem in Israel had ceased to exist.”8

Those Palestinian IDPs who were orcibly displaced rom their homes in 1948are still unable to return to their homes today. They are allowed to visit theirvillages and homes, but any attempt to settle in their properties is met with orceand immediate expulsion by the Israeli orces.An example o this ongoing displacement is Iqrit, a Christian Palestinian villagelocated in the north o Israel, occupied on 8 November 1948. The Israeli armyordered its inhabitants to leave the village due to security concerns along the

6 http://www.cbs.gov.il/www/hodaot2013n/11_13_097e.pd 7 http://badil.org/phocadownloadpap/badil-new/publications/survay/Survey2013-2015-en.pd 8 http://badil.org/en/publication/periodicals/al-majdal/item/1018-how-has-israel-dealt-with-the-internally-displaced?.html



nearby Lebanese border. They lef on the basis o assurances that they would bepermitted to return within fifeen days. When this did not happen, the residentsturned to the courts. The Israeli High Court ruled in July 1951 that the residentso Iqrit were entitled to return to their village because the reason or thetemporary evacuation no longer existed, and no legal grounds existed to deprive

them o their right to return. However, the military defied the order, issued theinhabitants with expulsion orders and destroyed both villages. 9

On October 2001, the Israeli government officially decided to reuse to allow thereturn on the grounds o security concerns and because it would set a precedentor other displaced Palestinians. Ariel Sharon himsel said, regarding the caseo Iqrit, that the government could act reely when political will existed. Thisdecision still represents the official position o the state o Israel regarding theright o return o displaced Palestinians who are Israeli citizens.10

A more recent case illustrating this ongoing displacement took place in June 2013,when Israel passed the Prawer-Begin Bill, which i implemented, will result inthe destruction o all “unrecognized villages” and the orced population transero their residents, numbering more than 80,000 individuals. At the moment these80,000 Palestinian Bedouins live in 35 unrecognized villages in the Naqab desert,in the south o Israel. In designating these communities as “unrecognized”,the Israeli government denies those citizens who reside there access to basicservices, including water, electricity, sewage and road inrastructure, as well aseducation and health care services. These are deliberately withheld in order to‘encourage’ these Bedouin communities to abandon their ancestral land. Thiscase serves as an illustration that practices o orcible population transer areongoing on both sides o the Green Line.

Despite the gravity o the policies and practices implemented by Israel resulting inthe internal displacement and orcible transer o Palestinians spanning decades,no UN agency or other authoritative body has been designated as primarilyresponsible or the protection o these displaced persons and communities, orthe pursuit o a durable solution on their behal.11

Discriminatory policies affect all Palestinians in IsraelLeaving aside the denial o return o Palestinian IDPs, the majority o theoppressive and discriminatory policies Palestinian IDPs in Israel sufferrom affect all Palestinian citizens o Israel. Following the 1948 War, Israelestablished a military government in the areas where the Palestinian populationlived, in order to control those Palestinians who remained inside Israel and to

9 https://www.badil.org/en/publication/periodicals/al-majdal/item/806-reugee-protection.html10 Ibid.11 Karine McAllister and Karim Khalil, “Internal Displacement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,”Humanitarian ExchangeMagazine, no. 44 (September 2009).



prevent the return o Palestinianreugees. Freedoms o expressionand movement were severelyrestricted, and Palestinians wereconfined to controlled areas. For

example, Palestinians leavingtheir towns and villages neededwritten permission rom themilitary commander. In contrast,a civilian government governedthe affairs o the country’s Jewishpopulation. The end o thismilitary rule did not stop thisinstitutionalized discrimination.

From the very beginning, Israelimplemented a divide and rulestrategy with the Palestinianswhich led to one o the firstmain divisions o the Palestiniancommunity inside Israel. In 1956,all male Palestinians belonging tothe Druze religion were requiredto serve in the Israeli armyollowing an agreement betweena small number o Druze leadersand the state o Israel.12 In 1957, the Druze were recognized as a specific ethnicminority in Israel and a specific curriculum and school system was created orthem, reinorcing the Druze identity as a separate ethnic group and not only as areligion, and as such, isolating them rom the rest o the Palestinians.13 Despiteprotests in many villages at the time, this separate status still exists today.

A more recent example can be ound in the recent efforts by Israel to isolate the

Christian Palestinians living in Israel rom their Muslim counterparts. In 2014,legislation was discussed in the Israeli parliament - the Knesset - that wouldgrant Christians a separate status and would give them special privileges.14 Theorganization, Adalah, stated that this policy sought to “ragment the originalpeople o the land into small groups with narrowed identities to replace theirnational identity.”15

12 https://electronicintiada.net/content/israel-tried-brainwash-us-says-druze-pioneer-who-reused-army-service/1304713 https://electronicintiada.net/content/palestinians-must-resist-israels-efforts-oment-sectarianism/1326914 https://electronicintiada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/palestinian-christians-not-really-arabs-says-senior-israeli-lawmaker15 http://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/8250

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