Greetings all
The blog has been revised, upon your request, with larger type. I hope this helps.
This blog will continue to serve as a way of communicating the needs and ongoing conflict with the Palestinian people and Israel.
I look forward to study, prayer and reflection with you.
Blessings, Peace, Shalom, Salaam, Amy
Friday, February 1, 2008
Divestment by United Methodist's of New England
Well, I've arrived home to hear the news that our Annual Conference completed its work on the background of companies doing business with Israel and profiting from the the misery of the Palestinian people.
I share the brief list here, but you can go to our website and find a fuller accounting of why we are divesting from them: www.neumc.org
Alliant Tech Systems
Blockbuster
Boeing
Caterpillar
Cement roadstone Holdings
General Dynamics
General Electric
Globecomm systems Inc
ITT corp
Lockheed Martin
Magal Security Systems
Motorola
Northrop Grumman
Oshkosh Truck Corp
Raytheon
Silicon Graphics
Terex
United Technologies
Veolia Environnement
Volvo
Why stop at divestment? Why not boycott?
These companies actively benefit from the crisis and willful neglect of the Palestinian people.
It is encouraging to hear the work of many people, raising their light to the situation and seeking peaceful means to an end to the occupation of Palestinian land and the extermination of Palestinian people by the Israeli government.
In the prayerful song of the Taize community:
Oh Lord, hear our Prayer.
Oh Lord, hear our Prayer.
Oh Lord, forgive us.
Amen.
I share the brief list here, but you can go to our website and find a fuller accounting of why we are divesting from them: www.neumc.org
Alliant Tech Systems
Blockbuster
Boeing
Caterpillar
Cement roadstone Holdings
General Dynamics
General Electric
Globecomm systems Inc
ITT corp
Lockheed Martin
Magal Security Systems
Motorola
Northrop Grumman
Oshkosh Truck Corp
Raytheon
Silicon Graphics
Terex
United Technologies
Veolia Environnement
Volvo
Why stop at divestment? Why not boycott?
These companies actively benefit from the crisis and willful neglect of the Palestinian people.
It is encouraging to hear the work of many people, raising their light to the situation and seeking peaceful means to an end to the occupation of Palestinian land and the extermination of Palestinian people by the Israeli government.
In the prayerful song of the Taize community:
Oh Lord, hear our Prayer.
Oh Lord, hear our Prayer.
Oh Lord, forgive us.
Amen.
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Silk Worm
The ancient spiritual Director of the 13th century, Rumi wrote:
I stood before a silk worm one day.
And that night my heart said to me,
"I can do things like that, I can spin skies,
I can be woven into love that can bring warmth to people;
I can be soft against a crying face,
I can be wings that lift, and I can travel on my thousand feet
throughout the earth,
my sacks filled
with the
sacred."
And I replied to my heart,
"Dear, can you really do all those things?'
And it just nodded "Yes"
in silence.
So we began and will never
cease.
My prayer after this Holy Land visit is that we will bear the light of Christ's love to the world by blending justice and mercy together. We do this by not being silent in the face of the ghettoizing of Palestinian people by Israel. We can bear the light by speaking up and out. We can bear the light to our hired politicians and by making donations to those in need of food, water, shelter and medical services.
May God bless those working for justice in the Middle East.
I stood before a silk worm one day.
And that night my heart said to me,
"I can do things like that, I can spin skies,
I can be woven into love that can bring warmth to people;
I can be soft against a crying face,
I can be wings that lift, and I can travel on my thousand feet
throughout the earth,
my sacks filled
with the
sacred."
And I replied to my heart,
"Dear, can you really do all those things?'
And it just nodded "Yes"
in silence.
So we began and will never
cease.
My prayer after this Holy Land visit is that we will bear the light of Christ's love to the world by blending justice and mercy together. We do this by not being silent in the face of the ghettoizing of Palestinian people by Israel. We can bear the light by speaking up and out. We can bear the light to our hired politicians and by making donations to those in need of food, water, shelter and medical services.
May God bless those working for justice in the Middle East.
Princess Basma Hospital
What a pleasure meeting the Founder and Director of Princess Basma Hospital, Betty.
Your donations were gratefully received!
The Hospital makes artificial limbs for children. However, the children in the West Bank are not allowed out of their towns, so the Hospital makes the limbs and then sends them to the children.
It costs $100 per day per child at the hospital. The hospital however, charges $100 per month because the people can ill afford to pay. This covers the expenses of having the moms stay at the hospital and participate in education and health care issues with the child.
The hospital has a budget of 1.5 million. 65% comes from local people. The rest comes in from people like you and me, Foundations and other such gift givers.
The hospital is filled with occupational and play therapy rooms. It hosts a school of 650 students. It was the first integrated school in the country, blending special needs children with non-special needs children.
Last month a man graduated from University. He was the first integrated student. I didn't learn his name. He had no legs and was rejected by all the schools in his area. Princess Basra took him in and it turned out that he was unusually smarter than all the other kids!
The local Muslims provided all the wood to make the tables in the new library.
The hospital hires the special need children who become adults. They learn a trade and then, work - becoming role models for the children, who see that life can be meaningful and work successful.
Every child wanted their picture taken except one. Every class room had smiling children. This was a truly happy place.
The only hint of despair was in the eyes of the new mothers, who had not yet learned how to manage the clinical issues of their children. Hopefully the sound of laughter and joy down the corridors will inspire them, as well as our prayers.
Our United Methodist money supports the hospital, as do the contributions of individual United Methodists. You can learn more about Princess Basma Hospital at
www.basma-centre.org
Thank you for your donations. I was honored to bring your gifts and support the incredible work of the staff. God bless Princess Basra Hospital and You.
Prayer:
Gratefully we lift our thanksgiving for healing to you, God of Limb and Life. Thank you for the songs, laughter and hard work of the children within Princess Basra Hospital. Thank you for gifted Directors, staff, Doctors, Nurses and Therapists who make life meaningful again.
Bless the mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, sisters and brothers, cousins and extended family with the bliss of community, connections and a continuing story of life.
Bless the givers and receivers of medical supplies and most of all, help those of us privileged with having supplies to bear continually these gifts to others in need. Amen.
Your donations were gratefully received!
The Hospital makes artificial limbs for children. However, the children in the West Bank are not allowed out of their towns, so the Hospital makes the limbs and then sends them to the children.
It costs $100 per day per child at the hospital. The hospital however, charges $100 per month because the people can ill afford to pay. This covers the expenses of having the moms stay at the hospital and participate in education and health care issues with the child.
The hospital has a budget of 1.5 million. 65% comes from local people. The rest comes in from people like you and me, Foundations and other such gift givers.
The hospital is filled with occupational and play therapy rooms. It hosts a school of 650 students. It was the first integrated school in the country, blending special needs children with non-special needs children.
Last month a man graduated from University. He was the first integrated student. I didn't learn his name. He had no legs and was rejected by all the schools in his area. Princess Basra took him in and it turned out that he was unusually smarter than all the other kids!
The local Muslims provided all the wood to make the tables in the new library.
The hospital hires the special need children who become adults. They learn a trade and then, work - becoming role models for the children, who see that life can be meaningful and work successful.
Every child wanted their picture taken except one. Every class room had smiling children. This was a truly happy place.
The only hint of despair was in the eyes of the new mothers, who had not yet learned how to manage the clinical issues of their children. Hopefully the sound of laughter and joy down the corridors will inspire them, as well as our prayers.
Our United Methodist money supports the hospital, as do the contributions of individual United Methodists. You can learn more about Princess Basma Hospital at
www.basma-centre.org
Thank you for your donations. I was honored to bring your gifts and support the incredible work of the staff. God bless Princess Basra Hospital and You.
Prayer:
Gratefully we lift our thanksgiving for healing to you, God of Limb and Life. Thank you for the songs, laughter and hard work of the children within Princess Basra Hospital. Thank you for gifted Directors, staff, Doctors, Nurses and Therapists who make life meaningful again.
Bless the mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, sisters and brothers, cousins and extended family with the bliss of community, connections and a continuing story of life.
Bless the givers and receivers of medical supplies and most of all, help those of us privileged with having supplies to bear continually these gifts to others in need. Amen.
Your Prayers at the Western Wall/ Angels stirring the Waters
We met early at the Sabeel Center, where our Methodist Young Missionaries work, inside Jerusalem. The Sabeel Center is an interfaith organization working for Peace. It is here that the work of justice, love and mercy are generated and then brought into the world. I'm not going to say anymore about this online, because of the experience leaving the country. Clearly the Israeli security did not like the what I brought home with me from the center. Ask me in person and I will tell.
Our Methodist money is well used here!!! I'm thinking of some young people I know who would make perfect missionaries here. It is a two year stint and life changing!
From the center we went on to the Southern Wall Excavations. It is fascinating to see what is currently being un-earthed. We also stepped upon the famous "teaching steps". Actual steps from the 1st century!
We next visited the Pool of Bethesda. These pools were deep, deep and more deep. In days of old, priests gave people in need of healing a drink (with drugs in it). When you awoke you were to tell the priest your dream and then, go into the pool to bathe and be spiritually cleansed. The angels are said to stir the waters. (I believe the Angels are stirring waters for healing. In fact, angels are now stirring the waters to bring healing to the people of the Holy land.)
Then on to the Western Wall. I wore my skirt, as a proper woman would do (no one else in the group wore their skirts because it was COLD). The women are separated from the men. Traditionally, women wear black and cover their heads.
I made my way to the Wall and placed your prayers in the only large hole visible! I'm told that these prayers are considered sacred and so they are not destroyed, but kept.
When finished, I backed away from the Wall, not turning my back to it, as a sign of respect. About 1/4 of a football field from the Wall, I finally turned my back.
this Wall is the only part of the former temple of Jesus' day still remaining. This is why the site is considered sacred by the Jews.
Above the Wall are two Muslims temples, including the Dome of the Rock. We are not permitted in the Temple because we are not Muslim.
The Garden Tomb is owned by a British group of Christian Zionist. They have maintained the place of "the skull" for the last one hundred years. It was a fascinating place overlooking a municipal bus station on one side and a busy street on the other. Sirens, yelling, honking going on all around us.
You be the judge on whether this is the actual site of the tomb. Other people insist the tomb is inside a church we visited yesterday (the church was built not too long ago in ancient history.)
Sharing communion inside a crafted cave at the Garden was a pleasant experience. It was completely quiet. We couldn't hear any of the hustle and bustle outside! It was just us, our thoughts, hopes and prayers, as well as the communion elements.
Prayer:
God, let the angels stir the waters.
Let the angels stir the pools of racism, religiosity-ism, orthodoxism, liberalism, and pools of toleration until we are yours. Let the angels bring healing and if we are unwilling, continue to gently coax us into the healing pools of your love. Amen.
Our Methodist money is well used here!!! I'm thinking of some young people I know who would make perfect missionaries here. It is a two year stint and life changing!
From the center we went on to the Southern Wall Excavations. It is fascinating to see what is currently being un-earthed. We also stepped upon the famous "teaching steps". Actual steps from the 1st century!
We next visited the Pool of Bethesda. These pools were deep, deep and more deep. In days of old, priests gave people in need of healing a drink (with drugs in it). When you awoke you were to tell the priest your dream and then, go into the pool to bathe and be spiritually cleansed. The angels are said to stir the waters. (I believe the Angels are stirring waters for healing. In fact, angels are now stirring the waters to bring healing to the people of the Holy land.)
Then on to the Western Wall. I wore my skirt, as a proper woman would do (no one else in the group wore their skirts because it was COLD). The women are separated from the men. Traditionally, women wear black and cover their heads.
I made my way to the Wall and placed your prayers in the only large hole visible! I'm told that these prayers are considered sacred and so they are not destroyed, but kept.
When finished, I backed away from the Wall, not turning my back to it, as a sign of respect. About 1/4 of a football field from the Wall, I finally turned my back.
this Wall is the only part of the former temple of Jesus' day still remaining. This is why the site is considered sacred by the Jews.
Above the Wall are two Muslims temples, including the Dome of the Rock. We are not permitted in the Temple because we are not Muslim.
The Garden Tomb is owned by a British group of Christian Zionist. They have maintained the place of "the skull" for the last one hundred years. It was a fascinating place overlooking a municipal bus station on one side and a busy street on the other. Sirens, yelling, honking going on all around us.
You be the judge on whether this is the actual site of the tomb. Other people insist the tomb is inside a church we visited yesterday (the church was built not too long ago in ancient history.)
Sharing communion inside a crafted cave at the Garden was a pleasant experience. It was completely quiet. We couldn't hear any of the hustle and bustle outside! It was just us, our thoughts, hopes and prayers, as well as the communion elements.
Prayer:
God, let the angels stir the waters.
Let the angels stir the pools of racism, religiosity-ism, orthodoxism, liberalism, and pools of toleration until we are yours. Let the angels bring healing and if we are unwilling, continue to gently coax us into the healing pools of your love. Amen.
The Upper Room and We Are Not What you See on CNN
Well, my assumptions usually get me in trouble...
The Upper Room here is not the holy place I imagined.
It was crowded, noisy!
It was complete chaos.
While the tour guide spoke, or yelled, others were praying and singing in other languages. And, someone was banging on a door the next level under us - very loudly. (Is God knocking?)
God has a sense of humor, so I'm learning.
God's definition of Holy differs from mine, so I need some adjusting.
Perhaps chaos is the entry toward peaceful living?
The Upper Room is located in the former Upper City of Jesus' day.
It is an interesting room, a place one would want to contemplate.. perhaps...
if only it were the original. The church was built in the 16th century by the Franciscans - built on top of the 5th century Byzantine church. The Franciscans were driven out and the church made into a mosque. Still today you can see the Muslim mark on the wall that indicates which direction Mecca stands. Today, the Municipality of Jerusalem owns the site and maintains the building.
Now about Bethany. It is a beautiful village, surrounded by "The Wall." The Wall keeps Palestinians in. A sign nearby reads: "We shall never kneel or surrender. The Wall Shall Fall."
Bethany is walled in. The people have no access to Jerusalem located just on the other side. There are 35,000 people living in Bethany.
Our Bus Captain asked me to lead a prayer while we were in the Tomb of Lazarus. This is what I wrote and then prayed:
On this day, O God, we give thanks for the opportunity to be in this time and place. We give thanks for the people who nurtured us to this point.
For the Palestinian people in their suffering we pray.
We pray for the Israeli and world community to help Palestinians out of the tomb of despair.
We pray for our situations and those of our families, may we too believe so as to be resurrected from our life situations.
Remove the stench of pain, death, degradation and suffering. Amen.
This sign is the only resistance to the occupation take over by Israel that we saw! Every person we spoke with in Palestinian sections wanted non-violence to end the occupation and non-violence to regain their land, property and lives. This sign was the first and last sign we would see of resistance, until our departure day, when The Wall was craned apart in Gaza!
However, resistance has milder forms. For example, the group which hosted us in homes is a non-violent group of Christians, Muslims and Arabs, working for peace and an end to The Occupation. Their message to us: We are not what you see on CNN.
When back in the Old City of Jerusalem for a few hours of strolling and talking to the locals we saw a great deal.
British and American Jews, who accepted the offer to receive free housing to live in Israel, abound.
The Strike was today. The strike was in response to the turning of power off again in Gaza, as well as turning medicines and supplies away from Gaza. The strike was in the Old City. All was closed. Our friend Ibraham, just happened to be closing late when we happened by. He spoke briefly to us and then, we continued along, seeing nothing but Israeli soldiers and the Israeli helicopters. The helicopters only fly over when the Palestinians strike by closing shop or when Gaza is in unrest.
When we got to the Christian Quarter of the City, our friend Nasim invited us for tea. Inside his shop the men were smoking from the hooka, a large bong filled with water and tobacco. The tea arrived from a nearby shop by a little boy, who sang as he delivered the 7 cups, filled with Lipton and mint leaves.
(Everywhere we go, people treat us hospitably with cups of tea!)
After tea, we continued our walk, running into an elderly man named Abraham. He used to be a guide for American Holy Land visitors. A member of our group, Rich, asked what his hopes and dreams for Jerusalem were. Abraham said, "My hopes and dreams are not the same. I dream for free human rights. To live like a human being and like any other nation. What is good for me is good for you."
"My hope, it will never exist because humans are selfish. No give, only take." He was referring to having his home back, having been taken by Israeli Jews.
"What do you think of Bush," he asked. (Everyone asked us this question.)
"This is colonization." Abraham insinuated how Bush helps it along. "Red carpet was given for Bush. No red carpet for people here."
Onward we continued to peer at the Prayer wall.
The Kepah is the identity hat Jewish men wear as a sign of the submission to God. The Talete is the prayer shsawl the men wear and it dates back to Jesus' day. Remember the woman who touched Jesus' robe? More likely, it was this prayer shawl.
The shawl has 613 tassels because of the 613 commandments given. Also, the men wear a philactory (not sure of spelling) tied from their head to their arm to their hand.
More about the Wall in next blog.
Prayer:
May the God banging at the doorways of our hearts
gain access to loving, justice seeking people.
Today, may God of the striking Palestinians,
the God who hears the suffering
and cries with the suffering
wrap up the people in comfort. Amen.
The Upper Room here is not the holy place I imagined.
It was crowded, noisy!
It was complete chaos.
While the tour guide spoke, or yelled, others were praying and singing in other languages. And, someone was banging on a door the next level under us - very loudly. (Is God knocking?)
God has a sense of humor, so I'm learning.
God's definition of Holy differs from mine, so I need some adjusting.
Perhaps chaos is the entry toward peaceful living?
The Upper Room is located in the former Upper City of Jesus' day.
It is an interesting room, a place one would want to contemplate.. perhaps...
if only it were the original. The church was built in the 16th century by the Franciscans - built on top of the 5th century Byzantine church. The Franciscans were driven out and the church made into a mosque. Still today you can see the Muslim mark on the wall that indicates which direction Mecca stands. Today, the Municipality of Jerusalem owns the site and maintains the building.
Now about Bethany. It is a beautiful village, surrounded by "The Wall." The Wall keeps Palestinians in. A sign nearby reads: "We shall never kneel or surrender. The Wall Shall Fall."
Bethany is walled in. The people have no access to Jerusalem located just on the other side. There are 35,000 people living in Bethany.
Our Bus Captain asked me to lead a prayer while we were in the Tomb of Lazarus. This is what I wrote and then prayed:
On this day, O God, we give thanks for the opportunity to be in this time and place. We give thanks for the people who nurtured us to this point.
For the Palestinian people in their suffering we pray.
We pray for the Israeli and world community to help Palestinians out of the tomb of despair.
We pray for our situations and those of our families, may we too believe so as to be resurrected from our life situations.
Remove the stench of pain, death, degradation and suffering. Amen.
This sign is the only resistance to the occupation take over by Israel that we saw! Every person we spoke with in Palestinian sections wanted non-violence to end the occupation and non-violence to regain their land, property and lives. This sign was the first and last sign we would see of resistance, until our departure day, when The Wall was craned apart in Gaza!
However, resistance has milder forms. For example, the group which hosted us in homes is a non-violent group of Christians, Muslims and Arabs, working for peace and an end to The Occupation. Their message to us: We are not what you see on CNN.
When back in the Old City of Jerusalem for a few hours of strolling and talking to the locals we saw a great deal.
British and American Jews, who accepted the offer to receive free housing to live in Israel, abound.
The Strike was today. The strike was in response to the turning of power off again in Gaza, as well as turning medicines and supplies away from Gaza. The strike was in the Old City. All was closed. Our friend Ibraham, just happened to be closing late when we happened by. He spoke briefly to us and then, we continued along, seeing nothing but Israeli soldiers and the Israeli helicopters. The helicopters only fly over when the Palestinians strike by closing shop or when Gaza is in unrest.
When we got to the Christian Quarter of the City, our friend Nasim invited us for tea. Inside his shop the men were smoking from the hooka, a large bong filled with water and tobacco. The tea arrived from a nearby shop by a little boy, who sang as he delivered the 7 cups, filled with Lipton and mint leaves.
(Everywhere we go, people treat us hospitably with cups of tea!)
After tea, we continued our walk, running into an elderly man named Abraham. He used to be a guide for American Holy Land visitors. A member of our group, Rich, asked what his hopes and dreams for Jerusalem were. Abraham said, "My hopes and dreams are not the same. I dream for free human rights. To live like a human being and like any other nation. What is good for me is good for you."
"My hope, it will never exist because humans are selfish. No give, only take." He was referring to having his home back, having been taken by Israeli Jews.
"What do you think of Bush," he asked. (Everyone asked us this question.)
"This is colonization." Abraham insinuated how Bush helps it along. "Red carpet was given for Bush. No red carpet for people here."
Onward we continued to peer at the Prayer wall.
The Kepah is the identity hat Jewish men wear as a sign of the submission to God. The Talete is the prayer shsawl the men wear and it dates back to Jesus' day. Remember the woman who touched Jesus' robe? More likely, it was this prayer shawl.
The shawl has 613 tassels because of the 613 commandments given. Also, the men wear a philactory (not sure of spelling) tied from their head to their arm to their hand.
More about the Wall in next blog.
Prayer:
May the God banging at the doorways of our hearts
gain access to loving, justice seeking people.
Today, may God of the striking Palestinians,
the God who hears the suffering
and cries with the suffering
wrap up the people in comfort. Amen.
Yad Vashem - Jewish Holocaust Museum
On Sunday the 20th we visited Yad Vashem. It is a museum funded by many but initially funded by an American Jewish couple.
The museum was built of concrete. It was set up like intestines. You had to wind your way through to the end where you were deposited into an area of bright sunlight and garden.
Here are some quotes from inside the museum:
"A country is not just what it does - it is also what it tolerates. "
Kurt Tucholsky, A German essayist of Jewish origins
5th Century Christians decided not to keep killing Jews but rather, to keep Jews in humiliation. St. Augustine said, "Slay them not, scatter them abroad." So much for Christianity and the "Saint" called Augustine.
"No one need be surprised if among our people the personification of the devil, as the symbol of all evil, assumes the living shape of the Jew." Adolf Hitler in the Sub Human Newspaper
April 1, 1933 boycott of Jewish owned stores in Germany
April 7, 1933 1st racial law against the Jews goes into effect
From Martin Niemoller, a German Pastor
First they came for the communists
but I didn't speak up because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the Socialists
but I didn't speak up because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the Jews
but I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Homosexual
but I didn't speak up because I was not a homosexual.
Then they came for me
but there was no one left to object.
Some of the folks who fled Germany and were assimilated by other countries:
Albert Einsten
Sigmund Freud
Max Reinhardt
Herbert Marcue
Kurt Weill
Lisa Mertner
Stefan Zweig
Walter Bengamin
Theodor Adorno
Nelly Sachs
Franz Werfel
The only place in the Ghetto for the sick is Marysin (cemetary). Oskar Zinger's diary July 14, 1942
When one is hungry, but can't be hungry, he plays the trombone for the Germans.
The Wild grasses rustle over Babi Yar
the trees look ominous like Judges
Here all things scream silently
Yevgeny Yeutushenko in Babi Yar
Most SS were young men in their 30's
2/3 rds were university educated
1/2 had doctoral degrees in law, economics, political science or philosophy.
"The Final Solution to the problem of the Jews is methodical campaign."
"The camp's law is that those should be deceived till the end going to their death."
Tadeusz Borowski
"All of us are dying here amidst the ice" Avraham Levite 1.3.1945
Artic indifference of the nations
are forgotten by the world and by life.
"I know that when I stand before God on Judgment day. I shall not be asked the question posed to Cain -where were you when your brother's blood was crying out to God?"
Imre Bathory. Righteous Among the Nations, Hungary
"Not yet alive, not yet dead" Isabella
"life under Nazi rule threw Jews into identity crisis"
This day is a day of sorrow for me, visiting a museum cataloging the initial indifference of the world to what the Nazi's did to Jews. It is unfathomable.
Ironically, this day my group and I are discussing how the state of Israel is initiating the same tactics against the Palestinian people as those initiated by the Nazi's against Jews. What we learn is that the Jews here believe that their take over of the land and the degradation of the Palestinians is permissible because of quotes like this from the Bible:
I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it declares the Lord. Ezekiel 37:14
This passage was prominently displayed above the driveway of the museum.
Frankly, and detestably to me, the Jews and Christian Zionists believe that because the Holy Land is destined for Jews to live, what happens to the Palestinians is God's vengeance upon them. God loves the Jews and promised them the land.
If life under Nazi rule threw the Jews into Identity crisis, just what happens to the identity (identities) of the Palestinians whose land, homes and livelihoods are taken? What happens to the Palestinians who are stripped of civil rights within their towns and country?
The only place for sick Palestinians today is the hospital (whose supplies are cut off by Israel) or the cemetery. Food, electricity and medical supplies are all cut off, just like in Nazi Germany prior to the "solution" of "extermination."
Rumi eight centuries ago, wrote:
The sadness i have caused any face
by letting a stray word
strike it,
any pain
I have caused you,
what can I do to make us even?
Demand a hundredfold of me - I'll pay it.
During the day I hold my feet accountable
to watch out for wondrous insects and their dwellings.
Why would I want to bring horror
into their extraordinary
world?
Magnetic fields draw us to light;
they move our limbs and thoughts.
Bit it is still dark
if our hearts do not hold a lantern,
we will stumble over each other,
huddled beneath the sky
as we are.
My Prayer today:
God
God of the Jew
God of the Christian
God of the Muslim
God of us all,
stop our warring madness.
Keep us from ghettoizing your holy people.
Keep us from ghettoizing ourselves from the pain of the world!
Keep us mindful of the light that shines in the midst of deep despair
how together with your Spirit, we can overcome the warring madness.
God of the Samaritan, Pharisee and Priest
in all of us,
unfold love from within our hearts -
un-wring us from the twisted mess we've made of life and love
shape us into the identity you bless us with - "beloved"
until the only orthodoxy available is our love of you.
Amen.
The museum was built of concrete. It was set up like intestines. You had to wind your way through to the end where you were deposited into an area of bright sunlight and garden.
Here are some quotes from inside the museum:
"A country is not just what it does - it is also what it tolerates. "
Kurt Tucholsky, A German essayist of Jewish origins
5th Century Christians decided not to keep killing Jews but rather, to keep Jews in humiliation. St. Augustine said, "Slay them not, scatter them abroad." So much for Christianity and the "Saint" called Augustine.
"No one need be surprised if among our people the personification of the devil, as the symbol of all evil, assumes the living shape of the Jew." Adolf Hitler in the Sub Human Newspaper
April 1, 1933 boycott of Jewish owned stores in Germany
April 7, 1933 1st racial law against the Jews goes into effect
From Martin Niemoller, a German Pastor
First they came for the communists
but I didn't speak up because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the Socialists
but I didn't speak up because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the Jews
but I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Homosexual
but I didn't speak up because I was not a homosexual.
Then they came for me
but there was no one left to object.
Some of the folks who fled Germany and were assimilated by other countries:
Albert Einsten
Sigmund Freud
Max Reinhardt
Herbert Marcue
Kurt Weill
Lisa Mertner
Stefan Zweig
Walter Bengamin
Theodor Adorno
Nelly Sachs
Franz Werfel
The only place in the Ghetto for the sick is Marysin (cemetary). Oskar Zinger's diary July 14, 1942
When one is hungry, but can't be hungry, he plays the trombone for the Germans.
The Wild grasses rustle over Babi Yar
the trees look ominous like Judges
Here all things scream silently
Yevgeny Yeutushenko in Babi Yar
Most SS were young men in their 30's
2/3 rds were university educated
1/2 had doctoral degrees in law, economics, political science or philosophy.
"The Final Solution to the problem of the Jews is methodical campaign."
"The camp's law is that those should be deceived till the end going to their death."
Tadeusz Borowski
"All of us are dying here amidst the ice" Avraham Levite 1.3.1945
Artic indifference of the nations
are forgotten by the world and by life.
"I know that when I stand before God on Judgment day. I shall not be asked the question posed to Cain -where were you when your brother's blood was crying out to God?"
Imre Bathory. Righteous Among the Nations, Hungary
"Not yet alive, not yet dead" Isabella
"life under Nazi rule threw Jews into identity crisis"
This day is a day of sorrow for me, visiting a museum cataloging the initial indifference of the world to what the Nazi's did to Jews. It is unfathomable.
Ironically, this day my group and I are discussing how the state of Israel is initiating the same tactics against the Palestinian people as those initiated by the Nazi's against Jews. What we learn is that the Jews here believe that their take over of the land and the degradation of the Palestinians is permissible because of quotes like this from the Bible:
I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it declares the Lord. Ezekiel 37:14
This passage was prominently displayed above the driveway of the museum.
Frankly, and detestably to me, the Jews and Christian Zionists believe that because the Holy Land is destined for Jews to live, what happens to the Palestinians is God's vengeance upon them. God loves the Jews and promised them the land.
If life under Nazi rule threw the Jews into Identity crisis, just what happens to the identity (identities) of the Palestinians whose land, homes and livelihoods are taken? What happens to the Palestinians who are stripped of civil rights within their towns and country?
The only place for sick Palestinians today is the hospital (whose supplies are cut off by Israel) or the cemetery. Food, electricity and medical supplies are all cut off, just like in Nazi Germany prior to the "solution" of "extermination."
Rumi eight centuries ago, wrote:
The sadness i have caused any face
by letting a stray word
strike it,
any pain
I have caused you,
what can I do to make us even?
Demand a hundredfold of me - I'll pay it.
During the day I hold my feet accountable
to watch out for wondrous insects and their dwellings.
Why would I want to bring horror
into their extraordinary
world?
Magnetic fields draw us to light;
they move our limbs and thoughts.
Bit it is still dark
if our hearts do not hold a lantern,
we will stumble over each other,
huddled beneath the sky
as we are.
My Prayer today:
God
God of the Jew
God of the Christian
God of the Muslim
God of us all,
stop our warring madness.
Keep us from ghettoizing your holy people.
Keep us from ghettoizing ourselves from the pain of the world!
Keep us mindful of the light that shines in the midst of deep despair
how together with your Spirit, we can overcome the warring madness.
God of the Samaritan, Pharisee and Priest
in all of us,
unfold love from within our hearts -
un-wring us from the twisted mess we've made of life and love
shape us into the identity you bless us with - "beloved"
until the only orthodoxy available is our love of you.
Amen.
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