photos

http://members.tip.net.au/~lindafrd/Tourist.html

Some touristy photos from the trip. Larger versions are available if you email me!

I will put comments up. I found out on Thursday night as I talked after the presentation about the middle east trip, that I was thinking and reflecting even more as I told my story. It is a counselling technique to retell story and "make it thicker"; to make the rope stronger. Thank you to those who listen.

Water and Heaven and Hell

Amnesty's report on the situation of Palestinian and Israeli water resources has been summarised in Ekklesia.  Thank you to Brian for a link to this.  Last night I heard some of the statistics from Patricia. I was at the reporting back night of the tour group that went to Israel and Palestine in September. There we had heard from Rich in the Bethlehem refugee camp we went to about Israel "turning on the tap" for a few hours every week or so (or every month or so). Now Amnesty has it documented. The report is to be found at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/027/2009/en/e9892ce4-7fba-469b-96b9-c1e1084c620c/mde150272009en.pdf

The evening of reporting was wonderful with 63 people attending. Thank you to everyone! It was a good time to be telling stories and those stories need to be told. As they are told they gain strength. I told a couple of people of my wonderful time in the crowds at the Damascus Gate. I realised that I needed to go out again (this was just before Eid; a very busy time!) I could not have easily walked through the old city to the hotel. It was much quieter outside the wall. But the crowd! I saw a very large young man, an orthodox jew, going out and I walked behind him. But he could not get through. Some Palestinian workers saw him struggling and they were taking pallets out on their shoulders... they beckoned him to follow. We got through.  :-)

It seems to me that the crowds and pilgrims of three faiths are a vision of heaven. When we acknowledge one another, when we help each other, when we mill around and enjoy festivals from all over... in Jerusalem people from Indonesia, New Zealand, China, India; we all meet... it is heaven.

and we make of it a hell....

Bob Ellis on ABC "Unleashed"

wow! A Bob Ellis tirade against Confidently Asserted Untruth.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2725644.htm

a taste:

"More and more as the boat people come we see how wrong our judgments are. People who keep their children in the camps, we are told, are good people. People who try to give their children a better life in Australia are bad people. It's right for them to wait until their children are criminalised or dead in the filthy, hopeless conditions of the camps. It's wrong for them to get them to a good high school in Australia, because they have 'jumped a queue'. It's better for them to stay in Sri Lanka till their enemies kill them. That's the right thing to do.

...

We believe any family whose house burns down should get the insurance money for it, but not if the Israeli Defence Force burns it down. We believe the three hundred children killed by hostile fire in Gaza were justly killed because bad men were near them. We believe Israelis can kill bad people without bringing them to trial, though Israel is a 'democracy'. We believe Israel has a license to kill, but Arabs who try to kill Israelis are 'terrorists'. We believe Hamas should 'renounce violence' but not Israel. We believe Israel can have secret atomic bombs but not Iran."

and then of course there is the opportunity to join Bob in a rant as the comments show.. But it is good to see this being said!

gender roles and angry conservatism....

Brian's blog http://www.nottoomuch.com/pivot/entry.php?id=1843 has a comment on the Vatican's overtures to disaffected Anglican clergymen. (deliberately gender specific.) He quotes the Church Times' Editorial of 23 October 2009. One paragraph in particular caught my attention:

This much broader struggle within Christianity at first sight appears to be about sex. Throughout the world, the most easily heard tone in religion (not just Christianity) is of a generally angry conservatism. Why? I hazard that the anger centres on a profound shift in gender roles traditionally given a religious significance and validated by religious traditions. . . .

I don't think that I had actually noticed how the shift in gender roles has stirred up angry conservatism. I guess it is obvious, or at least understandable, but do we "blame" feminism for the increasing fundamentalism in so many religions? I never did take feminism seriously enough! I think that maybe it is time that I did!  :-) Thanks Brian!

Asylum seekers and A Just Australia

A Just Australia's newsletter is on line at:

http://content.enewslettersonline.com/14352/29876.html

They talk about the "déjà vu" that many of us are having in these last few weeks as the nation agonises yet again about asylum seekers coming by boat.
There is much more in the newsletter but AJA comment:

"AJA and other refugee groups have been working hard to counter the myths that are currently rife in the public arena. See AJA’s updated Myths and Facts sheet for indisputable information, facts and evidence about asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. Or read AJA’s latest media article. Although we want you to read our Myths and Facts sheet for yourself, here’s a brief summary of major points in the asylum seeker debate:

Australia’s increase in asylum seekers is a close reflection of the global increase in asylum seekers which has resulted from ongoing/increased violence and conflict in countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Australia’s recent reforms to asylum policy were desperately needed in order to respect our international human rights obligations and to return us to a situation where our values of decency and integrity were evident in our policies. A return to policies like Temporary Protection Visas and detention debts could be disastrous for the Australian psyche, let alone the wellbeing of vulnerable refugees.

The lack of protection for refugees available in most other countries in our region means that refugees from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka must travel long distances – all the way to Australia, in fact - before they have reached a country that can offer real and effective protection. In contrast, even UNHCR-registered refugees can be jailed for years in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Australia takes a very small number of asylum seekers, on a per-capita basis, on a GDP-average basis, or in absolute numbers, compared to most other countries.

The myth of ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’ refugees is just that – a myth. By definition, a refugee is escaping a situation of real danger, even death. In such a situation, any one of us would take whatever action necessary to seek safety and to protect the lives of loved ones.

Every human has the right to seek asylum in another country. An asylum seeker has legal status under Australian and international law."

Shministim

http://www.shministim.com/ This year's graduating class in Israeli schools are now Shministim. They know what the occupation of Palestine is doing to their own country. They face ostracism and prison.

They write:

Out of sense of responsibility and concern for the two nations that live in this country, we cannot stand idle. We were born into a reality of occupation, and many of our generation see this as a “natural” state. In Israeli society it is a matter of fact that at 18, every young man and woman partakes in military service. However, we cannot ignore the truth – the occupation is an extreme situation, violent, racist, inhuman, illegal, non democratic, and immoral, that is life threatening for both nations. We that have been brought up on values of liberty, justice, righteousness and peace cannot accept it.

The Shministim Letter 2009-2010
Is inspired by generations of conscientious objectors in Israel and around the world,
who opposed their governments by saying: "We will not fight your wars! We object to being enemies!"

Just how big is Australia???

A bit scary. Check out the map at http://www.rsf.org/en-ennemi33177-Australia.html When the whole continent is greyed out, Australia really does make its mark on the world map. This is not a map of which we want to be a part though!

It comes from Reporters without borders. I was interested to check our rating. It is good and has improved a lot over the last five years. But we are being watched along with Malaysia, Belarus... as potential "enemies of the internet". Those ranks already include Iran and China. I haven't participated in any of the internet actions against the "net nanny" push. But seeing that big grey spot on the globe makes me gulp!


For action about this use GetUp!

Issues

And now for something entirely different. (although sorting of photos is continuing here.)

Issues are crowding in upon me.

Palestine and reflecting on the journey... Women in Black are having trouble getting vigils on Friday and I have not gone in since returning. I think that the Jerusalem women need to be supported with our vigils and the solidarity that offers.
I did not write a letter to the editor responding to people who were responding to Avigail. I did not want to be drawn into their agendas, or answer the questions that their attitudes raise. I need to write my own story; tell the stories that I saw and heard in Palestine (West Bank and East Jerusalem).

Issues about environment and global warming loom large and Fred went to a session on bulk buying of solar panels with local faith communities this week. I need to let Solartec know that we are home so that our ordered extra panels can be installed! :) The welcome rain that is still falling means that more fuel will grow before a potentially disasterous fire season starts.

My church is an inclusive, accepting church; my god especially so. A god who "consorts with sinners and taxpayers." John Bell has a lovely story about the prostitutes and tarts in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus. Much of the October Changing Attitude blog has comment about two important statements this week from bishops. Peter Selby and Jack Spong both speak.write about the process of the debate. It is time to say that it is over. (For Bp Spong at least!) There is a lot in those October comments by Colin. Anglicans need to read especially about the covenant and perhaps also comments about the Archbishop of Canterbury. It's not easy, but some things need to be said.

Australian politics has been enlivened this week by the sad story of Sri Lankan asylum seekers caught now in Indonesia. Malcolm Fraser has chided the coalition for "scratching the redneck nerve". It has certainly been scratched. Senator Hanson Young has visited Christmas Island detention centre and returned with scathing criticism. I have work to do here too.

But today was a joy and a wonder. I spent the day at the Wesley Centre's Third National Seminar on Word and Music in Worship. A breath of fresh air for me (and my lungs) but still echoes of the "bawling" that came when I was listening to the South African anthemn in the aeroplane a little over a week ago. "I will sing the Lord's song until justice comes into this land" was the motto of the Imologue Kantu choir of South Africa. I daresay they still need to be singing that song. Today we heard of the importance of singing justice; saying justice. It then becomes possible; imperative; to think and do justice. Amen.

Home

Home, and, it would seem, to work! I am intending to have a period to reflect, but then diaconal work impinges. Avigail wrote a letter to the editor about Israel which was responded to yesterday (11th October). People seem to think that everything is fine and dandy in Palestine. I don't think that 12 days in occupied territory (and Nazareth, an Arab Israeli city) gives me much knowledge, but we were privileged in the people whom we met as a group, as well as the contacts made individually. It was a huge experience. (and I have looked up "kabod"; often translated as "glorious" when applied to god. Sometimes just heavy or strong, but, as I said, often with the weightiness of authority and position.)

But there is other work too. The RAC web site needed to have a response to tonight's news bulletin and the Prime Minister sounding harsh. http://www.refugeeaction.org/index.html  At least looking for Avigail's letter (not found) a letter from Pamela Curr came up about the Siev 36; the boat that exploded on Ashmore Reef. That is worth reading. http://tinyurl.com/ylp4vac

And the photos. Always the photos. They are gradually being sorted. Some might soon come here as soon as I can get them onto the web somewhere.

In the meantime pilgrimages change you; I don't want to return to life as it was. There are other tasks beckoning. But the experience of an Old City being squashed by a burgeoning modern one, which includes squashing the people who live and work there, is hard to ignore. That most Palestinians do not have problems with check points is only because most of them (95%) cannot use them. What would life be like for me if I couldn't just pop over the boundary into the ACT? No coffee at Tilley's, no contact with friends... life would be so strange and different.

We heard stories of the intimidation and humiliation of going through Israeli border controls. I kept too quiet and compliant when challenged myself. But I wanted, needed to hang on to my camera (literally); and the paranoid soldier who thought I was taking photos of her couldn't, wouldn't understand that the images I saw as we went through the previous check point really were strange. There is no other reality for so many young Israelis. But the UK in the seventies was not this paranoid. IRA bombs were going off in London, street corners were barricaded off, I waited a few hours before the train could get into Inverness because of a bomb threat; I travelled through Afghanistan, then Pakistan and India just after their war; and on the 29th September 2009 I saw a check point where vehicles were stopped in long queues, rudely told when and where to go, and checked for bombs; soldiers walking around with guns (not so unusual in Israel); somehow it seemed surreal and strange. And cried out to be photographed.

Sorry, but in Pakistan in 1971 when I saw a Post Office with sand bags around it I wondered when the floods had been through. I was young and innocent. I am now 60 years old, still a stupid Australian; but not without a knowledge of the world.
Israel is paranoid. I agree with my friend Avigail.

If you want to live near Shechem, go and get Palestinian citizenship! Daniel Barenboim has it!

There, I have sort of told that story. I wasn't arrested; the rest of the group weren't questioned; being taken outside and questioned while I was busy deleting offending photos didn't hold up the group; (immigration still takes time!) Fortunately there was an older man who had a clearer head. And I still have the camera, just minus some good photos and a record of a boring border crossing. (unlike the one coming into Israel which was so chaotic that taking photos was the last thing on my mind!)

Homeward Bound

Now at Heathrow and heading home. Strange tonight getting a wheelchair to this lounge I am in at the moment. Yes I can walk, yes, I can use the stairs, but yes, I need a wheel chair... in which case, I can't travel in the bubble upstairs in the plane, because I need a wheel chair! <sigh>

If you are disabled, then you are disabled... totally. There isn't room for thin myelin sheaths that stop axons working once they get hot!

But it has been a good trip.

Canterbury today was the last pilgrimage. But it is a place of tourists. Difficult to find a chapel for quiet prayer. Loudly interrupted at 1pm to be reminded to pray! Most people did stop and they were quiet. Many altars without crosses. And the windows are not Chartres. (But the new windows were better than the new twentieth century ones in Chartres.)

Time to be at home and tie up the ragged edges that have been exposed by this travel.

England!

made it (just) to the UK! very hairy scary crossing of the Allenby (King Hussein) Bridge.

Fascinating plane trip from Amman. will tell all later

Pilgrimages change you. tis true. I felt the weight of all the pilgrims before me. It is heavy, but also like "kabod". weighty, with gravitas; it is an attribute of god.

more later