Holy Land Trust

TechCamp RamallahMay 2-3rd, 2012An E-diplomacy initiative on...

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:24:36 +0300

TechCamp
Ramallah
May 2-3rd, 2012

An E-diplomacy initiative on behalf of the U.S State Department, TechCamp was held in Ramallah May 2nd-3rd, 2012.

The event was geared toward Palestinian women from across the West Bank. It’s three major goals were to: empowering women, gain knowledge in technology-fueled innovation and strengthening civil society.

During the two day camp, technology specialist provided information on the latest social media tools such as Facebook, Meetup, SMS, Mapping, Tumblr, Citizen Journalism and many others.

We explored ways to share real stories about real lives and real people through social media.

My personal observation: when you have lived the majority of your life in an oppressive state, your ability to dream gets lost. When these women were given the time and space to dream; when they were told “Your life matters”, even their physical appearance changed! Their eyes lit up, they sat straight up; they stood with dignity renewed.

[Holy Land Trust]

Christ at the Checkpoint Conference March 8th, 2012. Bethlehem,...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:44:16 +0200

Christ at the Checkpoint Conference March 8th, 2012. Bethlehem, Palestine.

‘I don’t preach I just share stories’ was Lynne Hybels humble introduction this evening to a packed crowd on the third evening of the Christ at the Checkpoint conference 2012. Hybels, who has been actively involved in women’s ministry both in her home country of the US and overseas says that she loves the Middle East and has visited Palestine and Israel six times in the last three years. However, this evening the onus was firmly off the world-famous speaker and on a series of women who Hybels claimed were ’ her heroes’. Women, both Israeli and Palestinian whose lives had been changed and shaped by the conflict were talked of by Hybels in the most reverent and humbling way. Stating that ’ women are the greatest untapped resource in the world’ she went on to usher in tomorrow’s International Women’s Day by commenting on how women were also the most unfairly treated, underrepresented and under-served group in the world also. However, regarding the current situation in Palestine Lynne’s stance was clear in the stories which she used, and the words of others which she chose to share - most notably those of a Israeli Woman who’s simple but poignant advice to Lynne was ’ We have a voice and we must use it. Decent people shouldn’t be afraid to raise their voices’.

[Corrie Sissions]

Christ at the Checkpoint Conference March 5th-9th, 2012....

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:06:00 +0200

Christ at the Checkpoint Conference March 5th-9th, 2012. Bethlehem, Palestine.

Towering at over six foot tall, with his dreadlocks and baggy trousers, American Shane Claiborne stands out amongst the hundreds of conference delegates at CATC this year, let alone the other speakers! Well known for his fervent pursuit of community and simple living, Claiborne delivered a hard-hitting and inspiring message to over 500 people on the second night of the conference. Speaking on the topic of ’ The barriers which divide’ he spoke of his time in the Middle East and Iraq, of the people he had met there and the friendships he had formed. Referring to the parable in Luke 16 of the rich man and Lazarus he highlighted how barriers in our society, both visible and invisible can divide us in terrible ways. ’ These walls’ said Claiborne ’ are for a world which has lost it’s imagination’ , as he called for the conference delegates to recognize that we have a God who is ’ really good at tearing down walls’. His message was simple, but honest and undoubtedly left a lasting impression on those who heard it. He spoke of war and hardship but most of all he spoke of love. Indeed, many of us who have traveled from across the globe to Bethlehem this week are compelled by the notion that, as Claiborne shared, ’for some strange reason God doesn’t want to change the world without us’ …

[Corrie Sissons]

The Launching of Women Nonlinear Leadership Program

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:16:47 +0200

With twenty graduate nonlinear women leaders the Women Nonlinear program was launched in Mount David Hotel in Bethlehem. The program started with a workshop of four days from 7-10 February 2012. It was led by Paula Alter who is one of the nonlinear coaches from the UK.

The women came from different areas of the West Bank and Jerusalem with a great positive energy to start the program. The Training aimed to formulate and develop a team who will engage women in our communities in being leaders and change agents and to empower them in creating a new future for themselves, their communities and future generations. The focus of the training was to help the trainers acquire more skills and knowledge into empowering 540 women in their regions through the trainings and enrollment sessions that the twenty women will lead.

It four days brought cleared vision to the program dynamics and empowered the coaches to move into the following steps to move forward where they are expected to lead two trainings in their governorates where they empower and enroll 540 women into the vision of change.

They were left with a powerful quote from Sheri Zuccato that said “ leadership is nothing more than doing your own work , sharing your journey with each other , modeling a new way , walking together down a new path … daring to move within , sharing what you find with others… leadership is nothing more than going within and finding that part of you that knows what it is you need to do … and trusting what you find there”

Video about the Training:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnTKytn9mFA&feature=player_embedded

News about the Training :

http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/332834

http://www.pnn.ps/index.php/home/pnn/services/website/women/4207-2012-02-10-12-55-08

Eappi Group Report

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:29:56 +0200

We recently visited three villages with Marwan from Holy Land Trust.

We started in Wadi Rahhal where we met the family Abu Ahu. Their house was
demolished in 2005 and that Holy Land Trust rebuilt the home with international help
in 2008. The wife, Abir Abu Ahu, told us that they were harassed by settlers
from Efrata almost every Saturday. The settlers came with dogs, on horses or
on fourwheels tractors just to frighten those living on the property.We also learned how the wall is going to affect them after another confiscating order of their land.

After that we went to Ath Thabra to visit the Hijasy family who lives under
poor conditions with a brain damaged boy whose special food costs the family a fortune.
For his sake we are contacting a german doctor, a neurologist, at Caritas
hospital to ask for eventual support. They no longer get financial support
from any NGO or international organization. For four years they received
60NIS/month from SOS but that has since stopped.

Finally we went to Wadi an Nis and talked a lot about football. A local team of
six brothers played and have won the Cup Final for Palestine.
But they also asked for preventive protection as the shepherds are
constantly harassed by settlers almost every day, especially during the
olive harvest. Marwan promised to keep EAs updated.

Bibi Haggstrom
Eappi Group
Bethlehem

Peace Research Center Donations

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:58:12 +0200

As many of you know, Sami Awad and The Holy Land Trust are working hard to expand our resources and outreach both locally and globally.

We’re transforming an old building in the heart of Bethlehem into a library and resource center. The center will focus on two areas: the history and contemporary community of Bethlehem and the generalstudy of peacemaking, nonviolence and conflict resolution. Books, digital media and specialized research materials will be available on both subjects. This will be the first center of its kind in Palestine. Researchers, international visitors, students and the general public will be able to access historical data on Bethlehem that merges theoretical and historical perspectives. They will also be be able to access materials on peacemaking in a region of conflict, where these materials have a direct, immediate, real world application.

With your help we can turn an empty building into a living, breathing center, available to both the local community and international researchers and guests. We can train local community members in the theory and practice of nonviolence, host a women’s circle, open up the center for film screenings, and create an open space for community dialogue.

We want Bethlehem to be known as a center of peacemaking, rather than a center of conflict and division. We know that you stand with us and that you share our hopes and dreams in this regard.

We are currently raising funds for books and equipment. We have the space! Now, with your help, we just need to bring it to life. You can find more details on the project page (We have two fundraising links-one for those living within Europe that would like to donate, and one for those living in the USA that would like to donate), along with a video from our Executive Director, Mr. Sami Awad:

http://www.crowdfundingfacilities.com/project/peace-research-center-prc-0 (for our EU partners)

http://www.indiegogo.com/Peace-Research-Center?a=322028

(for our US partners)

We look forward to hearing your input and answering any questions you might have. Your continued support and encouragement mean the world to us.

Israel: the episcopate fights shy of the real issues

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:56:02 +0200

From the Revd Jeremy Moodey

Sir, — No one could disagree with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s observation in the recent House of Lords debate that the position of Christians in the Middle East is becoming increasingly precarious (News, 16 December).

It was also gratifying to see Dr Williams highlight the plight of Palestinian Christians, whose precipitous decline in numbers since 1948 he linked to “the tragic situation in the West Bank”.

This important debate was long overdue, and Dr Williams should be applauded for initiating it. But it was troubling that in almost five hours of debate only two speakers — neither of them bishops — mentioned what has led in large measure to this “tragic situation”, namely the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem since 1967.

Only the weekend before last, Israel approved the construction of another 1000 homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Every new settler home makes a peace deal harder to achieve, and it is this that is causing Palestinians of all faiths, not just Christians, to lose hope. And the settlers are becoming increasingly violent: a bus with carol-singers from the Bethlehem Bible College was recently attacked by settlers near Ramallah.

It is right that the Church should have regard to interfaith sensitivities when addressing the problems of the Middle East, but on this occasion its caution has led it to overlook one of the main reasons for Christian flight from the Holy Land.

There was a similar nervousness about addressing the real issues at the Lambeth Palace conference on Christians in the Holy Land last July. Our bishops need to do better, or they risk losing all credibility with their hard-pressed co-religionists in the Middle East.

Sami Awad's most recent Blog Post

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:09:45 +0200

Sami Awad's most recent Blog Post

This photo was taken by our good friend, Rev. Stephen Sizer at a...

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:29:29 +0200

This photo was taken by our good friend, Rev. Stephen Sizer at a Gaza Demonstration outside of the Israeli Embassy December 27th, 2011.

The work continues in the Holy Land.

Preparations for Peace Building Workshops

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:05:43 +0200

The Nonviolence Department in Holy Land Trust had three meetingson 12/13 and 12/14 with schools in Bethlehem who had attended the PeaceBuilding© workshops in 2009. The visits included the Dar al Kalimeh, Sira, and the De La Salle schools.

We proposed an expansion of the workshops by providing lessons on the Five Principles of peace building but extending these principles to the larger community of Bethlehem and the Middle East. We explained our goal was to target the same circles of beneficiaries: the students, the teachers, and the parents. We suggested that a major theme for our trainings would be conflict resolution, nonviolence, civil disobedience and peace building but under the tactic of “boycotting Israeli products”. Our plan derived from several brain storming sessions that were held in the nonviolence department.

The goal : To counter the tendency in Palestinian culture for children to internalize subtle messaging about their haplessness they have learned since they were children and alter it with empowering messages. Participating in a boycott of Israeli products sends a small message “ No “ back to the larger system of domination and makes a child feel like he or she can act.

Both DAR al Kalimeh and Dalasalle agreed to include our workshops in the next semester beginning 2012 for all category age groups selected from the school administration. They will send us their program later and dates when they want to begin. The Sira School asked for more specifics on learning objectives and methods for each lesson. We provided this information on 12/14.

Please note: that this program we will not affect or disturb the school daily teaching schedule, but will be part of it. Lessons will be integrated into the normal subjects including civil education, national education, business and economics, environment and health awareness sessions.

HLT staff interviews Mustafa Barghouti at Women's Empowerment Conference

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:16:00 +0200

Barghouti comments on progress of Women in Palestine

click here to watch the interview

Article of the Day: Is Israel guilty of the crime of apartheid?

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:02:09 +0200

Article of the Day: Is Israel guilty of the crime of apartheid?:

If you have ever visited the West Bank, would you agree or disagree?

Conflict Resolution Workshop

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:16:00 +0200

On the 30^th of November 2011 the HLT Nonviolence Department conducted a workshop conflict resolution at the Dar Alkalimeh Secondary School. We had the honor to train 16 teachers, from the first grade up till the 12^th as well as the school social worker and the principal. We started our workshop by thanking the school and its staff for inviting us to conduct such a work shop in one of the main schools in Bethlehem area.

Lubna Bandak and Marwan Fararjeh from the Nonviolence Department, and Jerry Lawler Ph.D licensed psychologist and volunteer from the United State made up the Holy Land Trust team. We first raised a general question for discussion: What does conflict look like in your school? This generated a lot of animated discussion and first-hand accounts of conflicts between students and teachers’ and frustrations from teachers about not always being able to maintain order in their classrooms.

The trainees were then asked to create a role play depicting student conflict daily in a typical class room inside Dar Alkalimeh School. The trainees jumped into the exercise with enthusiasm taking on the roles of students, teachers, parents and principles, and social worker.

The role play opened up many questions about to deal with certain scenes of conflicts. The team provided many suggestions on techniques for calming classrooms, modeling non-violent behavior, dealing with violent cultural norms brought into the classroom, and handling individual problem children. The workshop seemed to be well received judging from the comments we heard and the HLT team was invited back for a follow-up workshop toward the end of January.

Women’s Empowerment Conference

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:58:00 +0200

On the 29^th of November the members of the Holy Land Trust attended a women’s empowerment conference. This activity which is held yearly and which I have attended in the past was targeted for women in the Bethlehem area and was sponsored by Health Development Information and Polices (HDIP) program in Ramallah.

The event drew around 200 women who were provided inspiring messages on different topics including health awareness, media, lobbying and advocacy, and human rights and nonviolence. Although all the women were from the Bethlehem area the women came from a variety of backgrounds and age groups.

Mona Mattar, the local coordinator for this program, delivered a stirring opening speech about how women have achieved many amazing things as a result of the HDIP empowerment program. These achievements are especially remarkable given the limited opportunities available for most Palestinian women. There are many inspiring stories of struggles against fierce odds and overcoming many formidable barriers.

Mrs Sumar Khalili, the main coordinator of the program, gave the second presentation. Mrs. khalili also congratulated the women who had made great strides forward as a result of the program but went on to tell the group that, given more opportunities, successful Palestinian women could do a lot in transforming the entire Palestinian society.

Dr Mustafa Barghouti gave the keynote address. Dr Barghouti is one of the preeminent public and political figures in Palestine to have attended this conference. He also commented on the powerful achievements shown by women and related many stories of successful and creative women who excelled in their field in spite of the handicap of living under the pressure of the occupation and other barriers in the society.

Holy land Trust’s own volunteer Jenara walker had the honor to be invited to talk about her experience in Ohio and America and the difference between the Palestinian and American women. She described how American women have more opportunity but are less focused on family but, for Palestinian women the reverse is true. Can Palestinian women be provided more opportunities and maintain their focus on family life?

Calling for the Freedom of Palestine

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:14:00 +0200

On 29 November 2011 which marks the International Day for the solidarity with the Palestinian People , the nonlinear dynamic network in cooperation with Al Harra Theater Group organized an activity in that occasion . The aim of the activity was to present through theater the violations of the Israeli occupying forces for the Palestinian basic freedoms of movement , expression , education and religion.

The activity was held at the Manger Square with presence of local and international audience, where two endorsements were read from American volunteers calling for the support of Palestine and ending occupation.

It is important to note that this day was recognized and announced In 1977 at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

To watch video on the activity please check:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xNxaCdRSTU&feature=player_embedded

Article of the Day: Defending the Indefensible

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:46:35 +0200

Article of the Day: Defending the Indefensible

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:32:00 +0200

November 29, 2011 commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. It has traditionally provided an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remained unresolved and that the Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.

On that Occasion Wendy Jennings wrote the following letter:

My five months in Palestine have changed my life. I have fallen in love with the land and the people here. I have been accepted into the community and taken in as one of their own, and I have made dear friends throughout Palestine. Palestine’s beautiful traditions and history have taught me so many lessons, including the value of family and history.

My love for Palestine also causes my heart to break as I witness the oppression and persecution of these people who have loved me and accepted me so generously. My frustration with the American government, my government, has grown as I learn more about how deep and entangled America is in supporting the occupation of Palestinian life. The occupation is an inescapable part of life in Palestine; every day, something reminds us that the Palestinian people are not free.

I stand in solidarity with Palestine because I know they are suffering under an unjust system but they will not be able to defeat this system by themselves. Solidarity from the international community is necessary to loosen the chains of injustice and finally give the Palestinian people the freedom they have been yearning for.

Also Jerry T. Lawler Ph.D shared this statement:

As a psychologist and an American citizen who has traveled 5 times to Palestine in the last 10 years as a volunteer, I heartily endorse the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29th of each year (UN Resolution 32/40 B, 1977). The people of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are virtual prisoners of the occupation by Israel, an occupation fully supported by my country. The occupation violates the most basic human rights of the people here to live peaceful lives, to be treated fairly under the law, to have equal opportunity, and to develop their full potential as human beings. As a psychologist I am especially distressed by the psychological damage caused to children and adults alike by growing up and living under a brutal occupation. I urge people of the world to support an end to the occupation and a swift and equitable transition to a two-state solution to the conflict.

Introducing a new Holy Land Trust Volunteer, Jerry Lawler. He...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:41:59 +0200

Introducing a new Holy Land Trust Volunteer, Jerry Lawler. He shares a bit about himself as well as what he is currently working on at Holy Land Trust.

Launch of 1st Annual Bethlehem Summer of Service Program

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:05:00 +0200

On behalf of the Holy Land Trust, Bethlehem Bible College and Middle East Fellowship, we cordially invite you to this year’s Summer of Service in Bethlehem!

Whether young or old, in the business world or a student, we are excited to offer an exciting program that will allow you to walk where Jesus walked, but, more importantly: to do as Jesus did. That’s why we emphasize service, prayer, fellowship with the local Christian community, peacemaking, healing and reconciliation. (Matthew 16:24-26, Mark 1:17).

Many people around the world dream of visiting the Holy Land. By participating in Summer of Service, you’ll be able to build relationships with Palestinian host families, enjoy traditional food, explore a vast array of Holy sites, and expand your knowledge base by taking Arabic classes and studying God’s word in fellowship with other believers. As if that isn’t enough, students are also able to earn college credit via participation. You will return home with a culturally rich experience that will leave an impact on you for a lifetime!

If you are interested in joining us this summer, or you’d like more information, please visit www.summerofservice.org

Peace to you.

"At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love."

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:14:00 +0200

“At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.