Among the awful happenings, there is goodness.
Check THIS OUT!
palestine
Middle East Monday: Freedom for Palestine & Coldplay
There is much rumbling in the Middle East these days: the conflict in Israel and Palestine; and the rising of ISIS in Iraq are both horrible events that I soon hope and pray will end.
In the midst of such clamor, some are using their public roles to raise awareness. One such example is the band Coldplay. Check it out.
Coldplay
Middle East Monday: How powerful is YOUR passport?
I lived in Israel and the Palestinian Territories for three years: 2006-2009. I knew there was a global inequity regarding the utility of certain passports. I knew mine was more of a door-opener than many. This reality was made painfully obvious by the restrictions placed upon the Palestinians I lived amongst. Most of them were unable to LEAVE the Palestinian Territories at all. They couldn’t go into Israel proper, they couldn’t get visas to other nations, and this greatly influenced their worldview, their concept of identity, and their sense of injustice.
Likewise, when I was in Baghdad in 2011, I talked with a number of people with a similar problem. However, for many of them, it was a matter of emigration. They wanted to leave Baghdad and they could not get a visa etc to do so. Thus, they were stuck in a war zone. That is absolutely awful. Can you imagine the sense of powerlessness, desperation, and hopelessness one might feel? Daily, friends and family are dying from acts of war and terrorism. You worry about your family, your kids’ safety, and your family’s income in the state of national instability. Not only that, you are exhausted from the daily journey of normal activities which could find you unwittingly at a bomb site, harmed or even dead. That is a very rough life.
Ironically, the following infographic doesn’t represent the Palestinian Territories! That is a further indicator of the lack of awareness about the issues therein.
So, wherever you are from, be thankful for the mobility you have – even if it is limited. Moreover, open your mind to have more compassion and understanding for those who are without some of the simple options you take for granted.
ALSO, what are you going to do with YOUR passport? It’s a key, you know. A key to new places, new spaces, new faces. It’s a courier train, taking your ideas from your norm to someone else’s norm. It’s a library that flies. It’s a thing of wonder, possibility, and beauty.
It’s a pass to other ports. Enjoy it. 🙂
Middle East Monday: When Loving Your Enemies is Loud
Home. Peace. Feeling nestled in.
These are common desires. However, there are areas of the world where this idea of “home” is less established than hearts would like it to be. One such place is the Palestinian territories. I lived in Israel and Palestine for three years. Stories and snapshots, longings and prayers, activism and belief build bridges from dreams to reality. Awareness is important.
With specific regard to the Tent of Nations, I’ve met some of this family. They are kind, just, and visionary. Their experience should be shared- in hopes that influencers will change the direction of their imminent loss. You can be part of the solution. Spread the word.
Tent of Nations on Upworthy
Middle East Mondays: One Woman Plants Flowers In Tear Gas Grenades
I lived in Israel and Palestine for three years. My heart still beats and laughs and rolls and tumbles in a cohesive scramble of love and vision for that place. I long to see peace reside there fully. The story of one woman’s prophetic planting is sweetly inspiring. May it prompt the question: “What can I do toward peace?”
In A World Torn By War, One Woman Plants Flowers In Tear Gas Grenades As A Symbol Of Peace.
Middle East Mondays: You must learn in both directions
I saw an article recently about a Palestinian professor who took a group of Palestinian students to visit Auschwitz. The critical uproar against his actions was very saddening. I thought back to about five years ago when I took a Palestinian friend to see a musical about the history of the Jews. When it came to the bit about the Holocaust, she was horrified! “HOW many people died?!” she asked me. When I answered, “Around eleven million,” she was completely and utterly stunned. “I thought it was like six hundred!” she said. She instantly saw that she had been presented a false reality, a biased report, a lie. She clearly felt uneasy and, likely, a bit gross. Her eyes widened as she further thought about how inhumane it was for people to minimize such an event – moreover, for the purpose of fueling a continued resentment, an “us vs them” mentality, and an international dispute. She was also wondering what else had been presented wrongly to her for the point of keeping Palestinians hostile against their Jewish neighbors.
Granted, a big and beautiful difference in this story, is that my friend is a Christian. She was once a Muslim, but met Jesus and chose to follow Him. In fact, she already loved the Jews. She was still working through some of her past perspectives, but she genuinely loved them. This helped her respond to these newfound facts with sincerity, compassion, and a desire to help heal the wounds between Palestinians and Jews.
Her heart toward healing is a key toward healing in the Middle East. Likewise, the compassion the professor in the article displayed, is also key. Compassion and hearing one another will do more than a peace treaty, a summit, or thousands of books on that matter. Certainly, those tools can be powerful if they involve the spread of compassion, but on their own, they fall short. Love will heal nations. I applaud this professor for leading such healing.
like this child
One of the most disturbing things I’ve ever read
I love life. I do not like death. There is a spirit behind death which is demonic. Yuck. I’ve seen it in “martyr’s monuments” in Palestine; I’ve seen it in the eyes of people tormented by suicidal thoughts; I’ve seen it on dictators’ faces; and I’ve seen it creeping the streets of my beloved Baghdad, Iraq. Killing is evil and it should never be welcomed.
Abortion is a way of killing babies. I know there are many emotional journeys which lead people to choose abortion, things horrendously difficult, and often full of death as well, but this does not justify killing anyone.
All to say,
I really think you should read this book excerpt (HERE) written by a woman who ran a Planned Parenthood clinic.
“The Plea” a poem by Sue Sabbagh
I came across this poem today in the book, “Palestine: History of a Lost Nation” by Karl Sabbagh. It’s a good reminder of the people who need advocacy: people in areas of conflict longing for peace. It’s the desire in a child stuck in an angry home, the desire of an alcoholic afraid of being left alone with himself, and the desire of families around the world who are nearly trapped in their homes on account of war. The flower that pokes through the weeds is the promise that peace is possible. It is precisely what Jesus has paid for, and it is precisely what God has given His children the authority to do: to be repairers of the breach.
Isaiah 58:12 sings of our restorative calling, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” It’s beautiful. What an honor, to love nations to life. So we can hear the plea and know we are not powerless. On the contrary, we are powerful and we are the answer.
The Plea 
to find me you must stop the noise
silence the guns and the tanks,
the shouted orders
and shouts of dediance,
screaming and weeping.
and listen.
my voice is very weak
you must try to hear it
you will have to come close
and pick away the tumbled stones
carefully, gently.
when you find me, lift me out,
help me to breathe,
set my broken limbs
but don’t think it is enough
to give me back a fragile existence
i need food and water,
i need a home that will last,
health and hope and work to do
i need love
you must embrace me
and take me to your heart
…my name is Peace…..
Sue Sabbagh, June 2002
! رمضان كريم and Happy Ramadan Everyone!
Tomorrow August 1, 2011 is the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan occurs during the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, which varies from year to year based on the moon so Ramadan is not the same dates every year, but actually gets about 11 days earlier each year. Ramadan is meant to be a month (30 days) of fasting. This fasting is refraining from eating, drinking, and smoking from sun up to sun down. The practice of fasting is adherence to one of the five pillars of Islam – the five primary tenets of Islam.
Two main greetings during Ramadan are “Ramadan Mubarak” which means “Ramadan Blessings” and “Ramadan Kareem” which means “generous” or “rich” Ramadan. When I lived in Palestine I relished the opportunity to say “Ramadan Kareem” during Ramadan because there was a hidden nutritional content to my words. I was blessing people with revelation and depth of encounter with God. My friends usually thought I was referring to God or “Allah” as identified in Islam, but I was referring to the Living God, the Father of Jesus and the Creator of All. I was blessing them to know the Truth and to have the Truth set them free.
On that note,
RAMADAN KAREEM /
رمضان كريم
to all of you!
Blessings of revelation, encounters with Jesus, and the great and glorious engulfing love of God!
more about Ramadan:
Come believe with me. 