"Preparing the way" for the Pope

And yes, I ran too :)

April 23, 2009

BETHLEHEM - From Manger Square, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, about a dozen Palestinians from Beit Sahour, Beit Jalla and Bethlehem geared up to run to Jerusalem in the sixth annual peace marathon. But the runners weren’t sure whether they could complete the race.

“We’ll see if they let me (into Jerusalem). I have a pass, but I don’t know if they’ll let me,” said Imad, 23. Imad’s temporary pass, organized by an Italian organization that sponsored the run, didn’t guarantee entry, but would help.

The logistics of the run reflect the situation. Palestinian runners started from behind the concrete barrier that keeps them from Israel and had to obtain permits to cross the checkpoint, logistics that must be worked out in advance. The Israeli runners, many of whom visited Bethlehem before the first Intifada (uprising), are no longer able to enter according to Israeli law, which prevents its citizens from entering Palestinian territories.

Instead, the Israeli delegation met the runners at the checkpoint where the Palestinian contingent’s entry into Israel would be decided.

These locals and Italian pilgrims “prepared the way” for Pope Benedict XVI, just three weeks before his arrival in Israel, with the sixth annual Pope John Paul II Pilgrimage Peace Marathon on Thursday morning. Some 50 Italians and about a dozen Palestinians and Israelis took part in the “marathon,” actually just six miles, but replete with a border crossing from Palestinian territory to Israel’s capital, an attempt to promote peace in the Holy Land. 

Centro Sportivo Italiano, the Italian Sports Association, brings pilgrims from Italy and “aims to continue the legacy of Pope John Paul II for peace, brotherhood and inter-religious cooperation” through sports, the organization said in a statement. 

Retired AC Milan soccer star Demetrio Albertini, now Deputy President of the Italian Football Association, provided star power for the run. Italian volleyball world champion Andrea Zorzi  also joined the marathon. The first stop for the Italian delegation was Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on Wednesday.

Albertini said the race, because of its mission, was an emotional event for him. 

“It’s the sixth, but it’s a new day for a very long run in the future for peace,” he said. “In sports you don’t see that wall between the Palestinians and Israelis. This is the strength of sports, you don’t see your differences. That is why we run, why we are here, to bring this message to the young people to live without these differences.”

The race itself took place in true Italian fashion, relaxed and entertaining. It took two hours for the group to span the route, stopping for photo opportunities and extravagant greetings along the way. The Italian delegates passed out olive branches to Palestinians on one side of the wall and to Israelis on the other. 

In the end, all the Palestinian runners crossed the border without a hitch and finished the race at Notre Dame church across from the Old City. 

Would the race bring peace? Maybe not, but Murad Manoureh, a Palestinian from Beit Sahour, believes it can help.

 

“Sports is the language for everybody in the world,” he said. “It is a good language and we play by the rules. We run for peace and we run for some sport.”

“We want peace with Israel and we want to visit Jerusalem. We haven’t been here for a long time and it is nice to see it after a long time,” he said. 

Yaron Rohin, a Jerusalem runner, has participated in this run for five years. 

“It is beautiful to see that the Palestinians crossed the border with relative ease,” he said. “They met us together with the Italians. Now we just need to see some results. If the politicians will also understand this, then we will see peace.”

Sirens sound for Holocaust Memorial Day

Somber memorial coincides with Hilter's birthday and anti-Israel racism conference

April 21, 2009

Originally published here.

In a chilling coincidence, this year’s solemn Holocaust commemoration in Israel landed on Adolf Hitler’s birthday as well as on the first day of a United Nations racism conference the Jewish state says is taking a marked anti-Israel stance.

Several Israeli organizations have sent delegates to Geneva to protest the conference. One organization, Israel Empowerment Fund, rallied Christian Zionists from around Europe to take part in the pro-Israel protests.

“The conference is only an excuse to blame Israel for all the problems in the world and be anti-Semitic, which is ironic because the whole theme of the event is supposed to be against racism,” Michael Decker of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice tells Newsmax.

The organization created a coalition of Jews and Christians called “The Israel Empowerment Fund” and called upon European Christians to join them in Geneva for a week of protest events. Demonstrations for and against Israel are set to take place every day of the conference.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Israel of being the "most cruel and racist regime," sparking a walkout Monday by angry Western diplomats at a U.N. racism conference.

Several nations including the United States have boycotted the United Nations’ conference in Geneva due to its statement’s harsh wording against Israel. On Monday, Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, Ilan Elgar, in protest against the Geneva conference and a meeting between Ahmadinejad and Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.

“I feel deeply hurt and ashamed that on such a day, there is the opening of a racist conference in Geneva, and the main speaker is who? (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Israel’s President Simon Peres said in a statement. “A man that calls to wipe Israel off of the map. A man who denies the Holocaust.”

Around the nation, Jewish-owned businesses shut down at dusk on Monday and ceremonies took place at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the nations who boycotted the conference, but condemned it and “its guest-of-honor” who he called “a racist Holocaust-denier who does not hide his intentions to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.“

“The unfortunate fact is that while we are marking the events of the Holocaust here at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, there are those who chose to participate in a spectacle of hatred of Israel, conducted at this very hour in the heart of Europe,” Netanyahu said at a memorial service Monday night. “From here I turn to you, President of Switzerland, and I ask you: how can you, as a head of an enlightened state, meet with those who deny the Holocaust and strive for another one?“

Indeed, several delegates walked out of Ahmadinejad’s vitriolic speech on Monday when he called Israel a "paragon of racism.

The United Nation’s Durban Review Conference is a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa.

Thousands Celebrate 'Holy Fire' in Jerusalem

Easter in Jerusalem

April 20, 2009

Originally published here.

JERUSALEM - The quiet of the Sabbath was pierced Saturday morning by the drums and bagpipes of marching bands that led the patriarchs of various churches in the Old City toward the Holy Sepulchre for the Holy Fire ceremony the day before the Orthodox Easter.

In a nation where headlines regarding Israelis and Palestinians dominate the news, the few Christians here cling to Easter as the one day a year when they parade their identity despite being a 2 percent minority among Jews and Muslims.

The indigenous Christian community is bolstered at this time each year by thousands of international pilgrims who pack into the Old City for a chance to attend the Holy Fire ceremony at the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the tomb of Jesus by Orthodox and Catholic Christians. Some pilgrims sleep outside the church the night before in order to be first inside the church. Greek Orthodox, Armenians and other Eastern rite Christians follow a different calendar than Catholics and Protestants, celebrating Easter on Sunday, April 19.

About 10,000 worshippers were allowed into the church on Saturday, including Steve Toumayan, 32, a Jerusalem native who now lives in Toronto. Toumayan said he took his vacation during Easter so he could return to Jerusalem and attend the Holy Fire service again after 10 years.

“This is the place to be. Everything happened here,” he said referring to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The ritual of the holy fire dates back at least 1,200 years and the origin of the flame, which is said to leap from the tomb, is considered a miracle by the faithful.

But the Holy Fire, or Sabbath of Light ceremony, has been marred in the past by fights between Christians vying for coveted turf in the historic church. One year the Greek Patriarch and an Armenian priest came to blows in the tomb of Jesus, leading to a fight that spilled out between followers of the denominations.

Since then, young Christian men don a priest robe for the day ready for a fight; hundreds of Jewish Israeli police, border guard units and riot police block sections of the Old City to control entry to the church; and Muslim families, who hold the church keys, seal the tomb of Jesus with wax when the priests go inside to pray.

This year no inter-Christian fights were reported although many scuffles erupted at police checkpoints when pilgrims pushed to get through police barricades. Otherwise, the ceremony was peaceful and touching to the faithful who awaited the flame. Congregants from the Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Greece and Armenian, among others, held bundles of candles as they waited for the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land, Theofilos III to enter the tomb. After the flame appeared it was passed from the tomb and relayed to all the candles in the church. One is even flown to Greece.

Before the flame was passed from within the tomb, Nectar Derian, 65, from New York, on her first visit to Israel, thanked God for the opportunity to be at the ceremony.

“This light comes from heaven and I’m anxious to light my candle,” she said.

Since the Orthodox Palm Sunday last week, the Christian and Armenian quarters of the Old City have been packed with visitors, revelers and proud bearers of jewelry or tattoos of crosses. Naro Kalaydian, owner of Bulgourji Armenian Restaurant, said the business had seen an endless run of tourists from around the world and local Christians on holiday the entire week, a significant boost from last year.

The Holy Sepulchre was dedicated by Constantine in the 4th century. The present church was built in 1810. Today about 14 denominations claim some degree of rights in the church, with six that have rights to hold daily services in the church including Armenian Orthodox, Coptic, Ethiopian, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Syrian Orthodox. All denominations abide by a decision that allows a Muslim family in the Old City to hold the keys to the church.

Israeli parliamentarian says nuclear Iran balances Israel

Yes, she is in the Israeli government
March 31, 2009

On one of her first days in the Knesset, Hanin Zoabi said she welcomed increased Iranian influence in Gazaalso called Israel an "aggressor state." Zoabi is the first woman elected in the Balad party which is Arab. As reported by The Bulletin:

“If this influence is supporting me, so I will not mind this influence. Even, I would ask for this influence ... The question is not whether there is an influence or not, the question whether this influence is supporting you, can support your demands or can go against your demands.”

Queried regarding Iran’s quest to manufacture nuclear weapons, she stated was that “It would [sic] be more supporting me to have a counter-power to Israel” and “I need something to balance its [Israel’s] power.”

She also spoke of Egypt and Jordan as being a threat to the Arabs of the Gaza Strip, intimating that they are scared of a free and democratic Palestinian state.

Ms. Zoabi was then asked if she felt worried due to the fact that Iran is getting close to acquiring a nuclear weapon and because she lives in close proximity to Jews. She replied, “No, I am not, I’m afraid from the nuclear Iran, I am more afraid from the Israeli nuclear [weapons].”

Israel is a democracy that allows free speech. Zoabi's case isn't unique. Many of the Arab party Knesset members speak out against Israel and advise the Palestinian Authority. In many other nations, this would be considered treason, but Israel allows it.

More from Zoabi:

Ms. Zoabi said that Israel was an aggressor state, and that only a situation similar to that which existed between the Soviet Union and United States in the form of the doctrine of “Mutually Ensured Destruction” would restrain Israel.

“It’s the balance of power. This is the only idea. Our only idea that it is more dangerous to the world, more dangerous to everyone, more dangerous to the Palestinians, to Israelis to have Israel as the only powerful state. I need something to balance its power because this balance of power will restrict the Israeli using of power. The Israeli violence of the army is an outcome of the Israel’s convenient feeling that no one will restrict her, that no Arab country will really declare a war against [Israel].”

She continued by saying “and another thing … I need a power which can make contrast to the Israeli power and it’s not for myself. It is not supporting me the fact that Israel would be the only state with a nuclear weapon. It’s more supporting me to have counter power to Israel.”

“I believe that [Israel] would respect its use of power if she’s afraid from others. The fact that she is not afraid from Arab countries, the fact that she is not afraid from a potential declaration of our Arab world to declare war against Israel, makes Israel more violent. You understand me. Sometimes I need power not in order to implement this power but in order to respect the other’s power. “

She was then asked if an Iranian bomb would lead to a nervous America and thus more U.S. pressure on Israel and if that would be good for her she replied “Exactly.”

Checkpoint violence

March 31, 2009

Two Palestinian students said Israeli border patrol guards beat them at a checkpoint on Saturday as they were making their way from Jericho to Jerusalem.

According to Alla and Iad Mazlum, relatives of the two, said the two were detained at the checkpoint along with other Palestinians.

Alla's father told Ynet that after identifying themselves, his son and Iad were taken into a room, where the officers ordered them to strip and "beat them for no reason."

... Border Guard said the officers offered a different version of the events, but added that the incident would be investigated.

If true, a travesty indeed.

Two-state solution older than Israel

March 31, 2009

The two-state solution isn't a new and sudden idea. In this American Thinker piece, Victor Sharpe traces the history of two states to pre-Israel. And it was a lot larger than anything in question now. In fact, present-day Jordan would've been included in Mandatory Palestine.

The Balfour Declaration issued by Lord Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, never envisaged that the Jordan River would be the eastern boundary of the reconstituted Jewish homeland.

The squabbling by the French and British colonial powers over the final frontiers of the Palestine Mandate had earlier led the London Times to urge Paris to accept sensible and rational frontiers in both the north and east of Jewish Palestine. As early as September 19th, 1919 it had thundered in an editorial:

"The Jordan will not do as the eastern frontier of Palestine ... Palestine must have a good military frontier east of Jordan ... Our duty as Mandatory is to make Jewish Palestine not a struggling state but one that is capable of vigorous and independent life ... "

Great read. Article here.

Thanks, Islam. No really.

March 31, 2009

If anyone can believe this, the Anglican church's Archbishop Rowan Williams thanked Muslims for bringing religion back to Great Britain. Muslim.net reported:

In an unprecedented move by a Western Christian leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has praised British Muslims for bringing back religion and ethics into public life.

"I think Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life," Williams, the leader of the Anglican Church, told the Muslim News. "And I think it's very right that we should have these debates and discussions between Muslims and Christians and others in public."

Britain is home to more than 2 million Muslims.

This is the first time a Western Christian leader thanks Muslims for bringing back religion to a secular Western society.