Back to the Holy Land

A group of people from St Johns are going to The Holy Land on 12th-21st February 2016. The trip is being organised for us by Worldwide Christian Travel and led by Embrace the Middle East. 

We will be publishing a daily blog on the Kairos Crowthorne blog. 

Kairos Britain has kindly offered to post highlights of our trip on the Kairos Britain website. 

School Bus for Jordan Valley Children

In March 2014, I visited the community at Al Samra and saw the school under construction. I heard what it meant to that community to have somewhere they could educate their children. And today I read that the school was demolished in August 2015. So, so sad. We will be visiting Jordan Valley Solidarity during our pilgrimage and hope to hear the latest news.

Talk to Windsor St George Rotary

Ken Perrett was invited to speak to the Windsor St George Rotary about his stay in the West Bank in 2014. There was a lively discussion and a great deal of interest shown in the situation in Israel and the West Bank. 

About the Peace Vigil

St John the Baptist Parish Church held a peace vigil on 23rd September 2015 as part of World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel.  It was well attended, particularly by those who will be going gone the Holy Land Trip in February 2016. The service was followed by coffee, cake and discussion.

Peace vigil held at St John's on 23rd September

VIGIL FOR PEACE IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE

Opening responses
Gather in our hearts Lord,
bring peace through our words.
Gather in our hearts Lord,
bring peace through our listening.
Gather in our hearts Lord,
bring peace through our actions.
Gather in our hearts Lord,
bring peace through our silence.
Gather in our hearts Lord,
bring peace through our lives.

Prayer of approach
Eternal God, in your love for this world,
you have made places of great beauty.

And always where heaven is present, hell is never far off.
This is our experience; it is the lot of your people.
We recognise it in the world.

Today, we come to hold before you
that land on which your son put his feet
and first walked the path to heaven,
across the terrain of the earth.

Help us, as we enter into solidarity
with those who are our brothers and sisters
in faith and in humanity,
not to keep apart Palestinian and Israeli in our prayers,
but rather to try with you, and under your guidance,
to find a way of holding the broken pieces,
that in our lives and through our prayers, some greater health and some sign of wholesomeness might come,
and a glimpse of your kingdom appear in our hearts
and on this earth.

Amen. (from ‘Fencing in God’s People, WGRG 2007)

Lighting a candle for peace
In the name of Christ, who is our peace,
we light this light for peace in Palestine and Israel.

Silence

Reading
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good. (from Psalm 122).

Prayers of intercession

God of peace, encourage those who seek to establish a fair and just peace in the Middle East. Bless their efforts as they work to end conflict. Lead those who engage in violence to put down their weapons and to live in peace with one another.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

God of peace and justice
Rain down upon us your peace.
God of peace and justice,
let every heart be filled with peace.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

God of justice, bless those who work for peace through justice. Strengthen their resolve in the face of seemingly endless violence.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

Guide the leaders of the peoples of the Middle East to know your will and to support a just peace for all of your children.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

God of love, lifting up the holy land for all humankind, breathe love and compassion into our prayers with a desire for nothing other than peace: peace in our hearts, peace for all creation, and especially peace in the land that is called holy.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

God of hope, we lift up the city of Jerusalem, distracted and divided, yet still filled with promise as all the cities of the world.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

God of mercy, even as we long to understand that which is often beyond our comprehension, we lay before you the hearts, minds and bodies of all those suffering from conflict in Palestine and Israel and from the ongoing occupation. Shower upon all the people of the Holy Land the spirit of justice and reconciliation.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Silence

God of the nations, give to all our people the blessings of well-being, freedom, and harmony, and, above all things, give us faith in you that we may be strengthened to care for all those in need until the coming of your son, our Saviour and Lord.
God in your mercy
hear our prayer

Amen. (From ACT Palestine)

May our silence speak the peace of God.
May our silence sing the peace of God.
May our silence bring about the peace of God.
Amen.
Silence

Closing responses
Pray not for Arab or Jew, for Palestinian or Israeli, but pray rather for ourselves, that we might not divide them in our prayers but keep them both together in our hearts.

When races fight,
peace be among us.
When neighbours argue,
peace be among us.
When nations disagree,
peace be among us.
Where people struggle for justice,
let justice prevail.
Where Christ’s disciples follow,
let peace be our way.
Amen.

Silence

Adapted from Christian Aid Prayer Vigil for the Middle East.

All the latest news on Kairos Britain website

Kairos Crowthorne is assisting Kairos Britain by producing assistance with the posting of news and events on the Kairos Britain website. One of the latest pieces of good news is that Veolia has pulled out of all involvement in Israel, following the pressure from the BDS movement. Read more about it by clicking here.

World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel.

World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel is 20th-26th September. There will be events around the country to pray for peace. There will be a peace vigil on Wednesday 23rd September at St John the Baptist Parish Church in Crowthorne, starting at 8pm and followed by coffee and cake and an opportunity to share information on the current situation in Israel and Palestine. All welcome.

Contact Ken for more information.

Demolition in the Cremisan Valley

As feared, Israel began its campaign of destruction on Monday 17th August, invading Beit Jala and bulldozing areas of land for the construction of the illegal separation wall through the Cremisan Valley. The confiscation of land is taking place in Bir ‘Ona archaeological site, and the wall will split the Cremisan Monastery valley in half. Read more on the Kairos Britain website. 

Talk to the Rotary Club of Easthampstead

On 20th July, Ken Perrett joined the meeting of the Rotary Club of Easthampstead for dinner, followed by a talk on his "Experience of the West Bank". Ken has now been asked to speak to the Rotary Club of Windsor on 20th October.

Israeli Court rejects the Cremisan Valley West Bank Barrier

Source: BBC

During my two month stay in Bethlehem last year, I made several visits to the beautiful Cremisan Valley. There I learned about the plans to extend the 8 metre high concrete barrier through this valley, cutting Palestinians off from their land and dividing a monastery and convent. I joined the weekly open air service to pray for the valley the people that live here.

I went to two services, organised by the Catholic Church. I explained that I was not a catholic and was told "Everyone is welcome here. We are all together in opposing the separation wall. " 

 

Today Yolande Knell, the excellent BBC correspondent for this area, reports on the decision of the Israeli Court to reject the application from the Israeli Security Forces to build this wall "on security grounds". Never was there a more ridiculous claim to cover a blatant land grab. 

I am delighted with the decision and rejoice with the people of the Cremisan Valley today. 

Read the full story by clicking here.

Talk to the U3A

Ken gave a talk on "Experiences in the West Bank" to Bracknell U3A today. It was well attended and there were some very good questions afterwards. Thank you to the U3A for giving a voice to the situation in Israel and Palestine.

Trip to the Holy Land in 2016

St John the Baptist Parish Church in Crowthorne is organising a trip to the Holy Land in February 2016. This will be led by Su McClellan of Embrace the Middle East. We will stay in Bethlehem for 6 nights, followed by 3 nights in the Galilee. We will have the opportunity to see the Christian regions sites as well as time to engage with Jewish and Palestinian groups.

Becoming an active Kairos Community

St John the Baptist Parish Church has now become an "Active Kairos Community" Kairos Britain defines what this means.

Kairos Active:

Kairos Active Community are required to provide evidence that they have undertaken three activities that promote a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel and have educated and inspired their own (Kairos Committed) Community and beyond.

These activities may include (but are not confined to);

• Raising awareness through events that encourage people to take action for a just peace. There are a list of suggested events and key times of the year here

• Praying regularly for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

• Participating in the boycott of, divestment from and economic sanctions against everything produced by the occupation, including identifying relevant actions the local community can take and enabling them to do so. More information can be found here

• Lobbying and actively engaging with political representatives by significant numbers of the group

• Organising a visit to Israel/Palestine that includes visiting organisations working towards just peace (these should include Jewish Israeli groups, as well as Palestinian organisations). Helpful links and suggestions can be found here.

• Fundraising for local, national or international organisations committed to a just peace in Palestine and Israel. More information on organisations to support can be found here or in the back of the Time for Action document.

• Committing to prayer and action when emergencies or crises happen in Israel/Palestine.

Lent Lecture at St James' Finchampstead

St James' Church, Finchampstead has arranged a series of Lent Lectures. These will be held in the St James’ Church Centre, RG40 4LU, starting at 8pm, with coffee from 7:45pm, and ending at 9:30pm. 

The First of these will be on Tuesday 24th February and be titled "Right and Wrong in the Occupied West Bank – a presentation by Ken Perrett".  Ken is a longstanding member and former churchwarden of St John the Baptist Crowthorne. Following an earlier pilgrimage trip to the Holy Land, he spent two months last year living with a Palestinian family in Bethlehem. His presentation will be based on his experiences.

More details of the Lent Lectures may be found by clicking here.

New Kairos Britain website

The new Kairos Britain website was launched yesterday. I have been helping Charlotte Marshall (Kairos Britain advocacy worker) by undertaking some of the editing for the site. It has been great fun and we hope that people will like the new site.

Keith Taylor - MEP for the SE

Introduction: The UK General Election will be on May 7th. We will all be considering who we should vote for. I have recently contacted Keith Taylor, a Green Party MEP representing the South East. I received this response and felt moved to republish it on this blog. 

Katy Cadwallader, Keith's constituency caseworker wrote:

"Thank you for your email to Keith Taylor MEP, which he has asked me to respond to on his behalf. 

Keith is a passionate campaigner for Palestinian human rights and works on the European Parliament's Delegation to the Palestinian Legislative Council (DPLC). He has been working hard to keep the Israel-Palestine conflict and the violent situation in Gaza over the summer at the top of the European agenda.

In September, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on the role of the EU regarding the situation between Israel and Palestine now that a ceasefire is in place. The Resolution urged the EU to participate effectively in the urgent humanitarian aid effort and in the reconstruction of Gaza, and called on the EU to participate fully in the International Donors Conference on 12 October 2014 in Cairo.

Prior to the vote on this Resolution, MEPs in the European Parliament debated the potential role of the EU in working towards a two-state solution. Keith gave a speech during this debate which blasted the Parliament's weak stance on the issue and their failure to formally recognise the disproportionality of the violence. Keith and some of his colleagues in the Green group were able to demand that the EU take immediate steps to negotiate the lifting of the blockade on Gaza, the extending of fishing zones and to open the border crossing.

Keith's speech is available to view via the following link, from 20:15:00 onwards: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/plenary/video?debate=1410975629570&streamingLanguage=en

Keith also wrote to the EU's previous High Representative for Foreign Affairs (HR/VP), Catherine Ashton, condemning the violence in Gaza and the use of densely populated civilian areas as targets. His full letter is available to read on his website: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Situation-in-Israel-Palestine_Catherine-Ashton_16.07.2014.pdf

You may already know that MEPs debated the recognition of Palestine as a state at the end of November. Keith and the Greens submitted a motion for a Resolution to this debate calling on EU Members to recognise the State of Palestine. The vote on this resolution took place last month, and Keith was thrilled that the Parliament voted in favour of recognising Palestinian statehood.

Keith is also calling on the EU to respond to the continued expansion of Israeli settlements by:

1. stepping up EU public diplomacy, 
2. reassessing cooperation assistance to Israel in line with the “less for less policy”, 
3. strictly excluding the application of EU-Israeli agreements to the occupied Palestinian territories,
4. strengthening advice to EU citizens and companies on settlements and settlement activities and taking action vis-à-vis EU companies complicit in violations in the settlements, 
5. taking concrete measures towards settlers, including the adoption of a non-contact policy and visa ban,
6. excluding settlement products from the EU internal market,
7. revisiting EU-Israeli relations in light of Article 2 of the Association Agreement

Keith has recently met with his Green colleagues on the Palestine Delegation, as well as the Green group's political advisors for foreign affairs, to discuss how pressure could be put on the EU to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Keith and his colleagues are planning a series of seminars in the Parliament addressing serious human rights breaches in Palestine and what steps the EU can take next.

He has also been in touch with the ECCP will soon be co-signing a letter to the new HR/VP Federica Mogherini to consider the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Thanks again for sharing your comments and taking the time to write to Keith. You can see more of the work Keith has done to protect human rights and build towards peace in the Middle East on his website: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/category/peace-anti-nuke/

Be assured that, throughout his term as an MEP, Keith will continue to call on the EU to take a stronger stance and a more prominent role in securing a securing lasting peace between Palestine and Israel, to review the EU's trade agreement with Israel in light of their actions and to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian law."

The Green Party have a full coherent policy on peace in Israel/Palestine. It is good to see a UK political party taking such a stand for peace and justice. 

Ken Perrett

Ken speaks at the Deanery Synod

Ken Perrett was invited to speak to the Sonning Deanery Synod on 24th November. He gave a 30 minute talk on his stay in a refugee camp in Bethlehem, within the West Bank. Following the talk, there was time for questions. If you would like to see the presentation, click here.

Su McClellan tells us about the work of Embrace the Middle East

Su McClellan from Embrace the Middle East came to St John's on Sunday to preach at both 8am and 10am services. She told us about the work of Embrace the Middle East. Embrace the Middle East has just been included as one of the missions supported by St John's. After the 10am service there was a display of the work of all seven of the Church Missions. You can read more about these on the Church website. This was part of the Missions Sunday.

After the service we had the opportunity to talk with Su about how to work for peace and justice in the Middle East - a really helpful day.

Support bedouin communities' access to water

Israeli occupation forces confiscate a portable water tank in Al Maleh 21 June 2012 

While I was in the West Bank, I visited the Bedouin communities in Al Hadidya and Samra. The situation is just as described here by Jordan Valley Solidarity. Please read the story and help if you can. 

Ken Perrett

The majority of Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley have no access to running water and have to collect their water using trucks and portable water tanks. Until recently families in five communities in the northern Jordan Valley have been sharing a truck, but at the beginning of October it broke down. It has been repaired by a local garage, but the families are faced with a bill for 12 000 shekels (which means 2 500 euros), which they are unable to pay.

Please donate to support these families

Demolition in Humsa 1 April 2014

Al Hadidya, Samra, Mak-hull, Homsa, and Ein El Hilwe are small, but strong and steadfast communities, whose lives are lived on the principle of 'To Exist is to Resist'. They all live in tents, and have not electricity or running water. As with all Palestinians living in 'Area C' they are prohibited by the Israeli military occupation to have any permanent structures and in recent years they have all been invaded by occupation troops, which have demolished homes, animal shelters, latrines and other shelters. Their land has been designated as 'military land' and military training is frequently carried out in the area.

Whilst struggling to survive they are determined that they will not allow the occupation forces to drive them from their land. However, the cost of repairs to their truck is a major problem,  and we would like to appeal to our supporters to help pay the repair costs.

Access to water is a major problem for all these families. When they collect the water with the portable tanks they are already having to pay for the cost of the water, plus an additional fee to the water station, fuel costs and the time spent travelling. These exorbitant costs mean that most of these families use as little as 20 litres per person per day, one fifth of the World Health Organisation's recommended amount.

Israeli water tank on the hill above Ein El Hilwe

Historically, people in the area would have sourced water from:

• water wells (the occupation now controls who can dig wells and how deep they can be - by imposing apartheid restrictions on the depth of Palestinian wells they ensure that they rarely yield any significant quantity of clean water)
• the Jordan River (which they haven't had access to since 1967);
• local natural mountain springs (all of which have declared closed military zones by the occupation forces)
• run off from the mountains (which requires concrete water tanks, which are systematically destroyed by the occupation)

In February 2013 the people of Al Hadidiya started to renovate a historic well, which pre-dated the occupation of 1967, so they would be able to have affordable water, but they were stopped by the occupation.

The truck is essential to them, and if you are able to help them you support will be very much appreciated.

Programme of Action for 2015

On 21st October 2014, the PCC of St John the Baptist Parish Church, Crowthorne, approved the following Programme of Action for 2015:-

St John the Baptist Church, Crowthorne has heard the call for peace and justice coming from all the Christian Churches in Israel and Palestine. We pledge ourselves to work for peace and justice for all people living in this Holy Land – for Israelis and Palestinians, for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Every person is made in the image of God and every life is equally precious.

During 2015, we plan to:-

· Keep ourselves informed about the situation in Israel and Palestine through the weekly newsletter, St Johns News and the website as appropriate

· Continue to keep Israel and Palestine in our prayers

· Support the development of a network of UK Kairos Communities, with emphasis on the Churches within the Oxford Diocese.

· Undertake studies to understand more about the historical context and what the Bible has to say about Israel/Palestine.

· Look for, and advertise opportunities to hear more about the situation in Israel and Palestine

· Inform people of opportunities to take action for a just peace in Israel and Palestine

· Support initiatives by groups working for justice and peace in Israel/Palestine.

· Learn more about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) programme and consider whether we might take action as a Church or as individuals

· Inform people about, and encourage them to take up, opportunities to visit or to volunteer to work in Israel/Palestine

· Maintain the “Kairos Crowthorne” blog[1] with links to St John’s website.

In order to support this programme, we propose that the Kairos Group should be opened up to others, possibly including people from other local Churches.

The Kairos Group will report to the PCC annually and consult beforehand on any proposed collective actions by the Church.

[1] To be used for sharing news of events and networking with other Kairos Communities