Now, THIS is a god Palestinians can identify with! This god, on trial before Pilate, convicted by the mob, spit upon, mocked, taunted with the vile-tasting wine, totally abandoned as he hung there dying—When Christians in Bethlehem read this story, they know what Jesus is facing. They have been there, arrested by Pilate’s soldiers, waiting in Pilate’s prison and standing in his courtroom.
They, too, have been betrayed by their leaders—their own leaders and their military rulers, the Israelis. They have sat forgotten in Israeli jails, where they have also been beaten—young and old alike. They have been mocked at checkpoints, taunted by soldiers who make them lift their shirts. They have suffered the indignity of a pat-down every time they want to leave their town. They have stood impotent as the soldiers beat their children. They have stood for hours in the hot sun, at the whim of a 19-year-old in a green uniform pointing an AK47 at them. They have been abandoned by the international community that created Israel out of their villages and olive groves.
On March 29, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons launched a hunger strike, protesting the inhumane treatment they have received and Israel’s violations of internationa
l law. In the US, we don’t hear much about Israeli prisons, but for Palestinian prisoners, Israeli prisons serve as educational institutions. The prisoners meet together, the older ones teaching the younger ones. They learn about the history of the Palestinian people and they read Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The prisons are a school for non-violent resistance to Israel’s occupation. Sami Al Jundi was a teenager when he was sentenced to ten years in prison after a bomb he was building exploded, killing his friend. His new book, The Hour of Sunlight, co-written with Jen Marlowe, is his story of transformation in these prison schools. After his release, he founded an organization bringing together Palestinian and Israeli youth.
His is not the experience of all Palestinian prisoners and not everyone embraces non-violence. And, as Mazin Qumsiyeh pointed out during his visit to Denver in March, Palestinian non-violence is often met by violence on the part of the Israeli soldiers. But Sami’s story inspires others in their non-violent work and the work multiplies—I have seen for myself some of the non-violent work being done all over Israel and Palestine, for example, Sulha, the group I met with last year in Jerusalem. Photo shows Sulha youth and their leader, Elad. See part of that story on my blog: http://apilgrimstales.blogspot.com/2010/05/peace-is-road-that-takes-you-somewhere.html
Watch an intereview on GRITtv with Sami Al-Jundi and Jen Marlowe http://www.blip.tv/file/4976052
O God, you know the life of a prisoner. You stood before the greatest military power of your time, on trial for your life. Help us to stand with prisoners everywhere—both in Israel and with the people in our own prisons right here in Colorado. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment