Written by Mohamad Jamous, Palestinian Director
On the morning of Tuesday, June 25, 2019, 42 participants from Jericho, Nablus, Jenin, and Bethlehem gathered together. We met at the Church of the Shepherds’ Field, located in the town of Beit Sahour, about a kilometer east of Bethlehem. According to Christian tradition, this is where the shepherds were told by angels about the birth of Christ.
I took this time to welcome the participants, new and old, and introduced myself and the Abrahamic Reunion. I expressed the importance of the Abrahamic Reunion’s activities, meetings, conferences, and other work in the Holy Land.
When I finished speaking, Musa Sabatin, a resident of Bethlehem and friend of the Abrahamic Reunion, led us on a tour of the chapel. He explained the history of the Church of the Shepherds’ Field and showed us the monuments and caves in it.
As we made our way to our next stop, the Church of St. Nicholas, we came across large, angry protests in the Palestinian streets. The protests were because of the Bahrain Conference, an international summit to discuss Palestine’s economic future. The Palestinian Authority called for a boycott of the conference, and neither Israelis nor Palestinians sent a delegation. We found ourselves in the midst of a large group of angry Palestinian youths and many Israeli soldiers who were trying to stop the protests.
As our buses and cars made our way through, events escalated. The youths began to throw stones at the Israeli soldiers, as the Israeli army fired tear gas. We were in the midst of it all!
My car was hit by some of the stones, and everyone inhaled the tear gas. I looked behind me and did not see the second bus, which was carrying 20 people from Jenin! I could no longer feel anything in my body. All I felt was fear and horror, thinking something happened to the lost bus!
We got away from the protests and stopped on the side of the road. I contacted the coordinator for the second bus, Wessam Sudah. He told me that everyone was fine, but they were unable to get through. The army made the bus turn back. I told him that we would continue on to the church, since we were already late for meeting Father Bolous Allam. Meanwhile, Mousa would guide the bus on a different route so they could meet us there.
At 1:00 pm, we arrived at the Church of St. Nicholas in Beit Jala. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of Beit Jala, making this the most important church in the city. Under the church, there is a cave. In the fifth century, St. Nicholas lived in this cave overlooking Bethlehem, so that he could worship near the place of Jesus’ birth.
We were welcomed by Father Bolous Allam, the pastor of the Roman Church in Bethlehem, and Sheikh Maher Assaf, the religious leader in the Political Orientation in Bethlehem. We took a small break to rest from the fatigue of the road and gas inhalation. I passed out water as we began to calm down from the fear that took control of some older people because of the terrible events we were caught in. Half an hour later, the second bus made its way to the church, and I distributed water to them as well.
With everyone back together, Father Allam welcomed us all and began to speak. He began by telling us, “I do not consider you participants. I consider you fighters for peace. Whoever would bear all these difficulties and terrible things to be here, to attend an interfaith event, is a fighter for peace. You are all young and old fighters for peace!”
He continued saying, “Love is the main message of Christianity,” and we should love all people, including those who are very different than us. If people of different religions are to live together, “this coexistence should begin from mutual trust and respect, from the desire to cooperate for the benefit of humanity.” He ended by telling us that the path of interfaith peacebuilding will “increase love and peace not only between Islam and Christianity, but between all religions in the Holy Land!”
When Father Allam was finished, Sheikh Maher Assaf delivered his speech. He began, “The most important thing in starting the process of serious and effective dialogue is going back to the religious texts, the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an, to search for the commonalities, which are certainly many.” He explained that we often get caught up in how different these religions seem, and focus on the details of how they worship or how they pray. It is much more important to look at the similarities in what they believe and how they interact with the world.
He also pointed out that faith requires two types of relationships. The first is the relationship between man and his Lord. The second is between two fellow humans. Religions emphasize the importance of human relationships with those who are different. Both types of relationships are necessary for true faith. Believing in God has no meaning when a person oppresses and enslaves others.
We thanked Sheikh Maher Assaf and Father Polous Allam for their hospitality and wisdom, then took a photo together with the Abrahamic Reunion banner before leaving.
Our next stop was the Church of the Nativity in the center of Bethlehem. This is the church where Jesus was born, located in the south of the West Bank and built by Emperor Constantine in 335. It is one of the oldest churches in Palestine and the world. Religious rituals have been held there regularly since the beginning of the sixth century.
We were received by Father Issa Thaljieh, the Roman Orthodox Priest in Bethlehem. He is known for his constant smile, good spirit, and beautiful words. As he led a short tour of the church, he told us that “Bethlehem is a model of Islamic-Christian coexistence, where Muslims and Christians live side by side, sharing joy, happiness, and sorrow. In Bethlehem, the church meets the mosque, the sounds of church bells ring and the voice of the Qur’an is heard from the mosque.” Indeed, directly across from the Church of the Nativity, is a mosque. He continued, “Muslims and Christians celebrate their festivals together. On holidays, love and joy are embodied.”
After the tour and the wise words of Father Issa Thaljieh, we took a photo together next to one of the church’s caves. We then bid farewell to him, in the hope of seeing him at future events.
It was now around 4:00 pm, so we went to a popular restaurant in the center of the city, close to the Church of Nativity. We took a short break to eat. Our meal consisted of shwarma, hummus, beans, msabaha, and various salads. We then moved on to the village of Batir, one of the Palestinian rural villages in the countryside west of Bethlehem, characterized by beautiful nature and traditional vegetable orchards.
We visited a Roman pool, Ein Pater, and took a tour of the area. We had planned to visit the Mosque of Batir, to meet with the village’s sheikh, but he was unable to come. Instead, Mousa Sapatin explained the history of the village and its landmarks, as participants snapped photos of the beautiful landscape.
Finally, we all sat down together to have a discussion session about the Abrahamic Reunion and the day’s activities. We talked about what we learned during the day, and what we wanted to do in the future. At 6:30 pm, we all left the village and the buses took us back to our homes, already looking forward to the next meeting.
