December 8, 2022
Mohamad Jamous, AR Palestinian Director
Pictured above: David Less, AR Co-Founder, brought a group of international peacebuilding supporters on a peace journey to the Holy Land Dec 3-14, 2022, pictured here with Mohamad Jamous (R)
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In this report, my words express the longing of a young child who has been waiting for his family for a long time—
- A child who lived with this family and received a beautiful upbringing that made him an influential person in his society and among his people.
- A child who faced enough suffering to withstand and stand up to violence and fight it.
- A child who suffers in his own country and is waiting for his family to come from abroad to nurse him with hope and strength to continue his beautiful work of making peace in the Holy Land.
In this report, my words of love and peace describe the deep longing this child has for his family.
Let’s start. On Thursday, the first of December, early in the morning, I was awakened by the chirping of birds at dawn, their harmonious musical sounds resounding through the window overlooking Tree Street, with tall trees, and dense branches.
Have the birds slept a good night, so that they are so early in their song, and fill the sleepers with joy and happiness? I, in turn, slept peacefully and woke up happy, longing for and ready to meet my second family. I met with them a few months ago, and now they were returning to our holy land to feed and nourish us with strength, determination and hope–my Abrahamic Reunion family!
I drank my coffee, got dressed, left my house in the city of Ramallah, where I live, and headed to the city of Bethlehem in southern Palestine to meet the Abrahamic reunion group who came from different countries to visit the Holy Land (Israel and Palestine).
While on the way, at the exits of Ramallah, specifically in the Qalandia refugee camp, I was surprised by the presence of a large and frightening road crisis in the place. “Hey, it’s 9 am not ‘rush hour,’ what’s going on?”
I waited a few minutes for traffic to clear, to no avail. The road crisis remained the same.
Car horns filled the place, everyone wanted to leave but no one knew what was going on.
In a few moments we heard the sounds of ambulances coming our way! Everyone wondered, “Is it a traffic accident? Did something happen?” Then the sounds of gunshots and tear gas filled the place! Everyone felt suffocated from the presence of the gas, and we were trying to escape, but we were stuck!
We learned that Israeli forces had raided one of the shops on the main street of Qalandia refugee camp, and they shot a person. We didn’t know what happened to that person and we didn’t know what exactly caused it. Everyone was in a state of great tension!
The road remained closed for about an hour and a half. During that time the army did not allow anyone to move, or leave the city of Ramallah. Once the army left the area, I could move again, leaving Ramallah and continuing on to Bethlehem.
On the way to Bethlehem, you see many different types of suffering for the Palestinians, including the Israeli checkpoints, the bad infrastructure of the roads, the lack of order, and the way people walk between cars and trucks without any traffic control systems.
But what caught my attention on this day, specifically in the village of Al-Ubaidiya at the entrance to the city of Bethlehem was seeing a group of school children whose age did not exceed thirteen years leaving their schools on foot between a group of trucks and cars without any safety measures in place.
Seeing this made me sad and angry at the same time! Where were those responsible, their families, their school principal? Was this really happening before my eyes?
I continued on my way grieving and with a broken heart for all the suffering our children, families and people are facing.
I arrived in Bethlehem at 12:00 noon and contacted the Greek Orthodox parish priest in the Church of the Nativity, Father Issa Thaljieh. We met in the church yard, waiting for the arrival of the group led by Sheikh Ghassan Manasra and David Less “Shahabuddin.”
A few moments later, the bright, beautiful, jovial, laughing faces of the Abrahamic Reunion group began to appear—Yes, they arrived!
I welcomed them warmly along with Father Thalijeh who remembered having met some of them in the Church of the Nativity during their last visit a few months before. The leaders gathered, Sheikh Ghassan Manasra, David Less, and Father Thaljieh in a beautiful link that brought together different religions and nationalities in one of the holiest squares in Palestine, the cradle of Jesus, born in Bethlehem!
We all entered the church, as Father Thaljieh explained the history, heritage, and sanctity of the Church of the Nativity. In the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank, 10 km from Jerusalem, it is one of the oldest churches in the Holy Land that is still in use to this day.
The church was transformed from solely a place of worship attended by hundreds of thousands annually to a tourist destination not only for Christians but also for people in general with all their religions and sects, and a refuge for the city’s residents in times of crises and wars.
The group spent about an hour enjoying the church’s buildings and decorations, and listening to Father Thaljieh.
At the end of our tour, we took a beautiful souvenir photo with Father Thalljieh, bidding farewell to the cradle of Jesus, peace be upon him, and heading to the lunch break in the village of “Batter” to the west of the city of Bethlehem.
Batter is a Palestinian rural town among the villages of the western countryside of Bethlehem Governorate. It is distinguished by its nature and traditional vegetable gardens, and the famous Battirian eggplant.
We arrived to the beautiful “Khirbet Batter” restaurant, characterized by a charming view of the Palestinian plain in Bethlehem. We all sat at the dining table waiting for delicious Palestinian dishes, consisting of grape leaves, stuffed lamb necks, fresh rice, well-known Palestinian grills, and different types of salads. We ate lunch and smiles, and joy covered the faces of everyone at the table!
Palestinian youth meeting
When we finished our leisurely lunch break, we went to the St. Gabriel Hotel, in the center of Bethlehem, where everyone would receive their rooms and take a short break before meeting a group of Palestinian youth who have been training with the Abrahamic Reunion.
At half past six in the evening, the Palestinian Youth Delegation began to arrive at the hotel from various cities of the West Bank. 10 Palestinian youths came from Ramallah, Jericho, East Jerusalem, and Nablus, carrying with them the slogan of tolerance and peace among all!
The meeting started at seven o’clock in the hotel’s conference hall, a circle of people of different nationalities, religions, colors and beliefs gathered to talk about the main goal in our work as peacemakers– rejecting violence and building peace in the Holy Land!
They had defied the danger of the road, and challenged the road crises to reach our meeting, where they raised their voices loudly with hope, love, peace and suffering to communicate and share with the members of the Abrahamic Reunion group!
Palestinian youth shared their voices, stories, and attitudes, leaving behind a great impact on everyone who heard them. They shared their daily suffering, their challenges, and their work, leaving behind tears, and heat filled the hall!
After speaking, everyone shared their hope to work to end the conflict and build a bridge of peace between the two peoples. The Palestinian youth thanked the Abrahamic Reunion directors, members and team for all the support they provide for the establishment of important programs, including the recently initiated youth programs.
Sheikh Ghassan Manasra and David Less delivered their closing speeches that included beautiful words of thanks to those angels who came to the meeting to say that we all deserve to live in freedom, dignity and peace!
At exactly nine o’clock in the evening, after the group finished meeting with the Palestinian youth, some took souvenir photos and bid farewell to each other with strength and hope in their hearts.
At ten o’clock, after the youth group left the hotel, it was time for me to leave, too, and go back to my home in Ramallah.
In fact, it was difficult for this child to return to being alone with his family again, but on this day, he had been suckled and fed on a lot of hope, love, faith and strength to complete his work in sowing peace in Palestine.
Yes, my friends, I left the hotel carrying with me the strength that I needed so much, especially in the recent days that had filled my land with violence, hatred and racism.
I arrived home at half past eleven, tired and happy, dreaming of seeing my Abrahamic Reunion family again!
Mohamad M. Jamous is the Palestinian Director for the Abrahamic Reunion
Mohamad@abrahamicreunion.org
