Written by Abed al-Salam Manasra, Israel Programs Manager

Women’s Program

Siham Halabi [an AR peacemaker and head of women’s projects] and I held the women’s meeting on September 6th in Amghar village. It was a very good meeting, with 70 women and 7 men participating.

We had many speakers, including:

  • Siham Halabi
  • Sheikh Majed Salameh, the imam of Alnahda mosque
  • Sheikh Saeed, a Druze sheikh
  • Nada Zedan, the Director of Women’s Departments in Amghar village
  • Abed al-Salam Manasra

The speeches all had a theme of love and peace. They spoke about how important it is to respect the other. Sheikhs shared personal stories about the difficult conditions the town is experiencing and the sectarian strife. They shared how they are working to help their communities overcome these struggles with peace and love. The speakers emphasized the important role women play in their societies in facing these problems and the importance of women’s peacemaking efforts in all societies.

Families Forum

This month’s Families Forum was very beautiful. We met in Eliakim forest on September 22nd for a barbecue. 71 people from all the religions of the Holy Land were present, including a number of young people.

I began by welcoming the people and explaining what the Abrahamic Reunion is, describing its work. Then we all ate a delicious meal together. When we finished eating, we played music and danced together.

We all agreed that the Families Forum is one single family, talking together, dancing, and celebrating love and peace together.

Text Study and Youth Combined Program

Mohamad Jamous, the AR Palestinian Director, and I worked together to organize a wonderful program in Jericho on September 26th. There were 85 people participating in the program, which combined a youth program with an interfaith text study program for adults.

This event was very special because for the first time the Samaritans participated with us. The Samaritan religion is closely related to Judaism. The Samaritans’ holy text is made up of the same first five books of the Torah, or Hebrew Bible, however it is written in the Samaritan alphabet. You can read more about the Samaritans by clicking here.

Ehab and Jacob Bothe, the directors of the Samaritans’ amutah [non-profit organization], spoke along with three amazing Samaritan youth.  We decided to give more time to them so they could explain their religion to those present. Everyone was very interested.

Other speakers included:

  • Sheikh Abed al-Salam Manasra, sheikh of the Qadiri Sufi order in the Holy Land
  • Jeries Awwad, the Patron of the Latin Church in Bethlehem
  • Makram Rubel, a Christian, Director of Association in Egypt
  • Ziad Sabatin, Director of Youth Groups for Peace in Bethlehem

Because participants in the Abrahamic Reunion programs in the West Bank have been asking for youth programs, this month Mohamad Jamous and I worked together to invite 25 youth from all of the religions in the area to participate in the regularly scheduled monthly text study. We held a short meeting for the youth after the main program was over. We plan to also include young people in future meetings.

You will find more details of these two combined programs in Mohamad Jamous’s report, which you can read here.