Peace to you from a very different city than the one from which I sent my last update!I apologize that it's been so long since I have written, but it has been a time of great transition for me. In early December I said my goodbyes (for the time being) in Jerusalem and headed back to the U.S. Since then, I have spent time with family and friends, moved to Washington, DC, begun my second placement site as a mission intern with the United Methodist church, and watched with fear and anger as Gaza burned once again.I apologize for not sending updates on the Gaza situation out to this list. I have posted a host of articles, links to alternative news sources, opportunities for action, and reflections on the war (and continuation of the siege) in Gaza on my blog, http://hoseyblog.blog.com/.
It was difficult, after living in Palestine-Israel for so long, to see just how poorly understood the situation is here in the United States, and just how much poorly contextualized and falsely 'balanced' reported can contribute to this lack of understanding. As we watched, the most powerful and best funded military in the Middle East savaged the most densely populated area of the planet, killing some 600 civilians, more than half of whom were children. Perhaps you were as worried, confused, or enraged about this travesty--which was carried out with US made weapons, with US funding, and with the political, diplomatic, economic, corporate, military, and moral support of the US--as I was. Perhaps you felt like you did not have enough information to understand what was happening. Perhaps you wanted to do something but weren't sure what to do.I would like to urge you to educate yourself and to act for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.
Here are a few small steps that you can take:
- See some of the alternative resources on my blog (http://hoseyblog.blog.com/) and on the website of my new placement site, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (http://www.endtheoccupation.org/), an organization that works to address US involvement in the root causes of the violence in Palestine and Israel.
- Pray. Pray for peace and justice. Pray for the people of Gaza. Lift these prayers up in churches and in prayer groups and Bible study groups. Pray for the Christian community in Gaza, which was just as threatened and effected by this most recent explosion of violence as the rest of Gaza.
- Invite someone who was spent time in Palestine and Israel, and who met with peacemakers and justice seekers from Israeli, Palestinian, and international communities, to give a presentation on the situation and on what they saw to your church, class, or organization. Let me know if you'd like me to speak, or if you'd like me to recommend someone in your area who might be able to speak to your group.
- Once you've learned more about the situation, write letters to editors, to elected officials, to local papers. Ask for a more even-handed US policy in the Middle East. Ask for an end to the siege on Gaza and the 41 year old occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Ask for an end to military aid that is used to commit human rights violations and target civilian populations in our name.
- Finally, look for other opportunities for action and engagement. Join movements for selective divestment from companies that profit from the occupation of Palestinian land (for example, the divestment campaign in the United Methodist Church, see http://www.unitedmethodistdivestment.com/). Look into information on boycotting Motorola, whose bomb fuses and communication equipment was used to attack civilians in Gaza.
Support grassroots movements for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel. Again, please feel free to get in touch with me for more ideas.I will continue sending these updates out, as close to monthly as I can, to let you all know what I am up to, what shape my evolving understanding of mission is taking, and where I'm seeing God in all of this. In the meantime, please continue praying for peace and justice in the Holy Land. And I will keep praying, in gratitude for all of you.
God's peace,
David Hosey
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