Saturday 4 November 2017

Tent of the Nations

Today we visited The Tent of Nations. Situated on the only hilltop in the West Bank not occupied by Israeli settlers, it is run by the Nassar family who are Palestinian Christians. 
For 26 years the Israelis have been trying to claim their land to build on, but through legal and peaceful means the family have resisted and remain on the land. 

Their story is amazing, inspiring and very challenging, especially when I consider their attitude to life and then compare it to my paltry efforts. 

Here are a few sound bites of their perspective and story: 

'We refuse to be enemies' 

'Peace is not just the absence of conflicts. It's the art of experiencing inner peace, in the midst of conflict'

'our land is like our mother. We care for her. We won't sell her. We will never leave her alone' 

'we follow the fourth way with regard to how to respond to the Palestinian situation - not violence, not passive inactivity, not giving up, but active non-violent resistance'.

'We want to use our frustrations and disappointments constructively; to transform this into energy we need to do things positively, rather than becoming a seed-bed for anger and bitterness'. 

'We don't need outsiders who come and tell us what to do. We need friends who come and join us in our struggle and vision. 
They help us keep the hope alive'. 




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