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March 31st 2004
Yesterday morning at 5 A.M. March 22, on his way home from morning prayers Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was assassinated by an Israeli Apache Helicopter. This morning there was a breathless silence blanketing this typically bustling Mount of Olives neighborhood. Usually the streets are flooded with lively children on their way to school; small cars and Sherut passenger vans squeezing their way through the narrow streets. Shops and vegetable stands are open for business by 7 AM. In simple stone houses neighbors are in close proximity so one always knows whose mother is scolding her child or who is saying good morning to who. Two or more radios are playing Arabic music from different stations and directions adding to the orchestration of the morning milieu. Somehow it all fits together, children, families, schools, business, life.
Yesterday morning when the news broke of the assassination, the usual heartbeat of the day stopped. Schools were closed and children were sent back to their homes. The sounds were now of TV news reports coming out of every home graphically depicting the incident and the resulting flooding of the streets by stunned and angry Palestinians carrying the caskets containing the bodies of their now martyred leaders and seven bystanders.
Hamas was promising retaliation against Israel within hours and proclaiming that the price of retribution will be Prime Minister's Ariel Sharon's head. Scenes of violence and protesters penetrated the homes of this community yesterday morning. Cars blocked the streets, there was no traffic except on the main road down to Jerusalem. Taxi's went on strike making getting down the mountain to central Jerusalem difficult. The mood of Ibrahim's family and the neighborhood seemed to be one of shock dismay and bewilderment.
Ibrahim sat in the kitchen in an upper floor of his home. I and other guests living here wanted to here what he had to say and to share the shock of this crisis as a group. Around the table sat an Israeli citizen, two Americans with Jewish backgrounds (including myself) and a young woman from England. Ibrahim is a Muslim with extensive Jewish and Christian background. Ibrahim, trembling with emotion, described the events in detail and the devastating impact on peoples' hope for any kind of lasting peace n the Holy Land. Ibrahim is of Palestinian descent whose family has lived on this land for over 1400 years. He's a 61 year old father of 8 and grandfather of 21 children. Two of his children live in the United States, one in New Orleans, the other in Salem North Carolina. They have been denied visas to return to Israel so Ibrahim and his wife Naima visit them and their families on occasional trips to the US. Ibrahim is a full time peacemaker. I met him when he and Eliyahu (an observant Jew) came to do a peacemaker program in Sarasota Florida about one and a half years ago. These two special men, a Jew and a Muslim (sons of Abraham) traveled together speaking about the possibilities and challenges of creating harmonious co-existence in Israel / Palestine and in other parts of the world. Eliyahu, educated in Berkeley, is a robust optimistic man of 33. He has dedicated his life to being an organizer and courageous pioneer for peace. At the time of this recent attack, Eliyahu was engaged in peace making work in Iraq, where he risked his life for the cause of peace. Ibrahim's greatest quality is absolute unconditional love, I call his "our little butter-ball of love" . He's also a man of great wisdom and knowledge of world events. He is renowned and deeply respected and loved by his Arab community as a man who will help anyone at any time no matter what the financial or time expenditure may be.
Ibrahim is equally adored by his hundred's of Jewish, Christian and secular friends. His double-structured home is open to guests visiting from around the world. He provides simple lodging often cooks hot meals, provides tours and personal needs services day and night. He never requests remuneration in return. Modest donations to cover some of the expenses are often made by guests. The rest Ibrahim takes out of his pocket.
Yesterday, as he sat in the kitchen explaining the implications of the morning's events, he stopped several times, raising his hands to God and emotionally asking him, "When will the suffering in this beautiful land stop? How long must we suffer God, how long and what for? When will the killing and suffering end? When?"
I have been in the Holy Land for 5 weeks, it feels like one year at least. My purpose for being here is to join Eliyahu and Ibrahim and the diverse peacemaker community both in Israel and Palestine. My plan is to work with grassroots peacemakers, established faith groups as well as interfaith peace institutes. Thus far, I have divided my time between living at Ibrahim's home on the Mount of Olives with almost exclusively Arab population and living at Eliyahu's apartment in Nach Laot, a primarily observant Jewish community in central Jerusalem.
I've had an interesting stay in Nach Laot. The energy, dress, and customs are of course quite different from the Mount of Olives community. The intentions to live, work, and enjoy family and community life are the same among those whose hearts and minds are open. The best Shabbas (Sabbath) I have experienced, was in Nach Laot. By 3:00 pm on Friday, this busy center of Jerusalem is nearly emptied of traffic. Only a few last-minute shoppers, and some people carrying dishes of already cooked food, hurry to be prepared for Kabalat Shabat (evening prayers to welcome the Sabbath) at any one of the many synagogues in the area.
When I was staying at the apartment of Eliyahu, his housemate Evan (an American student of Jewish religion and traditions) hosted his first self-created Shabbas celebration by inviting twenty or so young friends into his home. The evening was filled with delicious food for the body, and more importantly for the soul. The robust and ecstatic singing of Hebrew songs by Jews, especially women, from many parts of the world, the prayers, the personal heart-felt sharings, and story telling, created the deepest joy and love in me for my heritage. This was life. Life at its best!
So many Arabs and Jews state that they do not hate the other. They feel that it is the political leadership that is responsible for the general suffering, and the leaders' misguided actions are what fan the flames of anger and mistrust. The people suffer, and suffer, and suffer because of it.
Last evening, Ibrahim and I went to a meditation and prayer group at the home of an American Israeli, who organizes and hosts many healers, teachers for this community. Everyone is welcome, Jew, Muslim, Christian, young and old. Paralyzed from the neck down as the result of a diving accident, this Israeli, also named Eliyahu, is an example of unconditional love and hope.
Several of us participating in this group have held a similar vision of creating an interfaith center in Jerusalem. Creating a spiritual sanctuary space as the hub of three social service agencies I have founded, has been the core of my work for over three decades. Much of my vision and mission in coming to the Holy Land, is to inspire spiritually based peace centers, interlinking with diverse faith groups throughout Israel and Palestine. Prior to coming to the Holy Land, I felt that this age old Jewish/Arab conflict is too complex for human beings to resolve without direct intervention from God. I believe that the loudest and most powerful prayer God could receive, is an interfaith prayer, sincerely spoken by enlightened people who can expand their own religious and social boundaries, coming together in a mutual interfaith space on a regular, even daily bases. It is not only time, but is imperative that teachings of religious traditions serve to bring us to a higher state of evolution, whereby we really do see and treat our neighbors as brothers and sisters. We must finally recognize that the God of the Jew is the God of the Muslim, is the God of the Christian. Today enlightened people of all nations know this to be true. An expanded interfaith movement and related activities could turn the tide in the Holy Land and in the world. One way or another, someday… someday humanity will reach this whole and holy state of awareness.
The consensus of our group was clear and unanimous. The creation of a central base of operation that can serve to focus and organize the work of uniting people of good will in Israel/Palestine, including the various faith groups and peace making organizations is the most powerful endeavor we can engage in at this time. Searching for guidance from the Source of Life, and truly connecting to God's will and plan for humanity, is the essential groundwork for peacemaking activities.
March 24
Last night I was invited to attend an annual meeting of a well established inter-religious organization held at the Israel Museum. Followed by a glorious interfaith spring celebration hosted by the Bahais. Both events were inspiring, bringing people of many faith traditions together to discuss the challenges of our times and to offer ideas that might shift the present crisis in the Holy Land and world wide. Many of us believe that we are now ready to reach the depths of interfaith prayer and spiritually guided community building activities. This is the momentum our center will strive to produce.
I returned to the Mount of Olives around 10:30pm. There was a tension in the air, like holding one's breath for too long, that I felt I needed to pay attention to. All day, radio and TV stations were inundating people's conscious and unconscious minds with images, music, drums, poetry and speeches, instigating Arab passion for reprisals. For the first time, I was the only resident in the upper-unit of Ibrahim's home. The front door is never locked. I couldn't convince myself that I was completely safe, not even when I moved to a bedroom with a lock on the door.
This morning, again the silence pervaded the community. A breathless silence, charged with emotion and anticipation. I didn't hear a car, not even a child's voice, until 8:30am. Out of respect for the people who died in the assassination, no music can be heard, day or night. It is now 1:30pm, it is a beautiful, sunny spring day. Even at this hour, only the faintest sound of children's voices can be heard. Most children and adults have closed themselves in their houses. I'm seriously considering moving back to Nach Laot for a while, where I'd be surrounded by familiar faces and under constant security surveillance of Israeli police and military. But I will have a hard time leaving Ibrahim's home, the children whose lively shining faces greet me on the front porch, the hills and open views of the region. Many of the Arabs are friendly and inquisitive. I feel a genuineness when they say, "Salaam Holequem" or "Welcome" on the streets or in their stores. After speaking with Arab cab drivers, who traverse Jerusalem, including Ibrahim's son Muhamed, and with Eliyahu and Moshe in Nach Laot, who describe the areas in the Jewish sections in Jerusalem to be emptied of people, fearing reprisal attacks, I'm not certain where the wisest place to hang my hat is. I suppose the best thing to do, like so many in this land do, is to pray for peace and protection, and to continue living life. Wherever I am, that's where I'll be.
How is it that we can allow self-centered politicians to ruin our lives this way? Both Arabs and Jews recognize that their political leaders have no problems sacrificing lives to reach their objectives. Still, the beat goes on, the bulldozing, the suicide bombing, the retaliation, the needless insane suffering. Perhaps what we need to remember is that we citizens have elected our political leaders. We are therefore ultimately responsible for our present local and worldwide crisis. It is up to us to say, "Enough is enough." There is a better way of life ahead, and we can create that life beginning now.
The day before the assassination I spent an exquisite one and a half hours in and around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was a magical day of silence and reflection, the first day of spring. In the Greek Orthodox section of the church, a young Russian man introduced himself. It turns out that he is a Jew who converted to the Greek Orthodox faith. He just wanted to share a few friendly words. Siddika, and lovely Israeli woman, a fellow peace worker and Waldorf School teacher, appeared out of nowhere as I was meditating in the auspicious church courtyard. We shared an additional two hours together, first in the underground cave cistern, beneath the Coptic Church section. The echoes of our prayerful chanting and tones bounced off the underground stone walls and pool of water. We were healing Jerusalem from the ground upward.
A tour group of German youth entered the cave as well. I had the opportunity to practice my German language skills and enjoy our shared amazement in this Holy Land experience. Germans and a couple of Jews, sharing a few precious moments underground in the Old City in the heart of Israel.
Siddika had to leave, and I took a leisurely stroll along the western exterior of the Old City. To my amazement and joy, there was a strip of green grass (hard to find in Jerusalem) running along the entire westerly wall. Here I lay down and did a few modest yoga stretches. It felt so good. A group of college age girls were sitting fifty yards from me, and I photographed their happy, chatty circle. The sun was setting and an old man, hands folded behind him, was pensively watching the sun turn distant stone buildings into pink orange and gold hues. This was the first day of spring. Orthodox Jews clad in long black coats, Arabs clad in their kafias, students and foreigners walked along the wall promenade in both directions. Everyone seemed to feel safe enough. After all, spring was profoundly in the air. It felt peaceful and good. I sat comfortably cross-legged on the grass and leaned back against the stone wall. I was feeling so blessed to be in this holy and enchanted land. My heart was opening to the felt sense of what a lasting peace could be like.
The assassination took place the next morning. I wonder what it must be like to be a permanent resident here and to have my hopes for an ordinary peaceful life, a safe, quiet walk in the sunshine dashed in yet another bloody incident ten, fifty or a hundred times.
It is now two days after the assassination. At around 7:30am I met Ibrahim on the steps to the computer room. He was breathless again, and his face was grim with dismay. He stated his concerns. "This will bring the biggest Intifada this land has ever seen."
Dear friends and colleagues in peace-making, if you have been interested enough to read this article, you most probably can also feel something of what is happening in the Middle East; in our Holy Land. You recognize the importance of this region as a principal hub and mirror for world peace. If we can create a successful co-existence here, we can do it anywhere. Many believe that once we achieve harmony in the Holy Land, this will have a profound positive influence world wide. Many of you also recognize that the Israeli/Palestinian crisis is a challenge that world can and must participate in healing. There are several ways you can add your influence and support to frontline peace workers in this region.
I've had the amazing privilege of being thrown into the center of this peace-making and interfaith community, while also experiencing life in both the Arab and Israeli communities. It is the consensus of nearly all of the people I have spoken with that a spiritually-based coordinating center that could strengthen unity among the Israeli/Palestinian peace workers, and connect the various faith groups in unified prayer and activities is both timely and essential. We believe that it is time for this groundwork to be constructed and promoted with focus and vigor. "It can be done. Enough people from every side of the situation are ready for this," is our group consensus.
We are presently researching the possibility of creating a complete directory of religious and peace-making organizations that can be distributed throughout Israel and Palestine. I believe that when one to three hundred diverse groups link in daily prayer from wherever they are located, "the loudest prayer" that God could hear, life in the Holy Land will rapidly improve. Efforts need to be made to encourage and connect these groups with one another. United endeavor is the key. Really, it always has been so. Perhaps this is the time, and people are now ready to join together. Perhaps out of the pain and suffering of this and previous crises, the flower of hope and continuing peace will emerge. "EinsheAlla," May it be so.
Remember that we are facing an immediate and potentially devastating crisis. Substantial funding is what is needed most. Your prayers and goodwill, plus the funds to actualize our visions are needed to carry us all into a better future. Please wire tax deductible funds made out to the Friendship and Peace Society, Inc. care of Dr. Ellen Rosser, Western Union, Sarasota, Florida. We appreciate your support. Also let Dr. Rosser know that you have done this. Phone her at (941) 922-7657. She will forward the funds to us in Israel. Peacemaking is everyone's responsibility and joy. May peace and joy be ours.
Shalom/Salaam
Address any questions to Mark Avraham Libowitz,
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