Last week, AEI – Pax Christi Bethlehem received a visiting group from the Swedish Theologian Center. Mrs. Rania Murra, AEI Director, welcomed them and introduced the institute history and fields of work. Some members of the SSH women’s group also attended the meeting. They shared their daily life suffering under the occupation and narrated their stories of sumud, hope, living …
Dear friends of the AEI, I am Theresa Priebe, a german volunteer in the AEI. I have now already been here since 8 eight month. About four month ago I started giving English tutoring to friends of mine and their siblings. I noticed that many kids have problems with simple english conversations, which made me expand the tutoring and give …
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Palestine.
At this special time of Christmas we wish to offer you blessings and our solidarity and to assure you that we are thinking of you, and praying with you.
In Pax Christi we are gathering Christmas messages to you from our members and from others who share our work for justice and freedom for Palestine.
We hope that you will feel able to share these with your communities.
The following messages are from the Pax Christi Advent Service during which we had a special focus on Palestine and a dedicated prayer corner where candles were lit for you.
Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and praying for your peace and freedom,
In peace,
Ann
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
from the Pax Christi Advent Service, London
Thank you for inspiring us who have so much freedom.
May Jesus bring peace to your heart this Christmas.
For this I will pray. Rita FCJ
You are in my thought, prayers and heart this Christmas especially. Louise
God is with you.
Wishing you peace and justice.
Mary Ryan
Thinking of you especially at this time and wishing you peace and freedom.
Ann Farr
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
from the Pax Christi Advent Service, London
I wish I could do more to help your cause.
Elizabeth O’Donoghue
Remember you are not forgotten and we are trying to help and lobby for you.
Angie, with love
Sincere best wishes. Thinking of you. God Bless.
Monique
Jesus is Lord and hears our cry.
SUMUD
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
from Sabeel Prayer Group, Birmingham, UK
Hi. We are a small group in Birmingham, UK who pray for you
with the Sabeel Wave of prayer every Thursday.
We do what we can to tell people about the difficult situation
you are in and your amazing courage.
We will never forget you.
Here is a photo of three of us who have a market stall once a month to sell products from Palestine and to campaign on your behalf.
With lots of love and prayers
Gill, Miriam, Sue, Margaret, Dulcie, Ralph, Heather
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
from Birmingham, UK
Dear Friends in Palestine
This is a message to say we have not forgotten you.
We cannot forget your courage despite all the dreadful
daily difficulties you have to live with.
Once a month we have a market stall to
sell goods from Palestine and to tell people about your situation.
Please find the attached photo of two of us.
With love and peace
Gill, Miriam, Sue, Ann, Ralph, Margaret and Dulcie
7 Brookside
Cambridge CB2 1JE
United Kingdom
25 December 2017
Dear Palestinian Friends,
Greetings to you all this Christmas, and may the peace of Christ live in your hearts and in your homes.
We are the sisters of the Congregation of Jesus living in Cambridge and the photo below shows us with some friends who joined us today for Christmas lunch. We are raising our glasses to salute you, the brave people of Palestine. We are aware that you live in the land of Christ, and that you are full of concern and anxiety about the future. We want you to know that we are praying for you, that you and your children will be safe, and that one day you will be able to live at peace in your own land.
I have been in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and Galilee, many times and know the Schmidt School opposite the Damascus Gate well. I have encouraged many of the Palestinian teachers there to stay and help the next generation of Palestinian women to be strong and well-educated, and to work for the future.
This comes with our prayers and blessings to all of you for today and for a better and more just year in 2018.
Sr Frances Orchard and all the CJ sisters
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
from Newbury, UK
We are thinking of you as you live
the reality of Bethlehem today.
David
We remember you and pray for peace.
We love you people living in Palestine.
We are thinking of you. God Bless.
We pray for peace and justice in your land.
We also experienced the wall – terrible.
Frances
My fellow members of the United Nations Association
have urged our MP, Richard Benyon, to speak of your plight to Parliament.
God Bless
We are very sad that life is so hard for you.
Olive
Keep faith, keep strong,
For you are being remembered.
Michael Michelle – 3 years old – signed his name on the sheet
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
Assuring you of our concern and prayers for a
peaceful, prosperous 2018 for all on the West Bank and Gaza.
Regards,
Veronica Whitty, Wallsend, UK
Please know that you are not forgotten.
Keep your spirit of Sumud alive.
We do stand in solidarity with you and
will continue our prayers for you all.
Our thoughts and actions are with you all and
we hope for peace one day.
Teresa
You are in our thoughts and prayers.
You are not forgotten.
Barbara
To all at Pax Christi
Please find attached our greetings and photos from Trinity St Albans United Reformed Church. We wish you well for all the work you do in this area of the world.
Praying for peace in 2018.
Kind regards
Sheila Knopp
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
from South East Hull Parish
My prayers are with you all.
God bless and keep you all safe.
Ellen from Hull
A daily prayer is said for all the people in Palestine- never forgotten.
God bless
Eamonn from Hull
Thinking of you all at Christmas.
Every blessing of the new born Saviour to you all.
Sisters of Mercy. Hull
I hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas with your families.
I will be keeping you all in prayer at this Holy time and putting up a candle for you in our church to keep you all safe. God bless you all.
Maureen Breen
I hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas with your families. I will be keeping you all in prayer at this Holy time and putting up a candle for you in our church to keep you all safe. God bless you all Maureen Breen
God bless everyone at this time of the year. I’ve never known peace in your part of the world. We must pray harder.
Paul
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
Dear brothers and sisters in Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank
I take a moment to send you my support and prayers during these difficult days. You have suffered so much loss, oppression and yet you continue to have hope in each other and in some of us in the world, many of us who believe you deserve your own country.
I regret President Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem and I will do anything to challenge that.
May peace prevail among you this December and on the days to come.
Respectfully,
Gloria Rivera IHM, Detroit MI USA
My prayer for all the people living in the West Bank.
Judith Bonini, IHM
Friends – hope was born where you are
– I pray for God to send peace and justice to Bethlehem
– you are always in my thoughts
God bless.
Pat Darbyshire, England
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
Our thoughts and prayers are with you in your struggle.
Stanley and Barbara Staton
Christmas greetings to my brothers and sisters in Palestine, remembering you in my prayers and hope for a peaceful 2018.
Anne Brown
Dear Friends
Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers at this time when we are called to see things through the lens of justice for all.
With warm greetings
Carol Burns, Leeds
Thinking of you and praying for peace in this holy season.
Ann Kelly
Birmingham UK, Pax Christi
Dear friends in Palestine,
I send you my best wishes for Christmas and prayers for a just and peaceful new year. I was an Ecumenical Accompanier from the UK in 2009 to 2010 and have since then been engaged in advocacy
for peace and justice in the area. I am now settled in Pune in Western India and my prayers and work continues.
Please do convey my greetings to your network organisations.
In solidarity,
Hansa, India
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
Dear Bethlehem Friends,
On behalf of the Methodist Church in Lichfield
I send you greetings in this joyful season,
bearing in mind the continuing troubles and stresses you are experiencing – made worse this year following the Trump declaration on Jerusalem.
Here in Lichfield we have responded to your cry,
not to forget you in this time of need.
Several churches in the city switched off their Christmas tree lights for five minutes during prayers at
the midnight Eucharist.
In the Methodist church we joined together in a sustained round of applause for the citizens of Bethlehem.
At the service I made the point that the invitation to switch off lights on our Christmas trees, as a sign of solidarity, was taken up by several churches in the city.
We pray for you and hold you in God’s light.
We hope that 2018 will see significant steps towards justice and freedom for Bethlehem and for the Palestinian people..
In love and peace
Warren Bardsley (Rev)
Christmas messages to Palestine 2017
Hello
My name is Jim and I live in Redditch in the English Midlands.
At this Holy time of year I often think of and pray for my brothers
and sisters living in difficult circumstances. Perhaps even more difficult than normal at the moment. Please be assured of prayers and concern.
Wishing you all the blessings of this Holy season.
Jim Quinn
I want to thank you for your continued justice work,
I pray that, somehow, 2018 will
allow justice and peace to emerge from the shadows.
Blessings
Nia Higginbotham, North Wales
May you have courage and strength to live the Christmas message of peace and goodwill – and may the coming year bring real progress towards justice for your country,
Patricia
With love, hope and patience, justice WILL win through.
I will keep on praying.
Lucy
You are in our thoughts and prayers every day.
Kate
The Wall Cannot Stop Our Stories The Arabic concept of sumud, literally steadfastness, guides the youth’ and women’s work at the Arab Educational Institute in Bethlehem, member of the peace movement Pax Christi. At the time when the concept started to become widely used in the Palestinian movement in the occupied West Bank, at the end of the …
Die Mauer kann unsere Geschichten nicht aufhalten Fuad Giacaman Arab Educational Institute Das Leitbild von „Sumud“, Standhaftigkeit, bestimmt die Arbeit der Jugend und der Frauen im Arab Educational Institute (AEI) in Bethlehem. Das AEI ist Mitglied bei pax christi. Zu der Zeit, als im besetzten Palästina Ende der 70er Jahre der Begriff „Sumud“ zuerst benutzt wurde, war sein …
Strategic Plan Arab Educational Institute 30/8/2016 – 30/8/2019 Basic data Full name of the organisation Arab Educational Institute Acronym AEI-Open Windows Date established December 1987 Nationality Palestinian Legal status, official registration number NGO Non-profit organization QR-0034-F Official address P.O.Box 681, Bethlehem Visiting address Paulus VI Street (Madbasseh), Youth Media House Hebron Rd near checkpoint, Sumud Story …
Annual Report Arab Educational Institute Continuing the Sumud 1/9/2015-30/8/2016 Sumud The Arabic concept of sumud, literally steadfastness, guides the youth’ and women’s work at AEI. At the time the concept started to become widely used in the Palestinian national movement in the occupied West Bank, at the end of the 1970s, its meaning was rather static. Sumud …
June 2017 — AEI wishing ‘Eid Mubarak’, a blessed feast — “Recognize Israel as Apartheid State”: A call to the World Council of Churches by Palestinian-Christian organizations After more than 50 years of occupation, I think it is urgent to raise the prophetic voice of the churches to speak out clearly against “right is …
