Category: Palestine
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Commemorating the Palestinian Declaration of Independence
By Usama Nicola, Bethlehem, Palestine Since my school days, I have devoted myself to educating fellow students about the significance of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Each year around November 15th, I organized activities to teach the story of the declaration, its history, its hopes, and its meaning. I would read aloud poems by Mahmoud…
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Between the Scissors and the Needle… Reflections on the Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration
By Usama Nicola, Bethlehem, Palestine, October 2025 It is said that a tailor once wanted to teach his grandson a great lesson in his own way. While sewing a new garment, he took his precious scissors and began cutting a large piece of cloth into smaller pieces to make a beautiful robe. When he finished…
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The Olive Season in Palestine 2025: Harvest Under Siege
By Usama Nicola, Bethlehem, Palestine, October 2025 In Bethlehem, as in most Palestinian villages, the olive season is a significant social and cultural occasion. I grew up experiencing the harvest season with my family and cousins. Those were days filled with work and laughter; we would gather under the shade of the trees, eat homemade…
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Call for Pastors to Break the Silence About Palestine
By Lani Lanchester A call for congregants to urge pastors and pulpits to break their silence on Palestine and stand with the oppressed. In the Book of Esther, a decree is signed for genocide, Haman convinces King Xerxes that a certain people are “different,” their customs strange, their loyalty questionable. The solution, he says, is…
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Book Review: The Land of Christ: A Palestinian Cry, By Yohanna Katanacho
By Lani Lanchester What does it mean to confess Christ in the land where he was born, crucified, and raised? In The Land of Christ: A Palestinian Cry, Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho, theologian and Academic Dean at Nazareth Evangelical College, answers with honesty, courage, and hope. This is not a detached academic study of “Holy…
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Starvation, Displacement, and Destruction: The Tragedy of Gaza
By Usama Nicola, Bethlehem, Palestine, September 2025 The ongoing catastrophe in Gaza is not merely a conflict but a genocide devastating the Palestinian people. Since hostilities sharply escalated on October 7, 2023, Gaza has experienced the displacement of two million people. Over 65,174 martyrs have been recorded in hospitals, with a total of 166,071 injured…
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Reflection on “Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of the Palestinians, 1968-1993” by Zachary Foster
By Usama Nicola I begin with a heavy heart, filled with both frustration and urgency. This cycle of suffering and injustice will not end without miracles or without decisive and compassionate action from the global community. But such action will only come when more ordinary people around the world rise together, demanding that their leaders…
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Gabor Mate and Sami Awad on Trauma and Peace
I follow a group called FOSNA and followed a link on the blog post to this talk by Sami Awad and Gabor Mate that I highly recommend: https://www.afcfp.org/past-events-data/from-pain-to-liberation-healing-collective-trauma
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Palestine is Disabled
Leah Lackshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha: “I am not the first or last person to say this, but: Everyone in Palestine is disabled right now.”
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Lessons from Anti-Apartheid Struggles: Past and Present
“This is a system that needs religion to justify itself…you can do whatever you like if we consider ourselves as God’s people…it’s not just white supremacy. It is an attempt to convince the world that they are special, that they are the exception, that they have God’s approval.”
Christian Minus Christianity 