Adult Education During December: Palestine

During the five Sundays in December, we'll meet at 9:00 a.m. (before 10:30 worship) to continue our study of the current situation in Israel and Palestine. Topics for this December will include:* December 1 - Building on our relationship with Augusta Victoria Hospital - to which we direct Justice Offerings every year -- we'll look at some of their history and experience, to engage with it in a deeper way. (See additional discussion below.)* December 8 - Since we are hoping to arrange for Rabbi Brant Rosen to come do a book talk for the Logan Square community some day soon, we'll read and discuss an excerpt from his book, Wrestling in the Daylight, as a prelude to that. (See additional discussion below.)* December 15 - We'll study the Mideast peacemaking efforts of Jimmy Carter, as described in his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid and the film Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains. (See additional discussion below.)* December 22 - We'll learn from the important Palestinian rights advocate and scholar, Edward Said, e.g. a selection from The Question of Palestine* December 29 - discussion, wrap-up, and follow-on plans.Join us!Additional thoughts on . . . Augusta Victoria Hospital . . . On Sunday, December 1, a small group of us met to learn more about Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), and to think about the ways in which proclamation, service, and advocacy are present in the work they do.We learned that AVH operates an extremely modern hospital in Jerusalem, with specialties in oncology (cancer), diabetes, and gastroenterology.  Their focus is on providing world-class medical care, particularly to the Palestinian community.  Many of the doctors and other service providers at AVH are Palestinian.We learned that, in order for Palestinian people to obtain health care, they need help surmounting many obstacles, particularly obstacles to movement.  Thus, providing health care there involves staunch advocacy.We watched several videos: a video about AVH (Augusta Victoria Hospital: A Sign of Hope in a Troubled Land ) as well as a World Health Organization video about the difficulties of getting health care under occupation:  Fatenah (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3).All of this led to a lot of discussion, including discussion about how unequal access to health care is often encountered as a justice issue -- including in many parts of Chicago.Additional thoughts on . . . Wrestling in the Daylight by Brant Rosen . . . On Sunday, December 8, we continued our study by learning about Rabbi Brant Rosen and his "path to Palestinian solidarity," as described in his book, Wrestling in the Daylight.We spent the bulk of our time watching a Youtube video of Rabbi Rosen speaking in Evanston earlier this year. His talk provides a wonderful overview of the issue, and deals in particular with the moment when he finally said, "It's time to take a stand." (December 28, 2008, to be exact - the day he wrote a blog post about the Israeli operation called "Cast Lead," carried out against the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza.)One aspect of the talk that we found particularly valuable was Rabbi Rosen's frank discussion of how his public stance affected his relationship with the members of the synagogue he leads, and with others, as well as his own understanding of his own identity.Addressing a trope that is more and more frequently heard, the "mantra" of "It's complicated . . . . " Rosen suggests that the only thing that is "complicated" is the way we, ourselves, have become part of the oppression. "That," he says, "is painfully complicated!"Additional thoughts on . . . Man from Plains and Jimmy Carter . . . On Sunday, December 15, we learned about the peacemaking efforts of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter by watching the film, Man from Plains.The film has important lessons for us as peacemakers. Carter is tireless in his unending stream of public appearances to promote the cause of peace between Israel and Palestine.He is also courageous: he recognizes the value of agitation and the title of his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, is enough to force difficult conversation to take place.What was especially startling to us was to recognize the degree to which Carter embodies the whole history of Western Christian attention and devotion to the Bible and the Holy Lands, and the inevitable entwining of Western Christian politics and imperial ambition with the fate of people living in Palestine. It is thus appropriate that the same man who relished wading in the Jordan River in the same spot at which he believed Jesus was baptized was also lauded by Menachem Begin for his efforts on the Camp David Peace Accords as having "worked harder than our forefathers did in Egypt building the pyramids!"Posted by Joe Scarry.  Learn more at "Faith Communities Need to Get Active Working for Justice in Palestine"