October 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Fall greetings from Jerusalem!

Recently after summer’s respite, America’s children joined others from around the globe to return to school.  Heading for classes armed with backpacks and a thirst for knowledge (and recess), their education is meant to equip them to contribute to their countries and to the world.  As stewards of this lofty notion, we Americans place great value in education, often citing it as one of the most critical vehicles to success.

Yet we continue to struggle with the challenge of assuring equal education to every child, and it wasn’t so long ago that as a precursor to civil rights laws, the Supreme Court voted in favor of integrated schools, reasoning that “separate but equal schools are inherently unequal.” During this period, children who became the victims of this well intended ruling entered schools escorted by heavily armed guards amid the daily barrage of verbal and even physical abuse.

Today Palestinian children often face similar circumstances as they attempt to attend school. Many must pass through checkpoints where they are searched, delayed, and arbitrarily refused passage. In areas of heightened tension they are harassed by settlers, spat upon, stoned, and beaten. Once inside the school, they are guaranteed no safety from the incursions of armed soldiers. They share the same plight as their teachers and school staffers in their common struggle to simply participate in the process of education, so that they too may contribute to making the world a better place.

CPT volunteers escorting students to school.

Without the assistance of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) they might not reach school at all. These volunteers serve as observers and buffers to the often hostile environment children encounter, willingly placing themselves in harm’s way to protect the children they accompany. In some school districts, they must arrive by 6:00 a.m. to assist the children, and when the situation is particularly tense they have to resort to taking the long way to school, which includes a donkey ride of two hours through the mountains.

In another area, access to the school has been barred with razor wire, and the only path to the building’s entrance funnels the children between two violent settlements on a steep, slippery, narrowing set of decaying stairs, leaving the children no escape route.

In still another district, Anata Boys School is one of many dramatically affected by the separation wall, which runs through the property, cutting the school in half.  In this case, children must pass through a checkpoint to get to the side of their school on the other side of the wall. It’s either that or lose half the school.

Although the entire Palestinian population feels voiceless, children of the occupation are wounded most deeply because they see an entire lifetime stretching out before them in a vacuum that should otherwise be filled with promise. They deserve to be heard and to express their feelings, fears, and frustrations. By using their voice, they can support one another, educate children of other countries about life under occupation, and create an arena for discussion.

The situation children is the focus of another Joining Hands for Justice - Palestine program called Kids Reporters. A selected group of children will receive training in journalism to cover youth-related issues and events through their own eyes, giving voice to their own stories.

We’re really excited about all the potential this new program holds, and we ask for your prayers and support in the network’s attempts to address the needs of those victimized by occupation and robbed of their inalienable rights.

Returning to America’s history for a moment: civil rights legislation helped reduce blatant inequality, but we still have work to do in attaining equality. Recently, the terrible first days of school integration in Little Rock were remembered on the Oprah Winfrey Show by Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan. They were both in a famous photo of the time—Elizabeth, a black student, walking to school holding her books in the crook of her arm while half a dozen white students trail her, hurling abuse. Hazel was one of the white students.

During the show Hazel apologized to Elizabeth. The integrity and humility she displayed in asking forgiveness stands as a model for those who would make peace with those we have wounded.

Our concept of civil rights is based on majority rule, in which the will of the majority becomes the rule of all—seen as the greatest good for the greatest number. But perhaps one day we can write the next chapter on civil rights in which each person is valuable and has the right to life’s basics, such as food, education, housing, and health care. As those who have already experienced pioneering the path to equality, we must also advocate for the same rights of our brothers and sisters around the world.

Grace and peace,

Terry and Michel

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 170