West Bank Archives

Hebron is a community important to Christians, Muslims and Jews

Posted March 20th, 2019

Osama (last name withheld) is a licensed Palestinian tour guide. He recently stood with one of his tour groups in the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron with his head bowed and his expression deeply troubled as a group of Israeli Jewish tourists walked through. The last person in line was an Israeli guard carrying a machine gun. It is a traditional sign of respect for visitors of any faith to remove their shoes and for women to cover their heads. This group had done neither. “No respect,” he said quietly. “No respect.”

In Christ’s birthplace, olive wood artisans carry on a Holy Land tradition

Posted December 20th, 2017

Thirty years ago Bassem Giacaman, whose large extended family has lived in this town for generations, immigrated to New Zealand with his parents and siblings in search of a life far away from the turmoil of the Middle East.

Presbyterian Peacemaking Program shares the story of a peacemaker

Posted February 12th, 2016

Along the way Kathy nurtured partnerships and continued to build connections with others, leading her to participate, plan, worked behind the scenes at the Peacemaking Conferences. The Peacemaking conference has nurtured three generations of the Runyeon family as they educated themselves and those around about injustice, violence and what people can do to work for peace at home and abroad.