"I hope we will hear the concerns of women in the region and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are caught in the middle of the conflict." Dr. Thelma Chambers-Young, delegation chair

Reflection 1 

Reflections by Linda Bales, United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society, Washington, D.C.

How ironic it is to be in the Middle East, the birthplace of three major religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  The irony is this is a place where everyone greets one another with the word for peace, but this land is anything but peaceful.  Both Israelis and Palestinians are finding themselves more and more isolated from one another, which is resulting in further instability in the region.  Violence is increasing, and Palestinians lack adequate access to services such as education and health care.  The number of displaced persons in the region is growing with Palestinians and Iraqis fleeing their respective homelands in search for security.  Many are settling in Jordan and other Middle Eastern nations. 

This alarming situation is being studied by a delegation of women from U.S. churches on a two-week pilgrimage sponsored by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.  On May 10, the delegation of 16 women religious leaders arrived in Amman, Jordan to participate in the experience – one unique to the NCC.  It is the first all-women delegation visiting the region.  NCC Vice President At Large, Rev. Dr. Thelma Chambers Young, approached the Council in 2006 asking this kind of pilgrimage be organized, knowing that far too often women’s voices are marginalized and not recognized for their courageous efforts to promote peace in the region.   

“She challenged the Council to design an experience providing women to women dialogue on the most pressing issues of the day in this part of the world,” said Dr. Antonio Kireopoulos, NCC Associate General Secretary for International Affairs and Peace accompanying the delegation. “We need to hear the voices of women,” voiced Chambers Young.  “I believe when women in the U.S. can hear the voices of women and men in the Middle East, U.S. women will be motivated to work for a just peace.”  

Our pilgrimage began in Jordan, a nation significantly impacted by tensions between Israel and Palestine as well as by the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Representatives from nine faith groups met with Jordanian religious leaders, women who are making a difference in Jordanian society, Iraqi women and girls and Palestinian refugees.  The Jordanian portion of the trip was coordinated by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). 

Jordan has a population of close to 6 million people, 95 percent of whom are Sunni Muslims.  Christians are a minority in this desert land where Jesus was baptized.  Visiting the Jordan River provided a chance for delegation members to symbolically re-affirm their own baptism by dipping their feet into this holy water.  “It was a moving experience for me," said Sandra Pyke Anthony, representative from the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. “I was where Jesus was when he was baptized by John the Baptist, and I felt humbled.”   

Jordan is now home to 1.8 million Palestinian refugees which represents 23 percent of the total number of Palestinian refugees in the world.  Approximately 290,000 live in “camps” in Jordan where they are provided housing, health care and education.  The refugees have been embraced by the Jordanian population and the majority given full rights.     

In addition to the Palestinian refugees settling in Jordan, the country also is home to approximately 700,000 Iraqi refugees due to the Iraq war.  The “guests," as Iraqi refugees are called, are permitted to access government services for a total of six months; however, like the Gaza refugees, they are refused work permits.  Hearing about this overwhelming upheaval and migration of Iraqi people due to the unjust actions of my own country brought deep sadness to my heart.  The U.S. – the “home of the free and the brave” –  has now become the oppressor.  I felt ashamed and felt like crying out “No more!”  Where is the peace proclaimed by the prophets?  Where are those who believe in loving one’s neighbor as oneself?  Where are the peacemakers in our day? 

The good work of the MECC is a blessing of hope to this region in the Middle East.  Wafa Goussous is the primary MECC staff person directing the Council’s ministry with refugees.  Her story is one of courage and conviction.  She began working for the MECC in 2003, immediately following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  She journeyed to the border of Jordan to meet with Iraqi guests and was faced with the suffering experienced by those who had fled. “Children were crying and were refusing to go into the tents which were their temporary home.  Going into the tents reminded them of the war, the bombs and the loss of people they loved. Wafa said she, too, cried, and cried and cried. People told her she’d “get over it” in time.  She hasn’t.  And she continues speaking out on behalf of the thousands of people who are uprooted living in a foreign land. About 50 percent of the Iraqi guests come to the camps with nothing.  The MECC operates programs in five different areas providing education, health care and other social services. 

Additional signs of hope were witnessed by the delegation during a dialogue with six leading Jordanian women, one of whom was on the staff of the Ahliyyah School for Girls.  She described herself as a life-long learner – one committed to social change through trusting in the human spirit.  Her mother was born in Palestine and was inspired by the olive tree – the sign of peace.  Her family had to leave Palestine after 1948 and moved to Lebanon then later to Jordan.  Her mother instilled in her a belief that the world is not only about “justice but also about wisdom” - a belief that is foundational in the school for girls.  She said she is a Christian but also, in one sense, a Muslim; the whole world is her world, and all are connected in spirit.  When asked about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, she said she is standing on the hope that Israel will soon give her some sign of welcome – some sign of reconciliation.  “That’s all I want,” she said. 

During our time in Jordan, the word “co-existence” was mentioned frequently.  Peaceful co-existence is a hope for many Jordanians, including Prince Hassan Bin Talal, uncle of the present King Abdullah II.  We had the rare privilege of meeting with the Prince who is a brilliant intellect committed to peace and filled with compassion for the poor and marginalized.  “We must stop focusing on war and military security and begin investing in peace,” said Prince Hassan during the hour long meeting.  Prince Hassan put forth a challenge to the U.S. urging it to become a greater leverage for peace. We left our meeting feeling gratitude knowing such a visionary resided in a land mired in challenges created by others’ wars and conflicts.   

We had forged friendships that will endure a lifetime.  We were no longer the same but transformed.  We had come to the land of olive trees, witnessed the harsh realities tempered by the hopes and dreams of our brothers and sisters in Jordan.  God’s spirit moved amongst us, and we bid farewell to cross the border into Israel/Palestine.