Out of the many things we did this afternoon (including visiting the Shepherd’s Field, Herodium, and the Nativity Church), what was most meaningful to me was listening to Angie of the Diyar Consortium.

Angie Saba

Diyar is a Lutheran-based, ecumenically-oriented organization which believes in empowering the Palestinian community through cultural activities such as art, civic engagement, education, history, elderly care, and sports. In a culture overwhelmed by political and religious tensions, Diyar shows that hope is found in the empowerment offered in the simple things of life.

For example, Angie told how young women are being empowered through soccer.

Diyar soccer players

Just recently, women leaders began the first-of-its-kind Palestinian women’s soccer team through a Diyar program. In a culture where a woman in a soccer uniform (with or without a hijab) is a new sight, this soccer program is dedicated to affirming women’s capabilities both on the pitch and in their communities. I was impressed by Angie’s stories of some of the young women’s daring leadership to create this soccer program at the cost of persecution/harassment and defiance of traditional social rules. As a result of their effort, young Palestinian women are being empowered as purposeful leaders beyond their on-field positions. Since Diyar’s initial women’s soccer program, other Palestinian women’s soccer teams are emerging, demonstrating the impetus for social change found in such simple activities as sports.

In a complex situation like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it may seem that the solution must lie in big systemic change in the “most important” political and religious institutions. However, the people of the Diyar Consortium show that “hope” is not a word reserved solely for peace negotiations or interreligious collaboration. Instead, maybe “hope” begins with transforming communities one individual at a time through the simplest things–even the things (and people) others thought least important.

~ Andrew Lewis