Wednesday, May 15

Our visits today confirmed a Palestinian proverb I had heard that says “No Right is lost as long as there is one person to claim it.”

Our visit to Saffouria village destroyed in 1948 was worth a college semester of history if not more as the history of what happened in 1948 was told to us by Jonathan Cook. The take-away for me after listening to Jonathan is that the Israeli attempts at eliminating evidence of the existence of a Palestinian people by destroying villages and towns are systematic since then. They continue to pursue the same goal by creating laws that make it legal for Israel to take the land and deny Palestinians from owning their own land or property.

Earlier in the day we listened to Abuna Chacour telling us the story of how he built the Church of the Sermon on the Mount in Ibillin with support from different individuals and groups who believe in his mission of Peace and Unification of Palestinians and Jews in Palestine. Dianne Roe told us the story of the real people she painted on the “Building Bridges” Mural she created in the auditorium of the church.

Both story telling experiences today brought to focus for me that the strong and clear vision of building bridges though painful is powerful. The church is built here to stay and tell the story of Abuna Chacour himself and his legacy.

True by building bridges he set a model and legacy to confirm that Palestinian rights will not be lost because through building bridges he and his legacy will be claiming those rights.