On September 6th Sabeel Nazareth organized a study day on the issue of “The Identity Crisis of the Palestinian Youth Citizens of Israel.” As many as 15 participants from the different church denominations met in Nes Amim Village and were hosted by the Christians Fellowship Committee (CFC), whose chairman is Rev. Ibrahim Simaan.
The group was received and welcomed by Rev. Peter Drunkers and Judit Blom from Nes Amim. Next Violette Khoury, coordinator of Sabeel Nazareth, opened the session and was followed by Rev. Simaan who introduced the topic and gave a brief history of Nes Amim and the CFC.
Sabeel then showed “Road 60,” a new film produced by Alaa Ashkar, a young Palestinian Israeli from the Galilee. The film is “an itinerary beyond borders where a young Palestinian citizen of Israel personalizes the nature of occupation far from the clichés of the past, going deep into his identity crisis.” After a short coffee break, Rev. Simaan directed a live discussion on what Christian leaders can do about this situation. The debate was strong and brought up several challenges and questions:
• Christian faith and “dirty politics”
• Christians cannot remain silent on injustice
• Non-violent struggle
• Christian and national education
• Are we losing our Christian identity?
• Do we live our Christian faith?
• Islamization among the young Christians?
• Educate the Christian families on how to lead a “Family Altar”
Everyone expressed their appreciation and expectations that Sabeel will help them to deal with these issues. They requested and agreed to do more such study days, at least once quarterly. The day was concluded with a generous lunch offered by the N.A.C.F.C.