On Friday 18 February, Sabeel held a meeting with the organizations that are part of the health insurance plan and the new committee representatives from the community. The group discussed the project and its developments and suggested new policies and actions to strengthen it.
On Thursday 17 February, Sabeel held the weekly worship service. This week, Lutheran Bishop Munib Yunan guided the group through the scripture.
Sabeel continues to meet weekly to discuss scripture through a Palestinian perspective and how it connects to the struggle for justice and peace in Palestine-Israel. Once a month, Sabeel will host a Palestinian theologian to discuss their special approach to reading the text. For most of last year, Sabeel Founder and Director Reverend Naim Ateek led the weekly services. In 2022, Reverend Ateek will continue to attend the services.
Sabeel believes that reading scripture through a Palestinian perspective is especially important because after the Nakba Palestinian Christians were dispossed of their faith and the Bible was used to justify our oppression.
On Tuesday 15 February, Sabeel held a Kumi Now session featuring Vera Baboun, the first female mayor of Bethlehem. She spoke about the situation in Palestine under COVID-19, the ongoing development of the occupation, and the economic depression that the community in Bethlehem has been experiencing. In Palestine, Bethlehem has the second highest unemployment rate (Gaza has the first highest rate) because of its reliance on the tourism sector. The previous Mayor Baboun spoke about her work in Bethlehem and her own journey. She is a strong advocate for gender issues, political rights, the right to self-determination, and other human rights.
On Tuesday 15 February, Sabeel staff and Friends of Sabeel North America Executive Director Jonathan Kuttab attended a hearing at the Israeli High Court of Justice for Palestinian prisoner and humanitarian Mohammed Halabi. The former head of World Vision Gaza, Mohammed Halabi was wrongly imprisoned on false charges of redirecting millions of dollars of aid money for the people of Gaza to Hamas. Executive Director Kuttab is an attorney for Mohammad Halabi.
Halabi has been held in prison for nearly six years, despite there not being any physical evidence for the charges against him. FOSNA has been mobilizing the community to demand that the Israeli government free Halabi and put an end to this case once and for all. FOSNA obtained over 2,220 signatures to a petition demanding his release. FOSNA also organized a phone and letter campaign to the Israeli authorities.
The hearing was attended by more than fifteen diplomats from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and several other countries, as well as supporters from multiple NGOs, including Save the Children. For more information, please visit the FOSNA blog:
In January, the Kumi Now committee decided to change the regular Kumi Now sessions. Instead of occurring weekly, the sessions will happen two times each month. Each month, a young Palestinian leader working towards change will speak in one of the sessions. In the other session, the local community and international community will work towards building a road map for creating justice in Palestine.
On Wednesday 9 February, Sabeel staff and members will continue to meet about the organisation’s draft strategic plan for the coming five years and finalize the plans for 2022.
On Thursday 3rd February, Sabeel attended a briefing about a new report under the title: ‘Nurturing the social contract : The role of universal social protection in building trust in government – perspectives from churches.’ This report was published by Development Pathways – a Swedish organization- and ACT Church of Sweden. The report discusses the role of churches in building trust in governments, particularly by creating universal social protection through public services.
On Wednesday 2 February, Sabeel Executive Director Omar Haramy attended the orientation organized for observers of the upcoming 44th General Council meeting of the United Church of Canada. During the meeting which begins on 13 February, the General Council will discuss and vote on a number of resolutions, including one specific to Palestine/Israel.
On Monday 31 January, Sabeel held a meeting in Jerusalem about the recent increase in attacks on Palestinian Christians in the West Bank. A number of Palestinian religious leaders, organizations, and individuals in the community gathered to discuss the problem and ideas about how to address it.
On Saturday the 23rd of January, a week before the meeting, an 86 year-old priest was attacked by Palestinians in the City of Nablus
A group of lawless Palestinians attacked Archimandrite Ioustinos, the caretaker of the Church on the site of Jacob’s Well in the city of Nablus. He suffered medium physical injuries. This attack is not the first one, as it happened several times in the past. The Palestinian Authority promised to bring the persons who did it to justice but until now no one was arrested. Fr. Ioustinous is an elder in the Nablus area and plays an important role in supporting the local community. In Bethlehem, the Nassar family was attacked at their home, on the farm in the Tent of Nations, by a group of masked Palestinians. Multiple similar incidents have been happening recently in the West Bank.
On Sunday 30 January, Friends of Sabeel France held a meeting with Hind Khoury, former Palestinian ambassador to France. Mrs. Khoury also served on the Board of Sabeel and as Secretary General of Kairos Palestine for a number of years. Over 60 people from France attended the meeting. Mrs. Khoury gave an update on the situation in Palestine/Israel in general and on the situation of Palestinian Christians.
