That justice and peace might embrace
This year Christmas celebrations have been cancelled in Bethlehem. Munther Ishaq, the pastor of the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, describes why there is no Christmas tree in the Lutheran Church. In the place where the tree usually stands the baby Jesus is surrounded by rubble. The characters from the Nativity stories, Magi and shepherds, …
One wonders what level of killing must occur before Western political leaders in North America, the EU and UK call for a ceasefire to end the barbaric assault on Gaza. Yesterday (31st October) OCHA (The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) reported that the death toll in Gaza since the Hamas attack …
Continue reading "Kairos Ireland All Hallows 2023 – Responses to the war on Gaza"
As I write this newsletter a major flareup of violence is taking place in Israel and Gaza. There has been indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. Hundreds and hundreds of Israeli civilians have been brutally killed or kidnapped in clear disregard for human rights by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israeli's doctrine of "disproportionate retaliation" …
Continue reading "Kairos Ireland Autumn 2023 – Violence and Apartheid"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd--XZIEmAY Many thanks to our webinar participants. We had a wide range of contributions over 90 mins which you can re-watch above. Contributions included An illustrated introduction to the first Nakba Family experience of dispossession by Asad Abu Sharkh. Eyewitness accounts of the ongoing Nakba in the South Hebron Hills and Hebron by returned Irish …
Palestinian refugees on the road to Lebanon, among many thousands, who were forced out of their homes in May 1948 before the establishment of the state of Israel. This was called ‘ethnic cleansing’ some fifty years later by historians when they were denied the right to return home. Remembering Nakba webinar - Monday 15th May …
Continue reading "Kairos Ireland Newsletter – Eastertide 2023"
Palestinian refugees on the road to Lebanon, among many thousands, who were forced out of their homes in May 1948 before the establishment of the state of Israel. This was called ‘ethnic cleansing’ some fifty years later by historians when they were denied the right to return home. 75 years ago, 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically …
Continue reading "Remembering the Nakba – the 1948 Palestinian catastrophe"
A lurch further to the right The recently installed Israeli administration headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is a further blow to any prospect for peace in the Middle East. Prime minister Netanyahu set out the objectives of his government in a tweet which reads, "These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me: …
Launch of new Irish Anti-Apartheid Campaign for Palestine The newly formed Irish Anti-Apartheid Campaign calls on Ireland to take action on Israeli apartheid against Palestinians. The coalition, made up of 18 civil society organisations, trade unions and academic experts committed to working collaboratively to end Israeli apartheid against Palestinians, was launched today in Merrion Square, …
The season of Advent is fast approaching and once again our thoughts will turn to ‘The Little Town of Bethlehem,’ still surrounded by 8-meter-high concrete walls and subjected to illegal military occupation by Israel. Sadly, reports from the region point to increased settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. The displacement of pastoral …
Continue reading "Kairos Ireland Newsletter – November 2022"
Our event includes eyewitness reports by Billy Vaughan (Belfast) and Sophie Gregg (Dublin), who have recently served a second term as human rights monitors with the WCC Ecumenical accompaniment programme (eappi). There will also be a comment from an advocacy officer with the Palestinian Human Rights organisation Al-Haq. Together with other Palestinian Non-Government Organizations Al-Haq documents human rights abuses in the occupied territories. Last month Israeli soldiers raided the offices of six human rights organisations, confiscated files and equipment and ordered them to stop their work.
