Posted on 02/17/2006 6:47:56 AM PST by mbarker12474
The following message was sent to me, at my request, by Joan Wasserott of the Charlottesville District, a member of the recent Virginia Conference team (led by Rev. Wes Astin, Dean of Chapel and Religious Life, Ferrum College) that visited Israel and Palestine as part of a mission event sponsored by the General Board of Global Ministries. I wanted all of you to have a firsthand report on what they experienced, and I am grateful to Joan for sharing her personal impressions with us.
Betty Whitehurst
President, Virginia Conference United Methodist Women
1761 Princess Anne Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Phone 757-426-0230
Fax 757-426-3742
Email: BettyUMW@aol.com
Here is Joan's message:
I fear my attitude may seem biased by what I've written. None is exaggerated, in fact toned down. I've left a lot out but know you don't want a book, only a chapter. **************************************************************************************************************** I entered the countries of Israel and Palestine with some pre-conceived ideas, formed mostly from what has been reported by our media. It did not take long for me to realize that things are not always as they seem and you really can't judge a book by its cover.
The Christian Palestinians are not as reported. They are humble, friendly and the downtrodden. Possibly some Muslims or Hamas Palestinians are more aggressive, but not the Christian Palestinians.
They do not support terrorism. They only want to live in peace and hopefully on the land where they were born.
They have been separated from their farmland, their olive trees and their gardens by this giant Wall reportedly built with USA money. They are told the land is needed for military security for Israelis but after 5 and 6 years it lays idle, still.
Thousands of olive trees were cut down to make room for a road or for military security and the stumps bear witness to those lies.
They have curfews imposed on them forcing them to stay wherever they are at the time it is imposed. Doctors had to live in their clinics the 72 hours of the last curfew. No chance to get out and get food or water. One Palestinian was shot, even though he had a pass; the doctor came out to give him medical aid and was himself shot and killed. I'm a nurse so saw things we'd call shabby care.
Children were not allowed to go to school. People who had jobs were not allowed to leave their homes to go to work.
Electricity was shut off most of each day; also, water. Curtains on the windows had to be kept closed.
Checkpoints are barren cold areas where the armed military pass judgment on who can go through or not, as their whims dictate even when the Palestinians have secured passes to allow them through. Many are kept waiting to go through for hours.
To witness these things and hear stories that resemble horror, is difficult, when that evening we are taken to the Church of the Nativity to celebrate Christ's birth on the Armenians' Christmas Eve. How God must grieve when He looks down on what we do to each other.
Voting booths were monitored by the men in our group and they found nothing to complain about. Guns were not heard until about midnight that day; but that's how they celebrate success. Something our pioneer forefathers might understand but we from a more civilized era find offensive and dangerous.
I pray our United Methodist Church with God's help can bring some relief to these kind people.
This is a trip I won't forget. I'm witnessing where I can about the plight of the Palestinians.
Joan Wasserott
Cunningham UMC UMVIM NOMAD District UMW/Missions
Just how out of touch with reality can a person get?
The United Methodist Church sends parades of the naive and the not-so-naive on pilgrimages to Palestine. As expected and intended, they return home carrying the propaganda message of Fatah, and now, Hamas.
The message has two parts:
...1) Palestinians suffer
...2) It's Israel's fault
...2b) It's America's fault
It's easy for caring Christians to fall for #2 because #1 is so easily demonstrated.
The Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church is one of two Methodist conferences condemning Israel's erection of a system of security barriers along a line of retreat from regions occupied predominantly by Muslim Palestinians, some Christian Palestinians, and evacuating Jewish settlers. In so doing, Virginia Methodists (mostly unwittingly, some not) joined the global body of ideological anti-Semitism.
It's a shame to now see Virginia's Methodist women being taken down this path.
Mike Barker King George VA
This is a corollary of the first rule: the Dims will never learn.
One would think these "Christians" would have a better understanding of the land.
Note the location
Harlotsville
She's not out of the closet, but her emphasis on the importance of welcoming homosexuals into the church and how she knows "firsthand" the bigotry they suffer, makes the situation pretty clear.
For her sermon the week before Christmas, she read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". That was it.
She currently has a "Bible study group" which is not actually reading the Bible. It's actually reading "The DaVinci Code" and discussing the wife and children of Jesus.
I don't attend that church anymore.
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