Local News
Saturday, October 17, 2009
A childhood in PalestineFEATURES WRITER
Palestine is half a world away, but a taste of that people and their culture will be just down the road at noon on Sunday at the St. Francis Spirituality Center, 200 St. Francis Ave., Tiffin. A celebration of Palestinian culture and cuisine is planned, along with a talk by Sister Paulette Schroeder
The meal will take place from noon to 2 p.m. and will feature traditional Palestinian dishes such as malauee, a dish of seasoned rice, chicken and vegetables, lentils, hummus and baklava. Cost for the meal is $5 for adults and $2 for children age 10 and under. Attendees will enjoy Middle Eastern music and have the opportunity to purchase handmade crafts and gifts such as woven items, purses and jewelry.
At 2 p.m., Schroeder will discuss her involvement with the Christian Peacemakers Team. The organization's goal is to "get in the way" of violence and injustice around the world, including Columbia, Iraq, Kurdistan, Uganda, Phillipines and Columbia. Schroeder has been in Palestine for many years, "getting in the way" and bearing witness to the Israeli occupation.
Last fall, she accompanied shepherds, farmers and children in the small town of At-Tumani outside Hebron as settlers pelted the Palestinians with rocks and sometimes bullets.
In the spring, she moved to Hebron itself, located in the southern West Bank, a city of 150,000 Palestines and 400 Jewish settlers. The CPT members were invited to the city in 1995 after the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian Authority responsibility for the administration of the territory under its control. The Accords also called for the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. According to Schroeder, the peace activists were called in when it became apparent the agreement wasn't working and the Palestinian people remained under occupation.
"We are there primarily to accompany the Palestinians in their efforts to deal with the occupation. ... The 400 settlers harass the Palestinians and make it difficult to live anything of a normal life," said Schroeder.
Her group has worked with an advisory council of Palestinian community leaders dedicated to nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation.
"It's a little bit more quiet in Hebron. We can have more visibility in the streets, form better networks, build relationships among the people and get more information," said Schroeder. Her efforts there have also included working with many children in the neighborhood, accompanying children to their schools and making themselves available to parents.
It's that perspective she hopes to share during her talk on Sunday.
"I want to show the situation through the eyes of the kids. I am going to show a lot of faces of the children there. A lot of people don't think abut them. The stereotype is that Palestinians are terrorists, but I want to show the children, the innocent children who live in the midst of an oppressive occupation and what that does to their childhood," said Schroeder, who will return for another three-month term with the CPT Nov. 3.
"If nothing else, that moves us to work for justice in the Middle East, to do it for the children."
For more information, call 419-447-0931.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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