In 2015, I heard a presentation on the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel. I sat and listened how Ecumenical Accompaniers witness and report on human rights violations that they encounter in the West Bank, Palestine, as they join Palestinian and Israelis who work in non-violent ways for peace.
‘I can do that,’ I thought, as the embers of a fire began to ignite within me. So in early 2017 I found myself on a plane, heading to a new adventure.
Being an Ecumenical Accompanier was by far the best thing I have done in my life. I have never felt so fulfilled and alive, despite being thrown out of my comfort zone almost every day! And I have never been made to feel so welcomed and embraced by complete strangers. From the first day I stepped foot in the old city of Jerusalem the words “Welcome”, “How are you?” echoed loud and clear wherever I went.
If you’ve ever sat listening to someone’s pain you know how helpless you can feel. I remember one such day in particular. We visited a family in a small Palestinian village and listened as the father recalled how two nights earlier around 15 Israeli soldiers and dogs came pounding at their door at 1am.
Three generations lived in that house and were all ushered into the living room to sit and wait as soldiers ransacked the house. His 14-year-old son was removed by soldiers and taken into a bedroom where his family could hear him being interrogated. The soldiers then removed the boy from the house, telling his father they were taking him for questioning over throwing a stone and would return him in two hours.
I still recall the anguish etched on the father’s face. When we visited, his son had not been returned and despite his efforts he was unable to find out where or for how long his child would be held. His desperation was compounded by the fact his boy had a medical condition and wasn’t permitted to take his medication with him. His son was taken from the house handcuffed and clothed in just light summer pyjamas. “This should be one of the happiest times for us as our eldest son is getting married in two months but how can we celebrate when another son has been taken”? What can you say to that?
Read the article by Nell Potter in Sight Magazine.
Nell Potter is executive officer with the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network in Australia.
[The Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network have been a signatory to calls for BDS action against Israel and are viewed by many to be anti-semitic i.e. racist]