Life with Dignity The conference “Life with Dignity” was held in Bethlehem in December 2014 and was jointly organized by Kairos Palestine, Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum and the Alternative Travel Group. A sincere expression of appreciation to all local and international authors who shared willingly their expertise, experiences and hopes for a better future for all the oppressed aspiring for a just peace with equity. We are terribly sorry not to have included papers that were not sent for publication, though many were of excellent quality. Special thanks for Board members, staff and volunteers for all their support and to Tina Whitehead for meticulously editing all the papers. Appreciation also to George Sahhar and Khalil Touma for their translations of the Arabic papers. This book was creatively designed and printed by Nasri Khoury, IDEAS Graphic Design and Printing Services in Bethlehem. Nora Carmi Project Coordinator Life with Dignity 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 1 Biographies 4 Message from the Church – Michel Sabbah 10 Kairos Palestine: Five Years of Struggle and Prophetic Voice – Rifat Odeh Kassis 11 Opening Night Speech – Robert Owen Smith 15 Opening Remarks – Lily Habash-Hilal 18 Opening Meditation – Rafiq Khoury 20 Launch of Kairos Palestine Christmas Alert 2014 – Martha Tonsern 26 BIBLICAL REFLECTION: THEOLOGY AND JUSTICE Challenging the Empire: Theology of Justice in Palestine – Munther Isaac 28 We Sow Hope – Nancy Cardoso 36 KAIROS AND CreatIVE RESIstance Popular Resistance in Palestine – Mazin Qumsiyeh 43 COME AND SEE Listening to Living Stones – Rajbharat Patta 51 A Palestinian Response to Pilgrimage – Yusef Daher 60 KAIROS: IDENTITY AND RIGHTS Cry with Us: A Palestinian Hopeful Reading of Lamentations – Yohanna Katanacho 62 A THEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL KAIROS READING The Moment of Justice Has Come! – Kim Yong Bock 66 Resisting Hope–Prophetically – Marc H. Ellis 69 KAIROS AND ADVOCACY The Role of Media as an Advocacy Tool – Daoud Kuttab 74 KAIROS – TOLERANCE AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM Abuse of Religious Threat to Perpetrate Violation of Laws and Values - Zoughbi Zoughbi 77 Religious Fundamentalism: Reasons and Contexts – Nassar Ibrahim 81 KAIROS AND WOMEN Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as a Source of Hope for the Liberation of Palestine – Anna Karin Hammar 90 KAIROS InternatIONAL INITIatIVES: RESPONSES “Are you able to help us to get our freedom back…!” – Gerhard Dilschneider 93 A Thousand Voices for Kairos Palestine – Peter Dettwiler 101 Preaching the Good News in a Bad Way – Páraic Réamonn 102 5th Anniversary “Kairos Palestine. A moment of truth” – Edgar Antonio López 105 KAIROS InternatIONAL: EXPERIENCES FROM THE FIELD Kairos Britain – Successes and Challenges in the Last 2 Years – Charlotte Marshall 109 GAZA Christian Presence in Gaza – Accomplishments and Challenges – Sami El-Yousef 112 A Voice from Gaza – Suhaila S. Tarazi 117 PRISONERS Prisoners and Human Rights 120 DCI-Palestine – Ayed Abu Eqtaish Hurryyat – Helmi Araj Addameer – Randa Wahbeh THE NEXT FIVE YEARS Vision and Reality: Kairos in the Next Five Years – Jamal Khader 123 LIFE WITH DIGNITY: KAIROS PALESTINE 5TH ANNIVERSARY Statement 127 BIOGRAPHIES Patriarch Michel Sabbah served as the Archbishop and Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008. Patriarch Sabbah was ordained a priest for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in June 1955. He was a parish priest for a few years before being sent to the University of St. Joseph in Beirut to study Arabic language and literature. Shortly thereafter, he became director of schools for the Latin Patriarchate. In 1980, he was named President of the Bethlehem University. In 1987, Pope John Paul II appointed him Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, making him the first native Palestinian to hold the office in centuries. Since 1999, Patriarch Sabbah has been the International President of Pax Christi, a Catholic organization promoting peace. Sabbah resigned as Patriarch in 2008. He is currently the Grand Prior of the chivalric Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, one of the knightly orders founded in 1099. Patriarch Sabbah is a co-author of the Kairos Palestine Document and believes in pluralism and equality in order to preserve the dignity of human beings. Mr. Rifat Kassis has been active in advocating and campaigning for the effective application of international human rights and humanitarian law in Palestine, through various professional and voluntary positions. He has served the East Jerusalem YMCA as director for its rehabilitation programs in the West Bank, co-founded the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG), and founded the first Palestinian independent Child Rights’ NGO- a national section of the Geneva-based global child rights’ movement, Defence for Children International (DCI), later serving as President of DCI-Palestine and later becoming the President of the DCI movement at the global level. In January 2005, he worked in Geneva as the International Coordinator and Project Manager of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). He has recently served as Coordinator of Kairos Palestine. Rev. Dr. Robert Smith serves as Academic Director at Tantur Ecumenical Center for Theological Studies and Special Advisor to the president of the Lutheran World Federation. He is the author of “More Desired Than Our Owne Salvation: The Roots of Christian Zionism” (Oxford University Press, 2013). Lily Habash-Hilal has currently been working as a Senior Governance Advisor for UNDP and the EU in Libya, and has contributed to the Palestinian society is her active membership in the Advisory Board of the Palestinian Human Development Report for 2009/2010, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program, in addition to her membership in advisory boards of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, and the magazine This Week in Palestine. Amongst her international awards, is the recognition of her efforts in peace making by the Women for World Peace Circle. Father Rafiq Khoury is a member of Roman Catholic Church, a Palestinian theologian, teacher and author of many books with a focus on proper spiritual education. He is an active member of Al Liqa Center. 4 Life with Dignity Dr. Martha Tonsern joined the Kairos Palestine movement in 2012, seconded by the German Association of Development Cooperation (AGEH) and the Civil Peace Service (ZFD). She is responsible for Kairos Palestine’s advocacy work. Tonsern holds a PhD degree in European Ethnologie and Culture Anthropologie from Karl Franzens University Graz. Biblical Reflection: Theology and Justice Dr. Munther Isaac (PhD, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies) is assistant professor at Bethlehem Bible College and director of the influential Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. He is also a Vicar at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. His PhD research focused on the theology of the Promised Land. The Rev. Dr. Nancy Cardoso is a Brazilian Methodist pastor, community organizer, member of the Land Pastoral Commission, and professor of Ancient History, Porto Alegre Institute of the Methodist Church, Brazil. Kairos and Creative Resistance Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh teaches and does research at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities. He is director of the main clinical cytogenetics laboratory and director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Institute for Biodiversity Research. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke, and Yale Universities. He was chairman of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People and currently serves on the board of Al-Rowwad Children’s Theater Center in Aida Refugee Camp. His publications include «Mammals of the Holy Land», «Sharing the Land of Canaan: human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle» and «Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment.” Come and See Rev. Raj Bharath Patta is a doctoral student in Theology & Religion at the University of Manchester. Yusef Daher is Executive Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Center of the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem in association with the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches. He is a co-author of the Kairos Palestine Document “Moment of Truth.” As an expert in tourism, Yusef has been involved in numerous official local and global tourism initiatives. Kairos: Identity and Rights Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho is a Palestinian Evangelical who studied at Bethlehem University (B.Sc.), Wheaton College (M.A.) and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M. Div.; Ph.D.). Dr. Katanacho serves as the Academic Dean for Bethlehem Bible College and as the Team Leader for Nazareth Evangelical College. He has authored Life with Dignity 5 several books in English and Arabic including «The Land of Christ: A Palestinian Cry»; “A Commentary on Lamentations”; “The Seven ‘I AM’ Sayings in the Gospel of John”; and “The King of Peace and His Young Followers”. He is also one of the authors of the Kairos Palestine Document. A Theological and Political Kairos Reading Prof. Kim Yong-Bock is from Seoul, Korea and is presently Chancellor, Asia Pacific Center for Integral Study of Life. Prof. Kim has extensive background in research and teaching at numerous theological institutions and universities. He presently serves as Senior Advisor, Life and Peace Center, Korean National Council of YMCA’s and Moderator of Peace for Life. Marc H. Ellis is a retired University Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of