Palestinian peacemakers lead Gaza Emergency Appeal tour

Rosalind Nashashibi, Turner-nominated British-Palestinian artist

The Amos Trust and their friends from Holy Land Trust and Gaza Sunbirds started their peace and emergency fund-raising tour with a harrowing but beautiful evening at St James's Piccadilly last Friday 1st December.

"Despair is a luxury. Hope is all that remains for those who don't have that luxury," said Karim Ali, co-founder of the Gaza Sunbirds.

His organisation - which takes its name from Palestine's beautiful national bird - comprises amputee cyclist-athletes who lost limbs to Israeli Defence Force bullets. In the past six weeks of Israel's assault on Gaza, the Sunbirds had helped distribute 36,000 tonnes of food, pedalling around on prosthetic limbs and dropping off essentials from door to door.

Karim spoke on the day the ceasefire had failed, one of the heaviest days of bombing. "Every single day, we make a decision to keep going. Your support helps us to keep going."

Testimonies of destruction and terror came throughout the evening. A friend of Amos had lost his parents on the first day of bombing, and then a few weeks later a further twenty members of his family. Chris Rose, Director of Amos Trust, emphasised the power of marching in solidarity with Palestine: "To know they are not alone gives hope. It really, really matters."

Elias D'eis, Executive Director of Holy Land Trust, and Said Zarzar, its Programme Development Manager, had managed to travel together to England from the West Bank. It had been a protracted and difficult journey.

Said spoke of how hard the past weeks had been, the feelings of helplessness. He spoke of a spike in violence from both the settlers and the army, of Palestinian areas being cut off one from another. Of still more checkpoints.

"Bethlehem depends on tourism but this is completely off," he said. "It won't be celebrating Christmas."

Elias added: "All the hotels were fully booked but all groups have been cancelled. People were hoping we would recover from the pandemic in this season but unfortunately it's worse."

Elias, an Arab Palestinian Christian, had lived all his life under occupation, with "a lot of trauma, a lot of fears."

He spoke of the healing process he had experienced since working with the Holy Land Trust for the past 16 years. The Trust had been set up in order to work for a lasting and just peace and equal rights for all.

He said there was a lot of trauma, a lot of fear. The Trust focuses on how it can transform the fear and negative energy that stems from trauma in a positive way. It provides art therapy for children and creates a 'beautiful resistance' with the annual international Bethlehem Live arts festival. It organises consciousness-raising educational tours of Palestine, all the while meeting injustice with the promotion of non-violence.

"We rebuild homes demolished by the Israeli military in the same place in order to highlight the injustice,' said Elias, adding, 'It gives me hope that a lot of Israeli activists are fighting with us. We need to change the leaders, that's for sure. We need a grass roots movement in order to fight for our future."

Saied Silbak played beautiful songs of love and lament on his oud and the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir sang sweet festive harmonies.

A member of the Amos team read out the following: "Gaza's night is dark apart from the glow of rockets, quiet apart from the sound of the bombs, terrifying apart from the comfort of prayer, black apart from the light of the martyrs. Good night, Gaza."

These words were translated from the final tweet in Arabic from the poet Heba Abu Nada, a beloved figure in the Palestinian literary community, who had been killed in her home by an Israeli airstrike. She was 32 years old.

Then came this prayer: "We pray for the people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. We long for peace and for an end to violence and destruction of every kind. We unite our hearts with all who are suffering, with those who have lost loved ones, and with all who cry out in anguish."

The words of Omar Barghouti resonated in the church: "The most profound ethical obligation in these times is to act to end complicity. Only thus can we truly hope to end oppression and violence. … We aspire to live in a more just world, with no ranking of suffering, no hierarchy of human worth, and where everyone's rights and human dignity are cherished and upheld."

This was the final prayer:

May the peace of the Sunbird's song

Be heard once more

On the shores of Gaza.

May the peace of the ney's lament

Wash over the hills of Bethlehem

And may justice flow like a river

Like a never-ending flood.

Go in peace

As the makers of peace

As those who believe

That another world is still possible

And we shall hear her breathing again.

Peace to the whole earth

Peace to all peoples

Peace to one another

Peace within.

[A ney is a simple Arabic flute.]

Please visit: www.amostrust.org/gaza-appeal to support the emergency appeal for Gaza.

All money raised will support Amos's partners in Palestine. Every gift donated throughout December will be doubled.

Amos's Christmas tour with special guests continues every day until 11th December to the following destinations: Darlington, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Ashburton near Totnes and Cardiff.

And you are warmly welcome to come to:

Voices from Gaza - An evening of testimonies from Gaza with readings from Brian Eno and friends and live music from renowned Palestinian musicians on Friday 15 December at 7.30pm at St George the Martyr, Borough High Street, London SE1 1JA.
All proceeds will go to the Amos Trust emergency Christmas appeal for Gaza. See: www.amostrust.org/voices-from-gaza

LINK

Amos Trust Christmas Tour: www.amostrust.org/christmas-2023