Conditions are appalling – but Palestinian refugees still hope for peace

Palestinian refugees in the Middle East are still committed to peace, says Colleen Hodge, Christmas Bowl visitor to South Australia and Western Australia.

“People are so patient and so hopeful for peace,” she said.

“I wondered how they could be so patient and hopeful when they live in such distressing circumstances.

“From the Australian point of view they’re thoroughly depressing. The physical environment is totally inadequate for the 21st century.

“But there’s a commitment to working for peace among the people I was able to speak with – and, without hope, what would there be?”

Colleen Hodge is manager of education and communication programs with Christian World Service, the aid and development arm of the National Council of Churches in Australia.

She got back to Australia from a visit to the Middle East two days before she arrived in Adelaide.

The Christmas Bowl visitor was to have been Ramzi Zaniniri, a member of the Middle East Council of Churches and a worker for the Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza. He became ill and Colleen took his place.

Colleen visited the Middle East to take part in a meeting of the Middle East Council of Churches and to see some of the projects Christmas Bowl supports.

“We don’t actually choose what projects we’ll support,” she said. “We accept projects put to us by the Middle East Council of Churches. The local people make the decisions on what the priorities will be.”

Colleen spoke about some of these projects.

“The work in the refugee camps is absolutely vital,” she said. “So is the work of education, vocational training and health.

“In all these programs and projects there’s a concept of working towards peace in the whole of the Middle East and in the whole of the world.

“These people are refugees because they were forced out of Israel, many of them back in 1948. They aren’t able to return because their land has been claimed by other people or they don’t have the physical or financial resources to go back.

“They live in very basic conditions which are incredibly depressing. There’s water but it’s a very dry country.

“Some of the worst parts of the camps are where construction has meant that sewage pipes have been damaged and raw sewage is lying around.

“There’s one place where they’ve set up a program for kids – but the place is awful!

“There’s no grass. It’s all dirty and depressing. The equipment’s old and dull. But the kids, of course, are still playing there.

“It’s outside the camp. Inside the camp there’s just no space for things like that.”

Colleen said Christmas Bowl support was really important to these refugees. “There are no social services available to them,” she said. “They have very few amenities.

“There’s no way of making an income because their land’s no longer available to them.

“They can’t be self-sufficient and they can’t grow food to be sold. Therefore children can’t go to school because there’s no money to pay the school fees. Therefore children don’t get an education.

“So our partners are helping people in the camps to understand health issues and help children as best they can.

“It’s important for Australians to be aware of the fact that people in the Middle East, and particularly Palestinians, have a great gift in their patience and hope.

“Australians have the opportunity to give them the gift of money that can provide basic education and health facilities. This gift will help people to retain their hope.

“It must be so hard to have hope when you live in such distressing physical circumstances.”

Perhaps with Yasser Arafat’s death, and the beginning of a new era in Middle Eastern politics, people may be more gracious and there may be a new opportunities for peace.

“I certainly pray that this will be the case,” she said. “I certainly know that my colleagues at the Middle East Council of Churches would want that.

“Maybe people will be ready to resume discussions.

“I respect my colleagus in the Middle East and I hope and pray, with them, that peace will be a reality in the Middle East and in Palestine.

“The first thing the churches in the Middle East want to achieve is peace – and the churches want the people to live in much better circumstances than they do.

“They rely on their partners through the Christmas Bowl to help them do this. “We need to pray for peace, particularly during the Christmas season, the season of peace and hope and goodwill.

“People of faith need to be proactive in encouraging decision makers to be more aware of the need for government support. Awareness raising is needed, not just among decision makers but among our congregations as well. That should lead to more prayer – and to more action.

“One of the things about being a Christian is that action and prayer are totally linked.

“We should remember that, when we’re talking about the Middle East, we’re talking about the land of the Holy One, the Child we welcome at Christmas, the Peace Giver.”

By Nicholas Kerr

http://nsw.uca.org.au/news/2004/palestinian-refugees-christmas-bowl_17-11-04.htm