On the afternoon of Tuesday 17^th October I attended an online meeting hosted by Christian Aid concerning the Middle East crisis. Christian Aid has a long history of working with local partners in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and some of their work will be very familiar to congregations in the Synod via Commitment for Life. Christian Aid condemns the brutal attacks by Hamas and recognises the suffering that Israel’s people are experiencing. Christian Aid also recognises the suffering of the Palestinian people which has been experienced over decades and the failure of the international community to enable a just and lasting peace in the region. It will continue to work with its Palestinian local partners wherever it can and is considering working with new partners to support Israeli’s suffering psychological trauma as a result of the Hamas attacks.

At the meeting we heard from Revd. Richard Sewell, Dean of St. George’s College in Jerusalem. He urged us not to underestimate the extent of the existential threat felt by Israel as a result of these attacks. People of all communities are frightened, angry and hurting with the biggest fear being that the conflict escalates into a full-scale regional war. He cautioned that we need to be very careful about speaking into other people’s trauma, but we need to recognise that the Hamas attack was a terrorist event, which is now over and that Israel’s response is an ongoing government programme to decimate the lives of the people of Gaza. We must have concern for the welfare and dignity of each person but we must also be prepared to call out evil.

Richard went on to speak about the Al Ahli hospital which is run and funded by the Anglican Church and is located in the evacuation zone in Gaza (Israel has given notice of a full-scale ground attack on Gaza and advised people to evacuate part of the territory). He spoke of the hospital’s essential role as part of the church’s witness and community infrastructure. The medical staff have chosen not to evacuate the hospital but remain with their patients, many and of whom are too ill to be evacuated. The hospital has its own natural water supply and large grounds and around 5000 people had gathered in the grounds believing it to be a safe place. Israeli missiles have hit the complex, it is not a safeplace, people have been injured in these attacks. Most of those who had gathered in the grounds did evacuate but to where? There is nowhere to go. Nowhere is safe, Richard said.

Later on Tuesday evening I was scrolling through the BBC news app and read about the direct missile hit on the Al Ahli hospital earlier that evening.  Suddenly what had been a conflict at a distance to me personally, became much more real as just a few hours earlier I had been listening to Richard speak about the hospital and the people who worked there, whom he knew personally.

Julie Mehigan, who manages Christian Aid’s work in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory also spoke of partners who were known to her personally. She talked about the importance of the tick on a WhatsApp message – two ticks beside a message and you know that the message has got through to the recipient, even if they have not been able to respond. Christian Aid is trying to support its local partners in whatever way is still possible. One of these, PARC, which will be well known to churches supporting Commitment for Life, has taken over a local bakery and is paying for bread so that it can offer people something to eat. Other partners are working on community resilience and are able to open children’s centres as emergency refuge centres. They have solar panels so they have electricity and can offer people one meal each day. The Palestinian Medical Relief Society, another partner, is offering trauma and medical support  including changing dressings for people who have been discharged from hospital early because the beds are needed for the injured from the attacks.

Hearing these first had accounts of the situation in Gaza and the ongoing suffering of people there is the danger that we each become overwhelmed by the complexities of the issues and don’t know how to respond. Many of us are familiar with Christian Aid’s encouragement to give, act and pray and they are encouraging us to do that in the midst of this crisis.

GIVE

Christian Aid has launched an emergency appeal for its partners in Palestine. The appeal will enable Christian Aid partners to provide food, shelter, sanitation and protection for local communities. You can donate to this at

https://www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/emergencies/middle-east-crisis-appeal

ACT

Working with CAFOD and Oxfam, Christian Aid has launched a petition calling upon the UK Government to use its influence to bring an end to the violence and suffering in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It calls for  international humanitarian law to be upheld by all parties, allowing humanitarian aid into conflict zones and protecting civilians. You can sign the petition at

https://www.christianaid.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/emergencies/middle-east-crisis-action

PRAY

Working with Embrace the Middle East Christian Aid is resourcing the churches with prayers and material for prayer vigils. https://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/pray/middle-east-crisis-prayer-resources

You can also find links to all Christian Aid’s material through a dedicated page on the URC website

https://urc.org.uk/our-news-stories/christian-aid-middle-east-crisis-appeal/

The meeting concluded this prayer offered by Christian Aid some years ago and which is displayed in St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem.

Pray not for Arab or Jew, for Palestinian or Israeli,
but pray rather for ourselves,
that we might not divide them in our prayers
but keep them both together in our hearts.  Amen.

Lindsey Sanderson

‍

‍