Make me a channel of your peace

Make me a channel of your peace

World Vision Communications Officer Esther Williams recently visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories with Chief Executive Charles Badenoch and Peace and Conflict Policy Adviser Steve Williams. Here she talks about some of the projects they visited that are building bridges between both communities.

This was my first exposure to the Middle East and, as well as a suitcase full of all the right clothing as per briefing, I carried a mixed bag of emotions with me. This included a deep sense of purpose, excitement and also fear. Fear mainly because, as a Christian communicator, I believe firmly in carrying a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. The latter consistently paints a bleak picture of this part of the world, as a place of devastation, carnage and conflict – so I cannot deny feeling some mild concern in the run up to my departure.

You can imagine how amazed I was driving from the airport to be met by the most beautiful rocky and rugged terrain. This was the land on which Jesus had once walked. “Gosh, my holiness is going to a completely new level,” I thought to myself as my colleagues pointed out biblical landmarks along the way! Miles and miles of lush olive trees help to make the scenery even more picturesque.

It was as we arrived at the first checkpoint that the purpose I carried with me came to the fore. As aid workers we had an international vehicle and passports, so the soldiers quickly ushered us through. Throughout the week, checkpoints were merely a formality for us. However, it is quite a different situation for communities living in the Occupied Territories. On the first day of our visit we met teenagers from St Joseph’s Girls School in Ramallah. Here we heard different stories of checkpoints; tales of humiliation and frustration too graphic to write about. I had dinner with a lady who retold the story of a newly married bride, who was made to get out of her car, leave it behind and walk the remainder of her journey in her wedding dress. The guests had the photos of the wedding deleted from their cameras.

However, there are also many stories of hope, but these seldom make the headlines. We met with an Israeli girl, now 20; she spoke of her dream for a healed land. Since childhood she has been a member of the Seeds of Peace programme – a World Vision-supported reconciliation project that brings together young children from both sides. One of her best friends is a Palestinian girl she met through Seeds of Peace when they first joined, whom her children now refer to as aunty.

World Vision UK also funds the Parent Circle Bereaved Families Forum, an organisation comprising of 500 families – 250 from Israel and 250 from the Occupied Territories – who have lost loved ones to the violence. They shared with us stories of coming together for dialogue, and of enabling many children and young people to engage with each other across the divide. We also heard about the summer camps and other events that they run for mixed groups of Israeli and Palestinian children.

It was at this point that the excitement I carried with me came alive. In all the complexity of this ongoing conflict one resounding message was clear: a strong desire for an end to the violence, and for the negotiation of a just and sustainable peace based on respect for the humanity and dignity of all. My prayer is that each and every one of us would become channels of that peace, and that where there is despair we can truly bring hope. One day I will return to Palestine to see my prayer answered.