A Report from the Middle East George Wertin, Julie and Michael Madden Thursday, October 24th, 2002

Fr. George Wertin, Julie and Michael Madden were part of a delegation in early October that visited the Middle East for 11 days. They met with leaders and citizens from both sides of the conflict. We asked 2 reporters to attend this evening's report and provide their individual perspectives on what they heard and felt.

Edie Kalweit has been a St. Joan of Arcer for 25 years now. Now that her children are grown, there is time to participate more fully in activities taking place at St. Joan's. After listening to Father George and Julie and Michael Madden share with us their recent experience visiting the Middle East, I knew I needed time to digest what they and others had related. Hospitality Hall was full Thursday night with many attendees curious to hear firsthand, from people they felt they could trust, the truth of the situation there. I took many pages of notes, but as with all learning and experience, what the message ultimately boils down to for each individual, is really the only thing of importance. We each arrive at that point of reality digesting different degrees of information and detail. I will share with you the big picture that I internalized from what was related on this most important evening. I awoke at 3 AM thinking of the word "Compromise." Then many other "C" words flooded my mind, as I lay thinking of what had been said, (Ex. Compassion, Coming of Age, Comprehensive, Caring and Calling). Father George started this evening of reflection and question with a prayer. Later, when I reflected on the tone of his prayer, I thought of Christ and Corpus Christi. George, Julie and Michael each spent a few minutes recapping the most memorable and educational moments of their trip personally for each of them. Rather than relate all that I could write down, of what was said, I'd like to give you a thought from each of them that really left an impression on me. George, in relating to us the way Palestinians are treated in Israel said, "How do you take a picture of humiliation?" He told of the numerous "check points" set up by Israel that impacted the lives of everyday people as well as potential terrorists. A 15-minute trip to work taking 2 hours due to inspection delays. Every Palestinian treated like a potential threat, an enemy. "People in the Middle East don't have the luxury of not paying attention to politics, as we do here," said Julie. Their very lives depend on it. Most people of the region do want peace, on both sides. Julie told of a philosophy of non-violence that was not passive but rather proactive. The strategy is to make the cost of occupation too high for those occupying. Quakers, Minnesota Veteran’s for Peace, and Israeli groups are among many groups there trying to work toward the resolution of this conflict in a non violent manner. Michael was impressed with the hospitality of all peoples they met and stayed with in the many countries they visited in the Middle East. He told of regions where one saw beautiful terraced land. Other regions, once beautiful hillsides populated with age-old olive trees, had been replaced with not so beautiful settlements. This conflict is eating away at the fabric of the land as well as that of future generations. Children on all sides are traumatized. The floor was open to questions, comments and sharing, shortly into the evening. "Commonality" was a recurring theme that left an impression on me. The idea that both sides needed to be convinced that more was shared in common with one another than not. One gentleman told of a program bringing youth of the region together via music making, Jazz! The idea of America needing to be a "broker" to bring about peace in the region was proposed and our responsibility as a super power to do so. Both sides of this issue were discussed, with the observation that the U.S. has always either been pro Israeli or abstained from being pro Palestinian. How can it be justified to the American people that we need to be involved? The idea of waging a war with Iraq came up. The common feeling, (in the Middle East on all sides the Madden's and Father George encountered), was that a war with Iraq would only further destabilize the region, mostly because it would give Israel an excuse, by way of example, to "transfer" Palestinians, (potential terrorists), out of Israel in the name of fighting terrorism. And lastly a few folks commented on getting word out about the reality of the situation there from a neutral position, not one biased by our nation's historic political stance. No further action on the part of St. Joan's was planned. Things were left open ended as it was felt more time was needed to digest all that was seen and learned. My conclusion is that none of us can afford to be silent spectators. This is an ever-shrinking world. Justice on many fronts is all that ultimately secures our freedom. -edie

Chuck Collins is a 14 year parishioner, a lawyer who has worked with organized labor for 28 years. Chuck claims he is not violent about anything except when he can't find even one pair of matching socks in the morning. Look with me at the faces of our people, listening to these voices. Voices which should be familiar but ring as if from another planet, speaking intimately of checkpoints, Arafat , the IDF, intifada,. But just now, look at the faces. Old, young, smooth , wrinkled, - hand after hand clenched under the chin, laid flat over the mouth, held against the cheek, or stroking both sides of the chin. All are frozen in place as if by a magic spell - there are no sounds, no whispers, no fiddling with purses or idle stares. The refreshments sit untouched. The faces are stolid, expressionless, perhaps accepting, not quite fearful, not quite sad. I have seen such faces before, but where? The voices speak of Reality. In the last intifada, 1500 Palestinian homes were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of olive trees uprooted . The olive trees were grown on hilltops by Palestinian farmers, but hilltops are the coveted sites for Israeli settlement enclosures. Yet Palestinian refugees still believe, hope, think, that they will go home one day. A map shows the immense spread of colored areas depicting Israeli military bases and settlements on the West Bank, yet everyone on all sides speaks of the only possible solution being a two-state solution. The map is chilling, for something in us knows that with the paving of every hilltop, some piece of hope dies somewhere. Attacking Iraq may accomplish no more than to destabilize an unstable region, unleashing the Kurds to their own wars. US diplomats complain the PLO is not ready to govern, has no control, yet how could they? Palestinians can hardly form any cohesive governance separated in forced cantonments, in an imposed isolation of curfews and checkpoints. Palestinians die simply because travel to a hospital is a curfew violation. All is done, of course, in the name of security. Israel, surrounded by powerful, hostile neighbors, has a bottomless desire for security, and crowded into a narrow strip, a thirst for space. But it is real estate which has a habit of getting blood shed on it, it seems, since time began. A woman in a green sweater sits motionless, chin in hand, a deep, quiet seriousness paints an old veneer on her young face. A mother rises to leave with her restless but irresistibly cute toddler. The young woman in green glances and manages a brief, small smile; returns her chin to her palm, and the sad attentive, old face again covers the young woman. Every face is wholly focused, the degree of attention one might see on a driver negotiating an icy road in the dark. And something in us knows our nation is indeed slipping and sliding on a narrow treacherous road we know little about. So we listen, as if we believed we could find answers or hope through sheer concentration. The voices speak of Responsibility. Everyone looks to the US to "broker" a peace agreement. Much turns on the whims of America. Every year it sends $5 billion to Israel in aid, $150 million to Palestinian organizations … the power to decide who eats, who gets medicine. American evangelicals want the Holy Land in western hands to facilitate the Second Coming. The US has supplied large amounts of arms in the area. The voices speak of Perspective. The Israeli's are an occupying army. As were, we suppose, the Romans, the British, the Turks, the Crusaders. Only 2% of Palestinians participate in violence of any sort (about the same % as commit violent crime in America?) The voices speak of Irony. We democratic Americans are uninterested and apathetic, we can choose not to pay attention. Middle East people are living it , their lives do depend on politics, and they pay attention to an extent mirrored by Americans only if their team is in NFL playoffs. The US withholds aid from "undemocratic" Lebanon, yet tolerated a slipshod election of its own president as flawed as that of any tinhorn dictator. And the Middle Easterner knows every detail, every day. He has to. There are details beyond the bloodshed. Of course the children are terrified, they do poorly in school (if the school is still standing), they wet the bed. Of course. In the streets, bulldozers 3 stories tall demolish homes. What fairy tail dragon could outdo such horror? The voices speak of hope and wild cards. Palestinian and Israeli peace groups give blood at each other's respective version of the red cross, forcing a mixing of bloods among enemies. Palestinian groups bring in Quakers to teach the methods of nonviolence to a people who have never known anything but conflict. Yet all speak of a common rumor that Israel will move the Palestinians into Jordan at the first shot of an Iraq-US war. Israel does speak often of "transfer", an ominously final word. The faces of St. Joan’s take all this in without reaction, the eyes are deep and faces strain to hear a direction, trying to understand across thousands of miles and centuries of history. There is no nodding in agreement, nor shaking in disagreement. There is nothing with which to agree or disagree, for this is no propaganda fest - it is simply stories and verbal snapshots - we must make of it what we will. Each of us must walk his/her own valley. A woman chews gum, quietly but chews harder and harder with ever-greater concentration, never blinking or taking her eyes off the speakers. There is a joke, a humorous remark, but no roar of laughter so routine at St Joans. Few people chuckle, but most do not, staring straight at the panel, as they have for an hour now, like a major league pitcher, wholly focused on his batter, and oblivious catcalls from the crowd. Many of us are middle-aged, and have paid with experience for the lines in our faces. Our faces betray that something in us catches more of this than we are conscious of, something realizes history is moving inexorably toward resolution or conflagration, whatever that entails. The faces show not true fear, for we do not know enough yet to truly fear. There is acceptance and concern in the deepest parts of us, areas we don't know well, there is sadness. Ah, I recall now where I have seen such faces. It was in an old black and white photo of Americans - in bib overalls and plain housedresses- clustered around a refrigerator sized old radio, listening to FDR announce the declaration of war on Japan. The same frozen posture, the same solemn faces. There is one last note. On the faces of our oldest, our most elderly parishioners, there were some slight, small smiles, tiny upturns at the edges of mouths and the kind, tolerant expression with which age can grace faces. The tiny expression which says: yes, it is terrible; yes, it may get worse; yes, we may make terrible mistakes; we may not. Yes, you must act your convictions, struggle to do right, have courage. But this, too, shall pass, somehow, someday. We humans do muddle through. Voices and faces of our time, at our church. -Chuck Collins

Todd Dalebroux his wife Karen and their children have been active in several ministries at SJA including Sister Parish, Soup Suppers, and Religious Ed.