«Back to Stories

Fr Kevin Dance CP - Trip to Israel

I work with some people from the Christian Peacemaking Team in New York.

My time there recently was sad. The violence has brought the economy to its knees. We heard consistently from people that 70 % on both sides want peace and are prepared to pay for it. They also said that the situation of Palestinians is ten times worse than for Israelis.

The Spring we have been hoping for, so long in coming, has arrived. The war, we have been hoping against, has also arrived. It's not an easy place to be in at present. Though I don't feel any personal sense of danger, you can almost pick up the anxiety in handfuls.

As you can imagine the invasion of Iraq fills up most of the conversation here. There's little else on the TV screens and newspapers. Reactions of people seem to be much more ambivalent than usual. Even many people, who insist that the soldiers must be supported, say they are cautious about taking to the street for fear that their presence will be taken as supporting an illegitimate action by the President.

The mainstream media coverage is gung-ho. As one newspaper article noted the biggest media conglomerates - CNN, MSNBC, NBC - are all owned by General Electric which is one of the biggest electrical manufacturers and so one of the winners from war productions. What was being suggested is that the presentation could be a bit suspect.

A protest march through Manhattan yesterday was rated by the police as "more than 200,000", so I reckon it could well have been considerably bigger than that. I would say that the level of resistance to US action at this stage which is the start of this conflict is more like the level opposition towards the end of the Vietnam conflict.

New York is very jumpy. Homeland security is the buzzword. We're at code orange. And yet people still go about their lives. The strange thing is that many people when asked say they believe that this invasion increases the danger of terrorist attacks on US citizens, but they say now the President has declared war, they must swing in behind it. So they are saying "we support the invasion; but we know that it will cause more terrorist attacks on us". I would say that fewer people are able to take a black/white position than usual.

Another element that is new to this conflict is the use of the Internet. It means that information speeds round the world. Petitions, information, disinformation can also be rapidly spread.

Meantime my usual attendance at meetings goes on. Have been monitoring the performance of the IFIs - World Bank, IMF, and WTO - in dealing with the debt situation and aid for the poorest countries. Indigenous issues, anti-discrimination seminars, follow up to the world summit on Sustainable Development etc. these are taking up some of my time.

God bless and may PEACE break out all over the world.

Further reading - a few thoughts from the trip to Israel.

Israel Today - The Complexity of the Situation ...read more»

Fact Finding Mission ...read more»

Professor Sari Nusseibah, President Al Quds University East Jerusalem ...read more»

Professor Menachem Megidor, President Hebrew University, Mount Scopus ...read more»

IDF Public Relations Representative Major Nathan………..? ...read more»

Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel - Rabbi Ron Kronish, Fr. Michael McGarry Rector Tantur, Isa Jaber, Abu Ghosh ...read more»

Kibbutz Metzer on the green line neighbouring Palestinian villages ...read more»

Dinner with Druse leader Zeidan Atashi and his daughter Najwa Mansour ... read more»

Visit Kibbutz Lochamai Hagetaot – Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Museum ...read more»

Meeting with Professor Emanuel Sivan ...read more»

Yizhak Frankenthau and Dr Rihab Isawii from Ramallah ...read more»