On Sunday, December 10, Dean Thomason at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle was joined virtually by Father Fadi Diab, rector of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Ramallah. Father Diab provided updates from the Christian community in Ramallah.
“We’re very much, psychologically, devastated,” he said. “The community we serve [is] also overwhelmed with the pain that mainly comes from Gaza, but also from places that the Israeli army invades in the West Bank.”
St. Andrews is providing stress-relief and trauma-response training and programs for teachers and community members, and shelter and sustenance for community members who’ve been displaced from homes and jobs. Demolition of Palestinian homes, he said, is happening quickly.
Fr. Diab also discussed the harms of propaganda in the West, far-right political power in Israel, and increased settler violence in the West Bank, armed and encouraged by Israel’s government.
“I don’t dare to drive on these roads, because you don’t know when the settlers will attack,” said Fr. Diab. And from the side of Israel’s police: “Any call for a ceasefire puts you in danger of being arrested.”
Take Action
- Read more updates and donate at afedj.org — the American Friends of Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
- Write to friends and Christian siblings in Palestine, who feel isolated and alone.
- If you live in the U.S., pressure your elected representatives to call for an immediate ceasefire.
“We are called to save lives,” said Fr. Diab. “It is your role as Americans to reach out to your leaders, and convince them that this is not acceptable, this is morally indefensible, and we need a ceasefire and end to this conflict forever.”
Listen to a recording of the full conversation between Dean Thomason and Father Diab here.
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