October 9, 2023 was set to be the start date for a tour of Israel and Palestine we entitled “What Makes This Land Holy?” The description of the trip read as follows:
“At a time when nothing is considered sacred and sowing division seems profitable, identifying and raising up the whole and holy is an act of sustenance and resistance. As we travel to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Bethlehem and the Galilee, Jericho and Ramallah, our group will listen to the voices and witness the work of Israelis and Palestinians who are repairing what is broken and sowing seeds of hope. We will hear their stories and understand our own in a new light. We will hear about their struggles and realize how familiar they sound.”
Our trip was cancelled on October 7 due to the shocking and horrifying incursion by Hamas and other Palestinian militants into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel. But half our group had already arrived in Jerusalem. George Mason arrived in Jerusalem from a conference in Bethlehem marking the 75th remembrance of the Nakba and centered on Palestinian land, people and culture. George tended to those who were there, helping them make arrangements to return to the U.S. and shepherding them spiritually and physically through the wilderness of what turned out to be the beginning of a tragic, senseless, unjust war that rages on today.
Faith Commons continues to look for spiritual, psychological, and intellectual paths through that wilderness today. We are committed to a future where Jews, Christians, and Muslims can live in the Holy Land with equal rights and equal protections under the law. And we wrestle with what our faith demands of us when that future seems so distant. We invite you to engage in that struggle with us, that together we might create a path of compassion, openness, and respect as we make our way.
A Vigil Of Remembrance and Hope at Oak Lawn UMC, in partnership with Safe Spaces Lebanon
A service to mourn our individual and collective loss at the one year anniversary of October 7.
Nancy attended the People’s Peace Summit in Jerusalem, May 8-9, 2025
While she was there she met with colleagues from the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue. Seeing that the peace-building work continues in Israel and Palestine, she came home inspired and determined to do more here.
Two People, One Land: What Americans Can Do to Promote Peace in Israel and Palestine
A program to offer a different approach to the role we can play in ending the war in Palestine and Israel.
