The Bishop’s Committee on Interfaith Ministry had a challenge. How do we as Christians respond to conflicts in the Middle East? One of our members was in Jerusalem on Oct. 7 and had to be helped to leave Israel. We turned to a book with a provocative title, The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians don’t want to know about each other. What if the authors could speak to us in person?
On Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., Anglicans have an opportunity to hear from Raja Khouri and Jeffrey Wilkinson at Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St. or join a livestream online. These authors will help us understand the long and complicated backgrounds of Jews and Palestinians, showing how walls get built: by knowledge acquired as members of our families and traditions; through stories that stay alive through retelling; and the shared mortar elements of the wall – identity, trauma and victimhood. The authors, who are also friends, provide background from their Jewish and Palestinian contexts and help us understand elements also entering our North American culture – antisemitism, the Nakba, Zionism, and Palestinian resistance.
What is the answer to breaking down the wall? The authors provide no easy ones but show us real-life examples: deep listening to the other; affirming the other’s suffering as valid and each as willing to accept both; asking their communities, as well as our own, to pursue a common value – justice for all human beings. They challenge us to move toward it, not just from a wish for safety and freedom from oppression, but to a sense of freedom to create a different future. The diocese invites you to attend the event, learn more and join this important conversation.
Did Paul visit Spain?