Flames are seen at the entrance of an Anglican church hit by a firebomb in the West Bank city of Nablus, Saturday Sept.16, 2006. Palestinians wielding guns, firebombs and lighter fluid attacked four churches in the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday, while gunmen opened fire at a fifth in Gaza, following remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that many Muslims view as disparaging. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
Must do the dishes, but will add some commentary later...
- You can see Fr. Yousuf Saadeeh, a priest in Nablus, over here on the site of the An-Najah National University, located in Nablus.
- If you've ever wondered what happened to the Samaritans, you can find out all about them here, as well as listen to a recording of traditional Samaritan choral music. The music, they say, is the same as that sung at the time of the Exodus.
- I'm not at this point certain if this is the new church in Nablus, built just a few years ago, with info from here
“Whoever can leave Nablus, leaves it,” says Rev. Husam Naoum, who is in charge of the parish of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Nablus, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rafidia, two kindergartens, and who is the Vice president of St. Luke’s Hospital and the Penman Clinic. The Anglican priest can feel the creeping Exodus of local Christians especially in his own congregation. He believes that 95% of the Christian youth would like to leave the city today rather than tomorrow.
Palestine is the land with the longest Christian tradition. For almost 2000 years Christians have lived here – these days, however, only as a fading minority of less than 2%. Like their Muslim neighbours, Christians undergo an economic, social, and political crisis due to Israeli occupation. But they have a further problem: Around the world many people, including the Christians, do not know that Palestinian Christians exist. And the entire Arab world is either not aware of them or dislikes them for their Western orientation.
There are only 145 Anglicans in Nablus and Rafidia, within a total Christian community of about 700, whereas 20 years ago there were 10,000 Christians in Nablus. The other congregations belong to the Orthodox or the Greek Catholic church.
Every first Sunday of the month Father Husam holds worship services at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Nablus, and the rest of the month in Rafidia, as this is where the majority of the Christians in the area reside. On average only 40 people come here for Sunday Services. “Sunday is not a holiday here. People have to work”, says Father Husam.
Life as a Christian in Nablus is difficult. “When there is a crisis situation, people go to God for help because there is no where else to turn.” Muslim-Christian relations are fine, but when they get together in each other’s social and celebration occasions, they talk social things and do not talk about religion. They seek to find common ground and unity rather than focus on what is different between them.
Rev. Husam Naoum and his congregation have recognized the importance of working for Christian presence and have decided to set a visible symbol for the Christian presence in their city by building a new church. On December 31, 2004, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rafidia was dedicated under the auspices of the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal. Some 400 people came to witness this unique moment that could also serve as stimulation for places like Europe and America, where Dioceses have started to dismantle churches.
Fifty years ago a family in the congregation donated a parcel of land to the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, in Rafidia, with the stipulation that it be used to build a church. The Anglican congregations of Rafidia and Nablus, under the direction of Rev. Hosam Naoum, have saved for many years to make this day a reality, despite of the dire economic conditions in the West Bank.
Everything in the church was manufactured by local people from Nablus. Only the lamps have been bought at Kuffer Yassif in Galilee, because Nablus did not have the shapes of antique lamps. The woodwork of the church is made of red American oak.
“Building a Church in Rafidia and in Nablus,’ says Rev. Husam, “is a symbol that we as a church give our utmost to keep our community alive and to preserve it. We had two main reasons for building this church. The first one is that this land on which the church was built was given to the church on one condition: to have a church build on it. So, for 90 years people were demanding to have a church for this parish, and it happened at last in the year 2004. The second reason is that this church marks the hope for the people that we will continue to live in this place. We will continue to survive. The church is a sign of newness. A new church means new life. And it means new hope for the people that we are here as living stones of the Holy Land. The church gives us self-confidence.”
On Friday the 27th May 2005 the church had its first baptism. For Rev. Husam and his congregation it was a very joyous occasion “to welcome a new member into the family of Christ in this city at our new church.”
Many Israelis call Nablus “the capital of terror”. For the Palestinians it is the second biggest city in the West Bank, famous for its sweets like „Kanafe“ (a sweet pastry with cheese and sugary syrup), its olive soap production, and its sesame paste. It is the place where our Lord met the Samaritan woman at Jacob´s well.
Nablus continues to be a city under siege. Although violent incursions have ceased, the people of Nablus still do not have freedom of movement and their economic and social situation continues to worsen. Nablus was the economic centre of Palestine once. But choked by checkpoints, the trade no longer comes through. Much of Nablus has been destroyed economically. Even now that the checkpoint is ”open” there is no reason for people to come in to buy goods when they have to wait in line up to 4 hours to get out. It used to be that every Saturday the Arab Israelis would flood Nablus and buy local goods – they were cheaper and nicer than in Israel – but now anyone with an Israeli ID is kept from entering. Even Jerusalem ID holders, who are not Israeli citizens, are kept out of Nablus. At times even tourists are kept from entering, especially big groups.
But Rev. Husam and his congregation continue to work for a fruitful future. The next project will be to establish a modern nursery below the church, once the necessary funds are available. Rev. Husam says that he and his congregation needed to continue to search for such positive projects to keep hope alive.
With these projects of hope Rev. Husam also wishes to reach Christians worldwide, so that they may become more aware of their sisters and brothers in the Land of the Holy One. “Let me start by greeting all people around the world, also the friends of the Diocese, by saying that we care for you as much as you do for us, because we are one family. I pray to you not to forget other members of the body, especially when it is aching. Because I am sure the whole body is aching with it. Help us to maintain our spiritual and emotional connection to make the Church Christ more alive and more caring. This is our mission.”
Sorry man, I've just found your website on google, and I just went there because I wanted to wind out what your "thought dumpster" is. I've just started a website like this a day ago (inspired by some failures in my life).
It's called "A recycle bin for your thoughts, feelings and dreams". I'm not going to advertise the actual adress of the website here, because I wouln't like to spoul your nice blog with ads like such. Just if you're interested, I can email you the link to the dumpster, just contact me, okay? :)
Best wishes,
Algirdas Sileika :)
bye, man. btw, nice blog :)
Posted by: t-ss | September 20, 2006 at 09:48 PM