Upcoming Conferences & Trips

Spring 2010 Witness Visit, April 8-17

elaine — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:16:00 -0700

Start: April 8, 2010

End: April 17, 2010

A Contemporary Way of the Cross
2010 Sabeel Witness Visit

INFORMATION FLYER & MAIL-IN REGISTRATION FORM ATTACHED BELOW

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
invites you to join us for 9 nights to experience the reality of life in today’s Holy Land:

• Worship with Palestinian Christians

• Meet and reflect with Palestinian Christians and Muslims as well as with Jewish Israelis and internationals who partner with Sabeel in non-violent resistance to the breaking of international and humanitarian law

• Experience the realities of the Palestinian community living under Israeli Occupation:the Wall, settlements, checkpoints, confiscated and demolished homes, refugee camps, and environmental degradation

• Learn about the loss of civil and property rights of Arab Israeli citizens

WHEN: April 8 – 17 inclusive (9 nights) The program officially begins late morning on Thursday, April 8 and concludes after dinner on April 16. Both Western and Eastern Easter fall on April 4, 2010, so those wishing to participate in Holy Week and Easter in Jerusalem could arrange independently to do so and then join the Witness Visit.

WHERE: Nights in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth with side visits to the West Bank (e.g. Hebron, Ramallah, Tulkarem, Tuwani) and to the Sea of Galilee holy sites

COST: $1250 per person in a double room; $1550 per person in a single room. This cost includes a non-refundable registration fee of $200, all accommodations and meals for 9 nights, all transportation and honoraria during the visit. It does NOT include airfare, transportation to and from the airport, personal expenses and souvenirs, or travel insurance.

BONUS OPPORTUNITY: Come early for a full day’s tour of the holy sites of Jerusalem (Mount of Olives and Gethsemane, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, the Haram al Sharif, the Via Dolorosa). Additional cost for 2 extra nights and the tour of Jerusalem is $250 per person in a double room or $325 per person in a single room.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 25, 2010 The registration form is available on the Sabeel website (www.sabeel.org)

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS RIGOROUS TRIP THAT INCLUDES CLIMBING OF STAIRS AND MUCH WALKING, SOMETIME OVER ROUGH TERRAIN.

Sabeel-Colorado Fact-Finding Trip, May 15-29, 2010

elaine — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:39:02 -0700

Start: May 15, 2010

End: May 29, 2010

Seeking Understanding in Israel/Palestine: A Two-Week Fact-Finding Trip
May 15-29, 2010
Organized by Friends of Sabeel-Colorado

Trip Objectives:
- Visit with Palestinian and Israeli peace and human rights groups and individuals working for peace.
- See first-hand the reality of Palestinian life and the impact of the Israeli occupation - the wall, settlements, checkpoints, roadblocks,
   refugee camps, etc.
- Consider what is needed for a just peace. Trip Highlights: -Stay in the Old City of Jerusalem, within easy walking distance of the Western
   Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Dome of the Rock. Explore the winding streets and bazaars of the Old City.
- Tour the illegal settlements of East Jerusalem with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), stand with the Women in
   Black on Friday at noon, meet with an ex-soldier from Breaking the Silence, the Israeli Human Rights organization B’Tselem, and a woman
   from Machsom Watch; visit the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem.
- Tour the Old City of Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity; visit a refugee camp, visit in the homes of Palestinians in the Beit Jala area,
   and learn about nonviolent resistance against the construction of the wall.
- Travel to Galilee to visit Nazareth, the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, and spend two nights by the Sea of Galilee.
- Learn about the many Palestinian villages that were destroyed in 1948, and the current struggle of "unrecognized Arab villages" in Israel.
- Visit the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah; meet with the "Stop the Wall Campaign."
- Visit with a Jewish settler in a West Bank settlement, meet with the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron, and visit the Mosque of Ibrihim,
   honored by Jews and Muslims as the burial place of Abraham.
- Swim in the Dead Sea and visit Masada.

Tour Leaders: Dr. Joy Lapp, Instructor of Religion and Ethics, Metro State College of Denver. Joy spent three years in the Middle East working with Mennonite Central Committee, and is Chair of Friends of Sabeel-Colorado. Rev. Arnie Voigt, Retired Lutheran minister. Arnie has visited Israel/Palestine many times and has led numerous tour groups.

Cost: $2,000. Includes hotel, 2 meals per day, tour guide and entrance fees, transportation, tips. Does not include airfare, lunch, souvenirs, personal expenses or travel insurance. Prices based on double-occupancy. Supplement for a single room is $520. Prices are based on a minimum of 20 travelers, and subject to changes due to circumstances beyond our control.

Travelers must have a passport that is valid six months beyond date of re-entry to U.S.

Confirmation needed by March 1, 2010.

For more Information please contact: Joy Lapp 303-494-2338, lappj@earthlink.net

We extend a warm invitation to join this cross-cultural encounter to view the holy sites, and to visit with people passionately involved in the effort of peacemaking today.

5th Intl Young Adult Conference July 21-Aug 1

elaine — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:12:55 -0800

Start: July 21, 2010

End: August 1, 2010

Sabeel’s 5th International Young Adult Conference

From the Belly of the Whale: A Palestinian Christian Cry for Justice

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT: INFORMATION FLYER ATTACHED BELOW

Our Vision: To provide young adults (18-35) with an alternative pilgrimage experience that emphasizes active engagement with both the people and the land.

July 21st – August 1st, 2010, Jerusalem -- 12 Days in Palestine and Israel

Total Cost: $1100. Does not include airfare or transportation from airport.

Details on program and registration will be posted here. For more information, contact Sabeel in Jerusalem at this email: youth@sabeel.org

Date: 8th of December 2009

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Sabeel! Four months after the 2009 Young Adult Conference, winter is descending on Jerusalem. We have entered the season of Advent, and as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we pray God will be with us in our 2010 Young Adult Conference, beginning July 21st. We are currently in the planning stages, recruiting participants and sponsors, publicizing the event, and organizing speakers and activities. This is something that we cannot do alone, so if you are interested, we would love to have your help!

The 5th Annual Young Adult Conference, titled “From the Belly of the Whale: A Palestinian Christian Cry for Justice,” is inspired by the Book of Jonah. In the story, the nationalist prophet Jonah travels against his will to preach repentance to his Assyrian enemies in the city of Ninevah. A story of mercy, compassion, perception and responsibility, the tale of Jonah and the Assyrians will serve as a springboard for this year’s conference.

The way we perceive truth, and in turn the way we express it to others, is as important at Sabeel as the truth itself, for the culture inherent in Zionism – be it Christian or Jewish – fosters not ignorance of the truth but a distorted lens for viewing it.

In the Jonah story, the Zionist lens is rejected. God forgives the Assyrians and rebukes the prophet for his blindness. As a result, the reader gains the ability to see what Jonah could not. The Assyrians are saved, not just in the story but also today in our world. We as readers and Christians are no longer permitted to understand a people through the paradigm of the enemy and the Other. The Assyrians, the Palestinians, the Kurds or the Native Americans can now be seen and engaged as human communities made up of thousands of faces, all created in the image of God.

This short chapter from the Old Testament gives new perspective to the Palestinian struggle, providing a humanizing lens for seeing reality that is grounded in both Jewish and Christian religious traditions. A perspective, however, is useless unless we as friends and sponsors of Sabeel can create a network of support and critical engagement to incorporate it in our struggle, in and between communities around the world.

As always, we must address the oppression that is so visibly destructive for Palestinians, but like in the story, we must also work to unmask the discourse that makes it invisible to others. For those conference participants who do not have the opportunity to return regularly, it is important to continue developing our discourse of liberation from abroad, transforming thought into practical action and advocacy.

We would like to invite you – or someone you know – to sponsor a participant, both financially and socially. We want to provide young applicants with the opportunity to travel to Jerusalem and experience the struggle first hand, but we also need people who know Sabeel and care about our mission to engage participants and encourage their education and advocacy both before and after the conference occurs.

We also need advocates to help publicize the event and recruit participants. You might help by putting up flyers, or publicizing the event at your school, organization, or workplace. If you know someone who might be interested, keep us informed and send them to the website where they can find information about Sabeel, the conference, or the Jonah story and our interpretation of it. The application and registration forms are available there as well.

If you have suggestions or ideas for how our conference can be more fulfilling and challenging, let us know! We hope to hear from you soon, and if you have questions email us at youth@sabeel.org

In love and solidarity,

Omar Harami
Young Adult Coordinator

Sabeel 2010 Fall Witness Visit, October 14-23, 2010

elaine — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:58:36 -0800

Start: October 14, 2010

End: October 23, 2010

More information about the Fall 2010 Sabeel International Witness Trip will be posted soon.

Trip Summary:

This Sabeel international witness visit offers a window into the daily lives of Palestinians living under military occupation.

Participants will:

Meet with Palestinian Christian and Muslim leaders of civic and religious organizations and Israeli advocates for justice.
Visit communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Learn the stories of Palestinian Christians and share the worship that sustains their faith.
Share thoughts and reflections with others from aruond the world who are working to end the conflict.

3 nights in Jerusalem
3 nights in Bethlehem
2 nights in the Galilee