Issue 21
Spring 2001
A perfect symbol of liberation from the crushing siege suffocating all Palestinian villages and towns in the Occupied Territories of Palestine--liberation wrought by women and men, old and young, working together, by Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals resisting together, by Muslim, Jew and Christian peacemaking together.
Rolling Stones
by Bob Holmes
Perched atop the earthen roadblock, which for six months has isolated the Palestinian villages of Bidya and Masha in the Nablus District, was a huge stone almost two meters in diameter. On Wednesday, April 18, villagers approaching the barricade were met by friends coming from the other side. Together they dug and scraped to dismantle this major barrier to normal life and travel. It took an hour to dig away the earth from under the stone so that it could be moved.
One great heave by twenty straining bodies, and the stone came rolling down! A perfect symbol of liberation from the crushing siege suffocating all Palestinian villages and towns in the Occupied Territories of Palestine--liberation wrought by women and men, old and young, working together, by Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals resisting together, by Muslim, Jew and Christian peacemaking together.
The four Israeli soldiers guarding their checkpoint were powerless faced with two hundred de-constructors. It was another hour before enough soldiers and police could be assembled to reassert the domination of the occupation. The intrepid Women in Black formed a line protecting the workers, but, in the end, the soldiers pushed past them and fifteen diggers were arrested--two Palestinians, six Israelis and seven Internationals (including CPTers Greg Rollins and Bob Holmes). Those not arrested were dispersed with tear gas and percussion grenades (including CPTers Anne Montgomery and Rick Polhamous). The arrested were taken to the police station in the nearby Israeli settlement of Ariel. In solidarity, they accepted release only if all were to be released unconditionally. After several hours all were so released. Rejoining their companions, they learned that a seventy-two-year-old Israeli woman had been taken to hospital with injuries from a grenade and two other de-constructors had slight wounds when their car was hit with automatic gunfire from the Israeli settlement of Brukhim.
As Christian Peacemakers our Lenten prayer focus has been, “Who will roll away the stone?” This day we saw the stone move as grassroots Palestinian and Israeli organizations, with International support, resisted nonviolently together. It has only just begun.
Fr. Bob Holmes is a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Hebron.
They said to each other,
“Who will roll away the stone?”
(Adapted from Mark 16:2-3)
From the despair of demolished hopes
...Who will roll away the stone?
From the powerlessness of land confiscation
...Who will roll away the stone?
From the imprisonment of 24 hour curfew
...Who will roll away the stone?
From the fear of violence on the roads
...Who will roll away the stone?
From the suffocation of villages under siege
...Who will roll away the stone?
From the cruelty of school closures
...Who will roll away the stone?
From the tomb of the occupation
...Who will roll away the stone?
Lenten Prayer from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
