Christmas 2001
TO OUR FRIENDS AT THIS
The people who walked in
darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness -
on them light has shined (Isaiah 9:2).
The Sabeel family in
As you well realize, our land and its
people have been going through the most horrendous times.
It is important to emphasize that Sabeel has consistently condemned
all forms of violence. From our perspective of faith, all killing is wrong. The
killing of innocent people can never be justified, but extra judicial killing
is also wrong. Suspects must be brought to justice and given
a fair trial. The killing of Palestinians and Israelis is a crime
whether perpetrated by the Israeli extremist government through its army and
settlers or by Palestinians who are resisting the occupation of their country.
We condemn both acts as evil; and simultaneously reiterate our strong
conviction that the Israeli illegal occupation is the root cause of the
problem. So long as it lasts, violence and terror are likely to continue.
We believe that the evil and oppressive occupation must be resisted consistently with nonviolent direct action.
We at Sabeel stand for nonviolence because it stems from our understanding of
the Gospel. We, therefore, call on people of good will throughout the world,
who believe that justice is the true basis for peace, to employ all the
nonviolent means possible to bring the Israeli occupation to
an end.
Several weeks ago, many of us were encouraged with the statements of
President
Throughout this year, with the increase of
One of the great marks of Christmas is its note of hope. For in the
midst of the utter darkness of a world of sin and evil, God shines on humanity
with the gift of hope in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ - hope for a
life that can be lived with God and neighbor fully and abundantly, in peace and
in love. The final words of the song of Zechariah have a special meaning for us
during this Christmas season, "…to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke
1:79). This is our prayer as well as our plea.
At certain times in the struggle for peace, our people were able to
see a light at the end of the tunnel. Many of us today see a tunnel that has no
end, shrouded with gloom and utter darkness - the darkness of injustice and
humiliation. In the midst of such despair, our prayer to the incarnate Lord is
to give us that ray of light that will restore hope and confidence for a
brighter future for all the people of our land so that our feet will be guided in the way of peace.
At this Christmas, we share with you our prayer and we plead that
you will do everything you can to help put an end to the occupation of our
country. Our people are longing for a life of security and
peace in their own state and wish the same for their Israeli neighbors.
May the joy, love, and peace of Christ reside with us all
throughout the coming New Year.