Day 4: “We refuse to be enemies”
This morning, we visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. This was an enormous privilege normally forbidden to non-Muslims, and possible for us only because of Sabeel’s warm relations with people of all faiths. Among the marvels that would take many pages to describe, we saw architectural designs and decorations installed by the Crusaders some 900 years ago when they made the mosque a Christian church. Asked why the Muslims have not removed the Christian design elements, our guide responded: “Because they are beautiful, and you can see that they were made by people of true faith, and we respect all true faiths as equally beautiful.” If more people showed this kind of tolerance and reverence for diversity, the Holy Land would be a kinder, more peaceable place.
But in the afternoon we visited the Tent of Nations. This is a hilltop farm a half-hour from Jerusalem, legally owned by the Nassar family since the Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine and registered formally by them during each successive occupation, including that of Israel. The farm is now surrounded by Israeli settlements regarded as illegal under international law. The Israeli government in 1991 declared this state land. The Nassars have been fighting ever since to maintain possession. They have fought eviction and demolition orders in Israeli courts over and over.
Amal Nassar, one of Nassar family members at Tent of Nations
When their water was cut off, they built cisterns.
When electricity was cut off, they built solar collectors.
When building permits were refused, they moved to caves and tents.
When bulldozers knocked down 1500 of their olive and almond trees, they replanted, because land left vacant can be confiscated by the state.
When the latest war began and the world was distracted by the horrors in Gaza, the settlers built a road across part of the Nassar farm, set up a house trailer as a sign of ownership, and blocked the Nassars from harvesting some of their own crops.
For years the Nassars have been inviting foreign volunteers to help them. Hundreds have come. At the time of our visit the volunteers were German and American. Next week, three Dutch volunteers will arrive. The international attention keeps the settlers and soldiers at bay.
The Nassars are Christians. They run a summer camp for children, with programs on drama, dance, music, non-violence, care of the land, and reconciliation.
“We have a responsibility to this land,” Amal Nassar, one of the family members, told us. She said, “We refuse to be enemies.” She said, “A cycle of violence will never end.”
That is the spirit of the Muslims of Al-Aqsa who for centuries have not deleted Christian culture from one of their most revered holy places.
“Amal” in Arabic means “Hope.”
*About the author
Bill Butt is retired after writing for CBC Television, teaching at Western University in London, Ontario, and thirteen years as Overseas Personnel for the United Church of Canada, based primarily in Angola and Mozambique. He is a member of the CFOS Communications Committee. Along with a dozen other Canadians, he participated in a Solidarity Pilgrimage, November 11-21, 2024, hosted by Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Each day of the pilgrimage, he wrote about his experience.