{"id":1549,"date":"2019-03-27T10:56:53","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T15:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/?p=1549"},"modified":"2019-03-27T11:01:14","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T16:01:14","slug":"coming-home-from-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/2019\/03\/27\/coming-home-from-palestine\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming Home from Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><em>By Cat Knarr, Manager of Covenant Kids Congo<\/em><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1555 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"286\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-300x300.png 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-150x150.png 150w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-768x768.png 768w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-1024x1024.png 1024w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-640x640.png 640w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-400x400.png 400w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-70x70.png 70w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_.png 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 286px) 100vw, 286px\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">When I came back from my first trip to my grandfather\u2019s homeland in Palestine, my soul ached. Within the span of two weeks, I experienced so much beauty and so much sorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">I got to meet my amazing, beautiful, resilient family in Palestine. They warmly welcomed me as one of their own, despite the fact that I was a stranger who had never met them before and did not speak their language. They hosted me at the dinner table for iftar, after long days of fasting during Ramadan. They broke bread with me. They gave me a place to sleep in their houses. They shared sacred stories that they were under no obligation to entrust me with. They blessed me with their love and said, \u201cWelcome home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1550\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1550\" style=\"width: 168px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-2.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1550 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-2-168x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"168\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-2-168x300.jpeg 168w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-2-768x1368.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-2-575x1024.jpeg 575w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-2.jpeg 1752w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 168px) 100vw, 168px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1550\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janna Jihad is a 12-year-old journalist from Nabi Saleh, a village in the West Bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">And yet, I also came to know the painful challenges that my family and other Palestinians have endured living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. I learned how my grandfather died from diabetic complications after he couldn\u2019t get to the hospital during a curfew. I was the first U.S.-born descendant to visit his grave. I met Palestinians in South Hebron Hills who lived under the threat that any day their rightfully owned homes could be demolished. And I spoke to <a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/SouthAfrica\/News\/i-am-not-doing-enough-until-the-people-of-palestine-are-free-worlds-youngest-journalist-20180713\">12-year-old journalist Janna Jihad<\/a>, whose family members in the village of Nabi Saleh are dedicated to nonviolent resistance in the face of Israeli military brutality and attempts to drive out the Palestinian population.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u201cA lot of things happen in Nabi Saleh, in every place,\u201d Janna said to a small group gathered under the glaring sun on a warm day during Ramadan. \u201cChildren get injured. Children get killed. A child living here in Palestine, you can get killed anytime. \u2026 Every child living here is under really big danger, is under a really big threat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Upon returning, I had an idea of the burdens that my family and other Palestinians carry, even as they go on living loving, joyful lives. I thought I felt the urgency of the Palestinian struggle, the lives that are at stake every day\u2014but nothing impressed that urgency upon me more than when I woke up the next morning and checked the news.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1552\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1552\" style=\"width: 264px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1552 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-264x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"264\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-264x300.jpeg 264w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-768x873.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad-900x1024.jpeg 900w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Janna-Jihad.jpeg 1130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 264px) 100vw, 264px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janna Jihad addresses a group to share the experiences of Palestinian children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">That morning, Janna Jihad woke up to the crack of gunshots that struck down her 21-year-old cousin. Izz al-Din Tamimi was killed by the Israeli military in Nabi Saleh, a week after I was there. According to the Israeli human rights center B\u2019Tselem, Izz al-Din was <a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.btselem.org\/firearms\/20180703_killing_of_iz_a_din_tamimi_in_a_nabi_saleh\">shot while running away<\/a> after throwing a stone at soldiers. He was left to bleed to death, after 45 minutes of no medical attention, <a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addameer.org\/news\/occupation-forces-kill-izadin-tamimi-morning-raid\">according to<\/a> the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. I watched the videos that Janna posted on her Facebook page, screaming and sobbing as she filmed from her phone. I couldn\u2019t believe that just a week ago I had taken a selfie with her, and now she was mourning her cousin\u2019s death at the hands of a soldier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">But this is the reality of life under occupation, when everything can change in a moment, when lives can be lost in a flash, when a thrown stone can provoke a deadly bullet. This is the reality of living at the center of conflict, where even temporary peace is fragile, where each new day can bring new violence. And so I can\u2019t help but ask: How long, Lord, until there is peace in the Holy Land? How long must all of the people of this land suffer?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">On that warm summer day in Nabi Saleh, Bassem Tamimi\u2014father of teenager Ahed Tamimi, who was at that time still in jail for slapping a soldier\u2014looked at the group and said, \u201cThank you for your tears. But we have a lot of tears because of tear gas. We don\u2019t need your tears.\u201d Instead, you should do what you feel is right, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">I nodded, recognizing that this brave family didn\u2019t need sympathy. Nevertheless,<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1554\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1554\" style=\"width: 227px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Cat_headshot-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1554\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Cat_headshot-1-227x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"227\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Cat_headshot-1-227x300.jpg 227w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Cat_headshot-1-768x1015.jpg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Cat_headshot-1-775x1024.jpg 775w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/Cat_headshot-1.jpg 1570w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Author Car Knarr is the Manager of Covenant Kids Congo, a ministry of Serve Globally.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">our Christian faith compels us to do what is right and just. It can be all too easy to hear heartbreaking stories, to shed tears, and then to move on\u2014because, after all, what can we, in our infinite smallness, do about it? But this isn\u2019t the journey that Christ calls us on. We are called to make peace and confront injustice with prophetic voices, even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">So I could not simply return home and forget about meeting Janna and her family, seeing the homes under threat of demolition, and hearing my own family\u2019s painful stories. I could not simply move on. But I can continue to seek truth, peace, and <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\">justice at every turn, aching and grieving and praying in wordless groans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally?moderation_action=report_form&object_type=post&object_id=1549&width=250&height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Cat Knarr, Manager of Covenant Kids Congo\u00a0\u00a0 When I came back from my first trip to my grandfather\u2019s homeland in Palestine, my soul ached. Within the span of two weeks, I experienced so much beauty and so much sorrow. I got to meet my amazing, beautiful, resilient family in Palestine. They warmly welcomed me as one of their own, despite the fact that I was a stranger who had never met them before and did not speak their language. They hosted me at the dinner table for iftar, after long days of fasting during Ramadan. They broke bread with me. They gave me a place to sleep in their houses. They shared sacred stories that they were under no obligation to entrust me with. They blessed me with their love and said, \u201cWelcome home.\u201d And yet, I also came to know the painful challenges that my family and other Palestinians have endured living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. I learned how my grandfather died from diabetic complications after he couldn\u2019t get to the hospital during a curfew. I was the first U.S.-born descendant to visit his grave. I met Palestinians in South Hebron Hills who lived under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Coming Home from Palestine - Serve Globally Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/2019\/03\/27\/coming-home-from-palestine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coming Home from Palestine - Serve Globally Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Cat Knarr, Manager of Covenant Kids Congo\u00a0\u00a0 When I came back from my first trip to my grandfather\u2019s homeland in Palestine, my soul ached. Within the span of two weeks, I experienced so much beauty and so much sorrow. I got to meet my amazing, beautiful, resilient family in Palestine. They warmly welcomed me as one of their own, despite the fact that I was a stranger who had never met them before and did not speak their language. They hosted me at the dinner table for iftar, after long days of fasting during Ramadan. They broke bread with me. They gave me a place to sleep in their houses. They shared sacred stories that they were under no obligation to entrust me with. They blessed me with their love and said, \u201cWelcome home.\u201d And yet, I also came to know the painful challenges that my family and other Palestinians have endured living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. I learned how my grandfather died from diabetic complications after he couldn\u2019t get to the hospital during a curfew. I was the first U.S.-born descendant to visit his grave. I met Palestinians in South Hebron Hills who lived under [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/2019\/03\/27\/coming-home-from-palestine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Serve Globally Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-27T15:56:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-27T16:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2019\/03\/how-long-lord_-300x300.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alena Logan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alena Logan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alena Logan\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9ea35981e7e615302d80dc74f808d322\"},\"headline\":\"Coming Home from Palestine\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-27T15:56:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-27T16:01:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":871,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/39\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/how-long-lord_-300x300.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/serveglobally\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/27\\\/coming-home-from-palestine\\\/\",\"name\":\"Coming Home from Palestine - 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Within the span of two weeks, I experienced so much beauty and so much sorrow. I got to meet my amazing, beautiful, resilient family in Palestine. They warmly welcomed me as one of their own, despite the fact that I was a stranger who had never met them before and did not speak their language. They hosted me at the dinner table for iftar, after long days of fasting during Ramadan. They broke bread with me. They gave me a place to sleep in their houses. They shared sacred stories that they were under no obligation to entrust me with. They blessed me with their love and said, \u201cWelcome home.\u201d And yet, I also came to know the painful challenges that my family and other Palestinians have endured living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. I learned how my grandfather died from diabetic complications after he couldn\u2019t get to the hospital during a curfew. I was the first U.S.-born descendant to visit his grave. 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