TORRANCE — “Palestine Justice Awareness,” a program of Faith United Methodist Church's Social Action Committee, will be presented Sunday, March 17, at 1 p.m. at the church, 2115 W. 182nd St. in Torrance.
The speakers are Rev. Allison Mark, associate pastor at First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, and Kira Rabut Azzam, community organizer at Buena Vista Community Institute and staff for Friends of Wadi Foquin.
The program is designed to raise awareness of the conditions in Wadi Foquin, which will help in understanding the overall situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Wadi Foquin is a village of 1,200 people, 5 miles southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The village is adversely affected by the policies and practices under the military occupation, including the growing settlement nearby and the separation wall. Azzam will talk about Wadi Foquin and what is being done within the United Methodist Church and in Washington to support the village.
Rev. Mark will talk on the broader topic of understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and share her understanding and connection of being Asian American and why it is important that we are all aware of the situations that are happening globally (the similarities between Palestine and the Philippines, the Bedouins and Native Americans, etc.).
The program is free and open to the public. For information, call the church office at (310) 217-7000.
Security cannot justify occupation. But then, one cannot ignore recent history.
Israel took its chances withdrawing from Gaza. The Palestinians greeted the withdrawal with thousands of rockets, forcing Israel to impose a blockade to limit the number and size of weapons that can enter the Strip.
Why would Israel now unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank, constricting its width to nine miles, and leaving its soft belly exposed? Any passenger jet landing at Israel’s international airport would be within range of should-fired surface-to-air missiles. There are many such nightmarish scenarios.
Trying to negotiate a withdrawal is impossible. The Palestinians insist on the right of return, in effect stating that they will only make peace with Israel if there is no Israel.
In the meanwhile, there are dozens of Palestinian attempts to murder innocent Israelis every single month, and the only things that are stopping them are the onerous security measures that make Palestinian life difficult: The checkpoints, the barrier, and the preemptive arrests.
The relentless bashing of Israel for defending herself may lead to events such as the ones brilliantly depicted in Jonathan Bloomfield’s award-winning thriller, “Palestine.”