“The power of the pilgrimage is to allow the geography of the horror happening in Gaza to become real in our home cities. To flee Gaza city to hope to find refuge in Rafah in the south, that’s only the distance of Hillary’s Boat Harbour to Freemantle in my home town. You’d still hear the blast of bombs destroying your home. You could see the clouds of dust and debris.
“On pilgrimage, in solidarity, we can start to transfigure our vicarious trauma into action as we realise in our bodies that 2 million displaced people can’t find shelter from bombardment no matter where they are in that small area.”
— Jarrod McKenna
What is your intention?
Our prayer is that this Lent as we meditate on the life and passion of Jesus, we might deepen our solidarity with what our Palestinian sisters and brothers are experiencing daily. We are committed to taking seriously the body of Christ in Palestine’s costly testimony to the truth of what is happening. Like Israeli human rights organisations and Jewish peace groups, we too want to accurately name what Palestinians are undergoing as fitting the legal definition of apartheid and military occupation. We heed the wisdom of experts who overwhelmingly identify genocidal intent in the ongoing war against Gaza and we are committed to its prevention. As Jesus teaches, we are seeking to “simply let our yes mean yes” and speak plainly the truth. We do so following the lead of so many Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians who have been on the forefront of the nonviolent movement, in calling for an enduring ceasefire and an end to occupation so a healing peace can finally begin.