israel: a place to resist (creatively)
One of the most memorable excursions we took during our trip was to visit Diyar Consortium, a Lutheran-based, ecumenically-oriented organization that serves “the whole Palestinian community, with emphasis on children, youth, women and the elderly through unique programs that are contextual and holistic in nature” (from www.diyar.ps). Reverend Doctor Mitri Raheb is the President of Diyar Consortium and Dar al –Kalima University College and is Senior Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Palestine.
We had a relatively short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to visit Dr. Raheb and the Diyar home-base. Before entering the West Bank, our tour van had to halt at a checkpoint. A young male Israeli officer with a very large gun slung over his shoulder entered into the van, briefly glanced at us, and let our driver continue driving past the towering border wall with its ominous guard tower and security cameras. I feel fortunate that I do not have intimidating security experiences like that in my daily life.
Within a few minutes of being on the other side of the border wall, someone yelled, “there’s the dove!” I had just enough time to pull out my phone and snap a picture of the spray painted image of a pure white dove wearing a bullet-proof vest. This image, part of a series of stencil graffiti artworks by the British street artist Banksy, is unofficially titled “Armored Peace Dove.” In addition to a protective vest, a red bull’s eye appears over the dove’s chest. This image appeared in 2005 along with eight other socially and politically-charged artworks in the West Bank.
Banksy’s street art is creative resistance. It resists the violence that has defined that area’s tumultuous recent and painful historical past. It does not offer concrete solutions to Palestine and Israel’s deeply rooted conflicts, but it successfully functions as artistic expression. It has an obvious political theme and message despite the lack of words or explanation. Its purpose is to be thought-provoking and to inspire action and change among the people who live in the constant absence of peace and safety.
Diyar’s mission is to “build a country, stone by stone; to empower a community, person by person; to create institutions that give life in abundance.” Like BuildaBridge, they know that the arts are powerful; art has the power to heal, to inspire hope, to build community, to restore safety, to return a sense of self to those who have lost it, and to usher in transformation. These benefits of the arts are especially important for under-served and oppressed populations.
Dr. Raheb values creative resistance as “an important means of helping oppressed people to articulate their stories in new ways and forms … a face, a song, and a movement is the essence and product of creative resistance” (Raheb, 2014, p. 122-123). It is my hope that Diyar remains a strong, positive, and active force within Bethlehem that mobilizes change-agents. I pray that continue to develop a bold vision of a new reality of peace and unity for Palestine, and for Israel.
We had a relatively short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to visit Dr. Raheb and the Diyar home-base. Before entering the West Bank, our tour van had to halt at a checkpoint. A young male Israeli officer with a very large gun slung over his shoulder entered into the van, briefly glanced at us, and let our driver continue driving past the towering border wall with its ominous guard tower and security cameras. I feel fortunate that I do not have intimidating security experiences like that in my daily life.
Within a few minutes of being on the other side of the border wall, someone yelled, “there’s the dove!” I had just enough time to pull out my phone and snap a picture of the spray painted image of a pure white dove wearing a bullet-proof vest. This image, part of a series of stencil graffiti artworks by the British street artist Banksy, is unofficially titled “Armored Peace Dove.” In addition to a protective vest, a red bull’s eye appears over the dove’s chest. This image appeared in 2005 along with eight other socially and politically-charged artworks in the West Bank.
Banksy’s street art is creative resistance. It resists the violence that has defined that area’s tumultuous recent and painful historical past. It does not offer concrete solutions to Palestine and Israel’s deeply rooted conflicts, but it successfully functions as artistic expression. It has an obvious political theme and message despite the lack of words or explanation. Its purpose is to be thought-provoking and to inspire action and change among the people who live in the constant absence of peace and safety.
Diyar’s mission is to “build a country, stone by stone; to empower a community, person by person; to create institutions that give life in abundance.” Like BuildaBridge, they know that the arts are powerful; art has the power to heal, to inspire hope, to build community, to restore safety, to return a sense of self to those who have lost it, and to usher in transformation. These benefits of the arts are especially important for under-served and oppressed populations.
Dr. Raheb values creative resistance as “an important means of helping oppressed people to articulate their stories in new ways and forms … a face, a song, and a movement is the essence and product of creative resistance” (Raheb, 2014, p. 122-123). It is my hope that Diyar remains a strong, positive, and active force within Bethlehem that mobilizes change-agents. I pray that continue to develop a bold vision of a new reality of peace and unity for Palestine, and for Israel.
“The most dangerous thing for the oppressed and occupied is that at some point they lose faith in themselves, in their ability to change the status quo … oppressed people are likely to stop imagining and stop developing bold ideas; they are caught up in the everyday struggle of providing the daily bread of survival … resistance requires faith, so it can stop being caught in the vicious cycle of retaliation that favors the powerful and tries to mirror it. Faith is nothing less than developing the bold vision of a new reality and mobilizing the needed resources to make it happen.”
- Mitri Raheb from Faith in the Face of Empire, p. 104
references
Raheb, M. (2014). Faith in the face of empire: The Bible through Palestinian eyes. Diyar Publisher.