Christian communities in North America lead solidarity walks for Gaza amid ongoing war
The marchers advocate for a cease-fire and unblocking humanitarian aid.
ByKori Skillman
March 31, 2024,
This comes as the U.N. warns that those in Gaza are facing the worst worst famine since World War II
Christian communities in the U.S. and Canada are holding walks this Easter weekend to advocate for a cease-fire in Israel's war with Hamas.
Members of Vancouver's Christian community made a 25-mile solidarity march on Saturday, to match the approximate length of Gaza's Mediterranean coast. More than 2,000 miles away, many in Nashville's Christian community did the same. About 560 miles from there, Pittsburgh Christians made a similar trek. Gaza Cease-fire Pilgrimage walks were also held in San Diego, California; Buffalo, New York, and Spokane, Washington, as well as other cities.
Gaza's Mediterranean coast ends in the south in Rafah, the city that holds the crossing into Egypt. More than 1 million Palestinians have made this journey to Rafah to leave the heavy fighting in northern Gaza in the hopes of entering Egypt.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its military campaign in response to Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 253 others hostage, according to Israeli officials, who say roughly 100 hostages may remain alive inside Gaza. Israel maintains its goal is to free the hostages and destroy Hamas.
People sit by their destroyed homes following Israeli air strikes, on March 29, 2024, in Rafah, Gaza.
Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
Holding the public's attention on the conflict "makes critical movements like this even more consequential," said Jer Swigart, lead organizer for the walk in Spokane.
The organizers say the purpose of the walks is to draw attention to four main goals, including a cease-fire in the war, the unblocking of humanitarian aid, the end of Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, and regional peace through the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners. The pilgrimage is overall ecumenical -- primarily Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, Catholic and Evangelical, according to organizers.
"Jesus was a Palestinian Jew who lived his life serving others and promoting liberation," said Jonathan Walton, organizer for New York City's walk that took place Friday. More than 150 people attended the walk, organizers said. The actions of both Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces are "totally outside the call and teachings of Jesus," Walton said.
Organizers of the walks told ABC News they are against antisemitism and advocate for nonviolent demonstrations, but are critical of Israel's military actions.
Holding a pilgrimage during Lent is significant as Holy Saturday is traditionally a day of lament within Christianity, according to organizers. Lindsay Acker, an organizer for the Buffalo walk, said this is a time to sit with grief and mourn together as a community amid the rising death toll in Gaza. Some participants say they are even fasting to mirror the Palestinian experience during the religious month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast between dawn and sunset.
MORE: Gaza 'feels like a coffin for children,' some adolescents are 'wanting to die': UNICEF
Organizers credit peace advocate James Harris for sparking the idea for the walks. At the start of Lent in February, he documented his pilgrimage from Australia's Byron Bay to Ballina, a similar distance from Gaza City to Rafah. Similar walks advocating for a cease-fire have taken place in dozens of cities across 19 countries, organizers say. Many of the walks are put on by Christian churches, they say.
"We're utilizing the power of media and experience and access to grow more pro-human understanding of the conflict, with the hyperfocus on U.S. American Christians," Swigart said. He emphasized his outreach to Evangelical Christians.
As director of Global Immersion, a faith-based peace advocacy organization, Swigart, who holds a doctorate in leadership in global perspectives from Portland Seminary, said he was in Gaza on Oct. 7 doing on-the-ground work as a delegate between his Palestinian colleagues and his Israeli colleagues. When he returned to the U.S., he said, he put his work into overdrive, knowing that the events of Oct. 7 were going to "fundamentally change everything."
Spokane's walk began Saturday morning and followed Centennial Trail in six intervals, denoting periodic breaks for prayer. Swigart said more than 200 people attended.
Demonstrators with Jewish Voice for Peace attempt to block President Joe Biden's motorcade route
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images,
"The essence of this is that this is a pro-human movement. It's not a pro-Palestinian movement because while it's wildly pro-Palestinian, to say 'pro-Palestinian' suggests that it's anti-Israeli. That is just not the case," said Swigart. "Our one-sideism is lethal, and if there's ever been question on how lethal our one-sideism is on this particular issue, we're looking at it right now."
Organizer David Vidmar has worked closely with Swigart and is leading this weekend's walk in Buffalo. For him, the walk is an entry for Christian involvement in calling for a cease-fire in the war.
"We're not feeling starvation," said Acker. We're not feeling the bombings. We're not feeling the effects of the genocide, but in this very tiny way, we can feel what it's like to flee 25 miles."
Organizers say they will split the proceeds from the walks between several charities. Acker says she has dedicated a third of Buffalo's proceeds to a Palestinian immigrant in Buffalo who has been trying to get his mom and five sisters out of Gaza.
"Together we channel this into action of the body, action with our money, action in our community, and also action in prayer," Acker said.
Pope: only the Risen One can remove the stones of war and injustice
In his Urbi et Orbi Easter message, Francis called for a general prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, along with a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza. He noted that “the path of reconciliation in the midst of hatred” begins from the Jesus’s tomb. His thoughts also turned to Myanmar, “torn for years now by internal conflicts,” and to children unborn because of abortion. May Christ who “has set us free” also remove the “stone of human trafficking” and free its victims.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – As he does every year, Pope Francis today delivered the traditional Urbi et Orbi Easter message at noon from the Loggia of Blessings of the Vatican Basilica after presiding over the solemn Mass in the churchyard, in front of tens of thousands of faithful gathered in the square.
In his address, the pontiff called on today's world, burdened by the heavy stones of wars and other tragedies that stifle all hope, to come back and look to the Risen One who, alone, can sweep them away with the power of his forgiveness.
“Today too,” Francis explained, “great stones, heavy stones, block the hopes of humanity: the stone of war, the stone of humanitarian crises, the stone of human rights violations, the stone of human trafficking, and other stones as well.”
Yet, the discovery on Easter morning is that that the big stone has already been rolled over: the tomb of Jesus is open and empty. “From this, everything begins anew!” Francis said.
“A new path leads through that empty tomb: the path that none of us, but God alone, could open: the path of life in the midst of death, the path of peace in the midst of war, the path of reconciliation in the midst of hatred, the path of fraternity in the midst of hostility.”
The Risen One “opens that path, humanly impossible, because he alone takes away the sin of the world and forgives us our sins. For without God’s forgiveness, that stone cannot be removed. Without the forgiveness of sins, there is no overcoming the barriers of prejudice, mutual recrimination, the presumption that we are always right and others wrong. Only the risen Christ, by granting us the forgiveness of our sins, opens the way for a renewed world.”
With this in mind, Pope Francis turned to look again this Easter at the world, starting with Jerusalem, scene of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, and today also the face of the victims of the many conflicts that are underway in the world.
“May the risen Christ open a path of peace for the war-torn peoples of those regions. In calling for respect for the principles of international law, I express my hope for a general exchange of all prisoners between Russia and Ukraine: all for the sake of all!”
“I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza, and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on 7 October last and for an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.”
“Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil population, by now at the limit of its endurance, and above all on the children. How much suffering we see in the eyes of the children: the children in those lands at war have forgotten how to smile! With those eyes, they ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction? War is always an absurdity; war is always a defeat!”
Following this logic, he calls on people not to give up and bow to the increasingly strong winds of war that are blowing across Europe and the Mediterranean.
“Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming,” he warned. “Peace is never made with arms, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.”
Yet, the glorious body of the Risen One also bears many other wounds. Francis cites Syria, now forgotten after 13 years of war. “So many deaths and disappearances, so much poverty and destruction, call for a response on the part of everyone, and of the international community.”
He then turned to Lebanon, whose institutional crisis is also economic and social, “now aggravated by the hostilities on its border with Israel.”
The pontiff also encouraged talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, “so that, with the support of the international community, they can pursue dialogue, assist the displaced, respect the places of worship of the various religious confessions, and arrive as soon as possible at a definitive peace agreement.”
The Pope also called upon the Lord to give hope to all those “who in other parts of the world are suffering from violence, conflict, food insecurity and the effects of climate change.”
In appealing to the Risen One, he said: “May the Lord grant consolation to the victims of terrorism in all its forms. Let us pray for all those who have lost their lives and implore the repentance and conversion of the perpetrators of those crimes.”
Turning to Asia, Francis mentioned the wounds of Myanmar. To the One who conquered death, he asks that He “grant consolation and strength to the Rohingya, beset by a grave humanitarian crisis, and open a path to reconciliation in Myanmar, torn for years now by internal conflicts, so that every logic of violence may be definitively abandoned.”
As he encouraged ongoing talks in the Western Balkans, he also did not forget Haiti, once again on its knees due to violence, as well as the many wounds on the African continent, from Sudan to Mozambique’s Cape Delgado, as well as the communities suffering from drought.
To the Risen One, the Pope entrusted migrants and those who are going through a period of economic hardship. “May Christ guide all persons of good will to unite themselves in solidarity”.
On the day that celebrates life, his thoughts also turn to all those situations in which the precious gift of life is despised. “How many children cannot even be born? How many die of hunger and are deprived of essential care or are victims of abuse and violence? How many lives are made objects of trafficking for the increasing commerce in human beings?”
“[O]n the day when Christ has set us free from the slavery of death, I appeal to all who have political responsibilities to spare no efforts in combatting the scourge of human trafficking, by working tirelessly to dismantle the networks of exploitation and to bring freedom to those who are their victims.”
Finally, “May the light of the resurrection illumine our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected and loved.”
In his Urbi et Orbi Easter message, Francis called for a general prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, along with a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza. He noted that “the path of reconciliation in the midst of hatred” begins from the Jesus’s tomb. His thoughts also turned to Myanmar, “torn for years now by internal conflicts,” and to children unborn because of abortion. May Christ who “has set us free” also remove the “stone of human trafficking” and free its victims.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – As he does every year, Pope Francis today delivered the traditional Urbi et Orbi Easter message at noon from the Loggia of Blessings of the Vatican Basilica after presiding over the solemn Mass in the churchyard, in front of tens of thousands of faithful gathered in the square.
In his address, the pontiff called on today's world, burdened by the heavy stones of wars and other tragedies that stifle all hope, to come back and look to the Risen One who, alone, can sweep them away with the power of his forgiveness.
“Today too,” Francis explained, “great stones, heavy stones, block the hopes of humanity: the stone of war, the stone of humanitarian crises, the stone of human rights violations, the stone of human trafficking, and other stones as well.”
Yet, the discovery on Easter morning is that that the big stone has already been rolled over: the tomb of Jesus is open and empty. “From this, everything begins anew!” Francis said.
“A new path leads through that empty tomb: the path that none of us, but God alone, could open: the path of life in the midst of death, the path of peace in the midst of war, the path of reconciliation in the midst of hatred, the path of fraternity in the midst of hostility.”
The Risen One “opens that path, humanly impossible, because he alone takes away the sin of the world and forgives us our sins. For without God’s forgiveness, that stone cannot be removed. Without the forgiveness of sins, there is no overcoming the barriers of prejudice, mutual recrimination, the presumption that we are always right and others wrong. Only the risen Christ, by granting us the forgiveness of our sins, opens the way for a renewed world.”
With this in mind, Pope Francis turned to look again this Easter at the world, starting with Jerusalem, scene of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, and today also the face of the victims of the many conflicts that are underway in the world.
“May the risen Christ open a path of peace for the war-torn peoples of those regions. In calling for respect for the principles of international law, I express my hope for a general exchange of all prisoners between Russia and Ukraine: all for the sake of all!”
“I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza, and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on 7 October last and for an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.”
“Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil population, by now at the limit of its endurance, and above all on the children. How much suffering we see in the eyes of the children: the children in those lands at war have forgotten how to smile! With those eyes, they ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction? War is always an absurdity; war is always a defeat!”
Following this logic, he calls on people not to give up and bow to the increasingly strong winds of war that are blowing across Europe and the Mediterranean.
“Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming,” he warned. “Peace is never made with arms, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.”
Yet, the glorious body of the Risen One also bears many other wounds. Francis cites Syria, now forgotten after 13 years of war. “So many deaths and disappearances, so much poverty and destruction, call for a response on the part of everyone, and of the international community.”
He then turned to Lebanon, whose institutional crisis is also economic and social, “now aggravated by the hostilities on its border with Israel.”
The pontiff also encouraged talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, “so that, with the support of the international community, they can pursue dialogue, assist the displaced, respect the places of worship of the various religious confessions, and arrive as soon as possible at a definitive peace agreement.”
The Pope also called upon the Lord to give hope to all those “who in other parts of the world are suffering from violence, conflict, food insecurity and the effects of climate change.”
In appealing to the Risen One, he said: “May the Lord grant consolation to the victims of terrorism in all its forms. Let us pray for all those who have lost their lives and implore the repentance and conversion of the perpetrators of those crimes.”
Turning to Asia, Francis mentioned the wounds of Myanmar. To the One who conquered death, he asks that He “grant consolation and strength to the Rohingya, beset by a grave humanitarian crisis, and open a path to reconciliation in Myanmar, torn for years now by internal conflicts, so that every logic of violence may be definitively abandoned.”
As he encouraged ongoing talks in the Western Balkans, he also did not forget Haiti, once again on its knees due to violence, as well as the many wounds on the African continent, from Sudan to Mozambique’s Cape Delgado, as well as the communities suffering from drought.
To the Risen One, the Pope entrusted migrants and those who are going through a period of economic hardship. “May Christ guide all persons of good will to unite themselves in solidarity”.
On the day that celebrates life, his thoughts also turn to all those situations in which the precious gift of life is despised. “How many children cannot even be born? How many die of hunger and are deprived of essential care or are victims of abuse and violence? How many lives are made objects of trafficking for the increasing commerce in human beings?”
“[O]n the day when Christ has set us free from the slavery of death, I appeal to all who have political responsibilities to spare no efforts in combatting the scourge of human trafficking, by working tirelessly to dismantle the networks of exploitation and to bring freedom to those who are their victims.”
Finally, “May the light of the resurrection illumine our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected and loved.”
Ramy Youssef's plea on SNL: 'God, please free the people of Palestine'
Egyptian-American comedian and actor Ramy Youssef shared during his hosting on Saturday Night Live (SNL) that he has a friend whose entire family resides in Gaza. He expressed his concern by saying, 'God, please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine.
Egyptian-American comedian and actor Ramy Youssef shared during his hosting on Saturday Night Live (SNL) that he has a friend whose entire family resides in Gaza. He expressed his concern by saying, 'God, please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine.
March 31, 2024
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