Lent began for Roman Catholics, Protestants and Anglicans on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 21. (Eastern Orthodox Christians use a different calendar and began their observance on Feb. 19.) This is the traditional season in the church year when Christians begin their preparation for Easter. It is marked by fasting, penitence, prayer, study and special acts of charity (often called “almsgiving”).
St. Mary Catholic Church in Gilroy is observing this occasion by hosting a series of guest speakers on the topic of human rights, people who have worked against injustice, violence and poverty around the world.
On March 8, Brian Malovny spoke in the Common Room at St. Francis Center, 7950 Church St., adjacent to St. Mary School. His topic was the struggle of Palestinians in the Holy Land to gain their freedom in the occupied territories of Palestine.
Malovny represented the Bay Area chapter of the International Solidarity Movement. This Palestinian-led group, founded in 2001, “aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources: international protection and a voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming military occupation force.” (For more information see www.norcalism.org.)
With the help of a Power Point presentation featuring slides and video clips, the speaker explained his understanding of the current situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, information that he said is not available from the mainstream media.
The ISM seeks to reduce violence by bringing international observers to occupied territories to take part in the protests against Israeli violence. He showed photos of clashes which included Arab Christians, Muslims, Jews and visitors from Western countries being attacked by Israeli soldiers.
According to Malovny, an American of Jewish descent, Israel is engaged in a form of ethnic cleansing, forcing from their land Palestinians who have lived in the area for generations. One tactic is erecting 20-foot high concrete walls, supposedly for security from suicide bombers. Malovny contends they are also meant to segregate Palestinians and hinder their movements. Lower walls are also being built throughout the occupied territories, blocking farmers from moving their livestock or working their fields and orchards.
Another serious problem is the common practice of destroying houses belonging to Palestinians and taking so much land for Israeli settlements that there is “no longer enough land for villagers to bury their dead.”
One of the co-founders of the ISM, Ghassan Andoni, has been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Prize. The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker humanitarian service organization, has done this to recognize his commitment “to nonviolence as the path to justice, peace, and reconciliation.”
Next Thursday, March 22, at 7pm will be the third speaker in this Lenten series. Mike Monroe, a parishioner of St. Mary, will talk about ecology and ways to sustain the earth. The evening will feature scenes from Al Gore’s award-winning documentary about global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
No reservations are necessary and there is no charge to attend, though a freewill offering may be taken. For more information, call (408) 847-5151 or e-mail Ro**@**********oy.org.
A note to my readers: Recently leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals took the position that environmental protection (“creation care”) is an important moral issue which Christians should support.
In response, Dr. James Dobson (founder of Focus on the Family) and other conservatives criticized this call for attention to global warming, saying the controversy will “shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time” such as abortion and gay marriage.
What do you think? Please write to me at cf****@**********rs.com with your opinion, and I will try to print some representative answers.
