International Conference

Shaping Communities in Times of Crisis 
Narratives of Land, Peoples and Identities

6-12 November 2005

After fourteen months of planning, our international conference has begun!

On Sunday, participants from 22 countries arrived to finalize registration, to join in a celebration of thanksgiving and to share our first meal together. The participants joint an opening worship service at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, where Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land, preached and welcomed the participants.

Public Opening

Monday night, 7 November 2005, we celebrated the public opening of the conference.  This evening was a stimulating gathering for all.  CrossCulture warmed up the audience with a lively song from Mexico and Ms. Rana Khoury, Deputy General Director of ICB and mistress of ceremonies for the evening, welcomed over 250 people to the Ad-Dar Conference Center.  Conference participants were joined by a number of other international delegations who are in the country, along with citizens and residents of Bethlehem.

Words of welcome were given by the Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land, Dr. Victor Batarseh, mayor of Bethlehem and HE Ziad Bandak, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for the Palestinian Authority. Ms. Khoury then opened the International Art Exhibit which is part of the conference.  Highlights of the exhibition were projected as she gave described the event.  Many artists have contributed to this exhibition and those present were invited to stand for recognition from all.  Participants and the people of Bethlehem will be able to engage these works of creativity this week, having an opportunity to discuss in detail with the artisans their visions.

CrossCulture was joined by Mohammed Najem, Ibrahim Najem, Charlie Rishmawi, Tamer Sahouri, and Osami Lati, students of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, for a remarkable intercultural exchange of music, style and tempo, thrilling everyone present with the interchange of east and west.

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb then presented the conference theme address.  His speech was the highlight of the evening, drawing together history, music, photos and a vision for the future. He began by addressing why the topic of the conference was chosen and why it was important to have such a conference now.  Quite simply, he said, “The answer is very simple: Because we are in a crisis, in a mess.” He went on then to explicate the national crisis.  Following a series of historical pictures, Raheb then described the religious crisis which is part of the problem preventing a just peace.  Finally, he lifted up six possibilities for moving from crisis to creativity:  1) A new reading: The Scripture as a set of narratives on Land, peoples & identities, 2) A New Understanding: The land as the fifth Gospel, 3) A New listening: The peoples of the Land as the sixth Gospel, 4) A New spirit: The power of culture, 5) A new Vision: Not Babel but Jerusalem, and 6) A new Solidarity: Cross-cultural connections.  The importance of what he shared was easy to measure, because the requests for copies of his talk have been numerous.  (the full text will be available in the near future.)

Following the address, attendees were invited out to the streets of Bethlehem for a walk through the Old City.  Leading the way, the drummers from the scout troop from the Beit Sahour Lutheran School set the pace.  The march made four stops.  First, Fr. Jacoub Abu Sa’deh greeted them at the Greek Catholic Church.  Continuing up Star Street, the historic road into the Old City, they were greeted by Fr. Jacoub Isaac at the Syrian Orthodox Church.  The group was even entertained by the bagpipers of this church’s scout troop!  Moving down to Manger Square, the Mufti of Bethlehem, Abdal Majid, greeted the participants warmly.  On to St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, the final stop, Fr. Imjad Sabara invited the marches into the sanctuary to get out of the cold night air.  After singing ‘Yaraba Salami’ together, the march proceeded back to Dar Annadwa for a celebration buffet dinner.

The public opening was a resounding success and created renewed excitement among the conference participants.