The Wi'am Center

We are here in Bethlehem to visit our friend Zoughbi Zoughbi (seated). This picture shows him with Usama (standing) who works with him and drove us around to see things in the area. Zoughbi is the first person I met that has the same first name as last name. He is a very important person in Bethlehem and runs the Wi’am Center. He is also an elected member of the Bethlehem city council.

Wi’am means "congenial relations" in Arabic and their goal is to make peace in smaller and larger ways in Bethlehem. The topic of conflict in Bethlehem is hard to write about. In my own blog I write a little more about my personal reflections. For this blog it is important to explain that Israel is an important land to many different people. Israel is a place that Jews see as the promised land. It is also land where Palestinian Arabs lived for hundreds of years. Many Palestinian Arabs are Muslim, but a large minority (over 40% in Bethlehem) is Christian. Some of the Palestinians have used violence as a way to try to get their land back. Others are stuck in the middle watching their family land disappear and yet not wanting to hurt others. Some Israelis also have used violence against Palestinians and others want to see the problems resolved in a fair way. It is a very difficult and tragic situation. The solution of the Israeli government is to build a huge wall to separate Israelis from Palestinians. In the meantime the Israeli government is also claiming new land by building settlements in Palestinian areas. I think that anyone can understand the strong feelings that people have on both sides about being threatened by the other side.

Every day Zoughbi (with 11 employees) at the Wi'am Center does conflict mediation with people who come in for help. People come for help with solving problems of family disagreements, conflict over ownership of property, and with needs for food or other help. Wi’am also has a summer program for kids. The kids come and have fun and do arts and crafts and are occupied with positive things.

Wi'am works at many different levels. First they focus on the people and try to help them through their conflict mediation. Then they are involved in teaching people how to stand up for themselves in peaceful ways. Finally they work at an International level helping people outside the area understand the situation here. They have a new building right next to the wall and want to beautify it with a “peace” garden as a way of non-violent resistance. Zoughbi says that trees are one way to communicate permanence and peace, so he wants to plant lots of them.

At the Wi’am Center we also met Jason who is an American working with an agency called Paideia. He saw my t-shirt and was amazed! He ACTUALLY attended my school, Barton Creek Elementary, in third grade! It really is a small world. It was amazing also that I happened to be wearing THAT t-shirt on THAT day!

p.s. The issue of Israel and Palestinians is very complicated. On both sides people have experienced many losses and hurts. I am writing about this to tell a little about what I observed, but I really don't want to push any particular side. I would like to see both sides come together and work for peace.