Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

An October pilgrimage to Galilee and Jerusalem, planned to be led by Los Angeles Bishop J. Jon Bruno and lay leaders Sue and Sandy Smock, has been cancelled overseas due to escalating violence in the region.

'It was only 40 days ago that Iyad Qumri, our friend and guide, was in Los Angeles visiting with pilgrims, past and future,' Sandy Smock wrote to the group. 'Everything was so upbeat, and he was booking trips well into 2007. Now, everything has collapsed, and every single one of his pilgrimages, with the exception of the Rev. Canon John Peterson's National Cathedral Group, has been cancelled.'

Smock said that as of July 1, 45 people had signed up for the trip, and there was a waiting list of 17. Included among these 62 pilgrims were one bishop, five priests, and parishioners from 15 Southern California congregations.

The Smocks have led several pilgrimages to the region, calling upon Episcopalians to become more familiar with issues at hand. The Episcopal Church's General Convention has repeatedly called for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Smock said that one of the region's 'unreported stories is the trauma being experienced by the Palestinian Israeli community in the Galilee. While various officials of the Israeli government comment about how terrible things are for Israeli citizens in the north who must spend their time in shelters, they fail to acknowledge that the citizens they are talking about are Jews.

'The 'other ones' - including the 30,000 Palestinian and Druse residents of Shefa 'Amr - are without government built shelters of any kind and in many cases without sirens. The 'only remaining democracy'in the Middle East apparently has different standards for each of its communities,' Smock said.

The Shefa 'Amr Episcopal congregation shares a companion relationship with the Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel, California, of which the Smocks are parishioners. Our Saviour Parish is sister parish to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Galilee.

'Although Fr. Fuad reports that Shefa 'Amr has not been targeted, a village 10 minutes' drive from them has been,' Sandy Smock reports. 'In addition, they can hear the explosion of every rocket that lands in Haifa. 'It is very scary, and life has ground to halt,' he said.'

Fuad said the television scenes of the devastation and human carnage of the recent bombing in Qana have been especially depressing.

'In this time of tragedy,' said Smock, 'we would suggest that now is the time for all caring Episcopalians to get involved' in aid initiatives.

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Article from: Episcopal News Service