Timothy Stoner

Nationwide Nonviolence Tour: The National Cathedral, Washington D.C.

Posted on 05. Oct, 2010 by Tim Stoner in Blog, Screening Tour

Thanks to the unflagging commitment of Canon missioner, Patricia Johnson, we have been given access to the Perry Auditorium in the second largest cathedral in the U.S. for our fifth screening. The National Cathedral is as large as it is impressive. It is number six in size among cathedral worldwide and took 83 years to build. I try to get a picture with my I-phone and I find it is impossible to get the entire building in the frame.

At 6:00pm the dark, thick-beamed room fills up quickly. It is long and narrow as medieval halls are meant to be. It becomes evident that extra seats will be required. Soon there are at least 200 and the room has reached its maximum occupancy.There is a buzzing of expectant voices. This seems to be one of the most interested audiences to date, it is certainly the largest.

Elik, as per usual, begins the Q&A: “When speak about nonviolence, we are not talking about some kind of abstract notion. These are pressing and serious issues.” There is an unusual earnestness to his delivery tonight. We will soon find out the reason. He has been on line getting current updates from activists inside Israel. “Jerusalem is on fire. The situation is now extremely grave. Another cycle of violence is ready to begin.”

During the past two screenings he has not been shy about sharing his opinions and frequently has done so in provocative language. This evening is no exception. “There is a deliberate attempt to set the region on fire,” he continues. “This must be understood in the context of the Peace movement and the headway it is making. I believe that what the Israeli government is trying to do is the old and brilliant trick of triggering violence to lay the blame for the failure of the peace process on the shoulders of the Palestinians.”

Dr. Mark Braverman has joined the panel tonight. His grandfather, a fifth generation Palestinian Jew, was born in Jerusalem and emigrated to the U.S. as a young man. Growing up in the United States, Braverman was reared in the Jewish tradition and was trained in clinical psychology. Returning to the Holy Land in 2006, he was transformed by witnessing the occupation of Palestine and by encounters with activists and leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities. He is a co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Palestinian land rights and peaceful coexistence.

He informs the audience about Yonatan’s whereabouts. He is on a small boat sailing from Cypress with a small group of activists intent on breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza. They are carrying humanitarian aid for the beleaguered refugees: musical instruments, toys, textbooks, and prosthetics. It is a nonviolent action sponsored by Jews for Justice for Palestinians. Their boat (actually a catamaran) is called the Irene and is sailing a British flag. 

“He is doing this for me and my people who are in a lot of trouble,” he says. “Our situation as Jewish people is quite urgent. We are in peril spiritually and physically because of the Zionist project. It made a lot of sense before but we must take a long, hard look at it now.”

Elik explains that a few months earlier the chief scientist for the ministry of education had been fired for declaring that the trips to the concentration camps should cease since their only purpose was to indoctrination not education. In one of the most dramatic moments to date, he refers to a report he has just received about the response of the military in the West Bank. “Tear gas was shot randomly into the window of a home and inside was a 14-month old asthmatic child who died.” In a voice taut with emotion he says, “That was the son of a cousin of my dear friend, Aziz Abu Sarah.”

He describes the difficulties faced by all the groups committed to nonviolence. Besides the financial and logistical difficulties, “we face every day the challenge to turn this sorrow into constructive action.” Barely controlling the anger and sorrow at his friend’s loss he tells us, “I am making this choice even now for this baby is from my friend who is one of the bravest men I know.”He ends on a hopeful note adding that despite these problems Combatants for Peace has grown from 11 in 2005 to almost 500 now.

Dr. Braverman shares some of his background. He was raised in a moderate observant family and was born after 1948. He was taught that there was no separation between Zionism and Judaism. What transformed him “was not the horror but the kindness of the Palestinian people. Before that I was told they were animals.” This led him to conclude that, “We need to take another look at this project or we will have to continue to build walls. The physical walls you see are manifestations of something spiritual that we carry around with us. They are symbols of our fear. And walls don’t work.”

He gives us a little more information about the flotilla sailing to Gaza. One of the members of the crew on Yonatan’s boat is Rami Elhanan. I am startled for I recognize the name. He is Elik’s father. In doing some research a few days earlier I had found out that after losing Smadar, his 14 year-old daughter in a Jerusalem suicide bomb attack, Rami and his wife founded the Family Circle. It is comprised of Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones.

At Smadar’s funeral Mr. and Mrs. Elhanan did something scandalous Braverman tells us. They also invited bereaved Palestinian families to attend. Their Israeli friends were aghast, “Why have you opened your home to the enemy?” they asked. “My family are those who want peace,” Rami responded, “my enemies are those who make war on both sides.”

This leads Dr. Braverman to tell another story, it is from the Gospels. It is the occasion in Mark when the brothers of Jesus have come to take him away since they believe their brother has lost his mind. Someone tells Him, “your mother, sisters and brothers are outside and want you to come home with them.” Jesus responds by looking around at the crowd and telling them that His family is not determined by blood but by obedience to the will of His Father. Braverman makes the application that Jesus is changing the definition of family by enlarging it to embrace those committed to making peace. He concludes by stating, “You don’t help anyone by allowing them to be wrong. By doing so we fail to give them proper respect.”

After the screening the conversations continue till we are advised that the cathedral is closed for visitors. On the way back to the hotel Elik shares more about his friend’s loss which helps me understand the depth of his anger. “The army shot teargas into the house several days earlier and they rushed their boy to the hospital. This time after the gassing the Israeli commander refused to allow the parents to leave the home and the child was asphyxiated as the parents held him.”

I expected this tour to be physically draining but it is proving to be emotionally demanding as well. I look at the tour schedule. Tomorrow we need to be ready by 6:30am to get to the airport to fly to Chicago for a meeting at the home of Lynn Hybels. She is the wife of Bill Hybels the pastor of Willow Creek and has invited close friends to watch the film and dialogue with Sami and Jim Hanon.

Tags: Family Circle, flotilla, Gaza blockade, Israel, National Cathedral, nonviolence, Palestine, Rami Elhanan, Separation wall, Zionist project