On October 26 and 27, the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) hosted the mayors of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ramallah and Birzeit at their ninth annual Conference at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
On October 26 and 27, the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) hosted the mayors of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ramallah and Birzeit at their ninth annual Conference at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
The dynamic founder and president of HCEF, Rateb Rabie, wants Americans to realize that there are Christian mayors of historically Christian towns in Palestine. They shared with their audience at various panels not only the basic statistics and information about their towns but also the problems besetting them with the Israeli occupation and loss of income and international aid.
Edward and Joan Hazboun, Elias and May Shomali, Olga and Katy Handal and George & Susie Aburdene attended from the Bethlehem Association. They particularly enjoyed meeting Mayor Victor and Marcelle Batarseh of Bethlehem, Mayor Raji and Faten Zeidan of Beit Jala, and Mayor Hani Naji and Hala Hayek of Beit Sahour.
PLO mission head from Chile May Kaileh told us about the sizeable and prosperous Palestinian diaspora in Chile. Afif Safie PLO mission head in Washington gave a lively and incisive keynote speech at the Friday banquet. A panel on Christian Zionism between two evangelicals evinced some good questions. Panels on West Bank economic development and the impact of the Wall especially in the Bethlehem area were presented with rather pessimistic conclusions! Awards were given to four Americans from different parts of the U.S. who had worked, usually with their churches, on behalf of Christians in the Holy Land. Dr. Marwan Muasher, previously Jordanian ambassador to Washington and now a senior Vice President of the World Bank was given an award for his involvement in the peace process and his commitment as a Christian to public service.
It was heartening to meet so many Americans from various denominations who had completely changed their views of Palestinians after visiting the Holy Land often with HCEF. Sponsorships of Palestinian children have been a successful HCEF program as well as sale of olive wood articles at many churches.
The conference was exceptionally well organized by Rateb Rabie and his hardworking wife Rocio with many volunteers also putting in time and effort. George Ghattas the head of program development for the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem and HCEF representative in Bethlehem produced an excellent video explaining the work of HCEF. The program book was full of information and letters of support.
On Saturday night, Dr Jad Issac invited the Bethlehem area Mayors, their wives and Edward & Joan Hazbun to his sister’s house in Virginia. Jihan and Ussama Andoni warmly welcomed their guests to their beautiful house and hosted the group for a friendly and informative gathering and a delicious Palestinian dinner.
On Sunday, October 28, the Ramallah Club in Vienna VA. and the ATFP (American Task Force on Palestine) hosted the mayors, Dr. Safie and Palestinian Ambassador to Chile May Kaileh for a discussion meeting and a reception. Both Hanna Hanania, president of Ramallah Club and Ziad Assali, head of ATFP, presented their ideas on how best to work with the Mayors to improve the situation in their towns and to communicate their plight to the Administration and the American public.
On Monday, HCEF and ATFP organized a briefing on Capitol Hill to give an opportunity to the Mayors to explain the situation of their towns and the rest of the West Bank to members of Congress and their staff.
Mayor Victor Batarseh and wife Marcelle then traveled on to California where the Bethlehem Association CA Chapter is holding a reception and Brunch for them at the Holiday Inn in Buena Park.
