On the occasion of Christmas and the New Year, the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches would like to share with you the fears and hopes of Palestinian Children as they appeared in a report submitted by Save the Children UK and Sweden to the UN Commission on Human Rights in March 2004. That children will not be scared of soldiers nor tear gased in their schools. That they will not be deprived of loved ones nor experience sadness for loss of friends or peer.

 
The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees Middle East Council of Churches, Jerusalem

On the occasion of Christmas and the New Year, the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches would like to share with you the fears and hopes of Palestinian Children as they appeared in a report submitted by Save the Children UK and Sweden to the UN Commission on Human Rights in March 2004.

 

  • That children will not be scared of soldiers nor tear gased in their schools.
  • That they will not be deprived of loved ones nor experience sadness for loss of friends or peer.
  • That they will not be beaten up nor that their new-born siblings will be exposed to the cold outside home.
  • That children will experience happiness when their imprisoned brothers are released and that the Palestinian people will be free.
  • That there will be more schools built.
  • That the wall will not separate friends from each other and will not prevent us from visiting our relatives, friends and beloved ones.
  • That the wall will not forbid our grandfathers from picking olives nor will it detain our fathers and make them stuck on the land. 
  • That the wall will not separate between me and my school, land and friends.
  • That the wall will not prevent us from going on trips nor will it prevent people from celebrating together.  

 

–          May you celebrate this blessed season together with loved ones without all kinds of walls of separation.

–          May next year remind each one of us of the need to bring down separation walls between people.

–          May what is best in each of us join with all those with good will to make the fears of Palestinian, Iraqi, Sudanese and  children all over the world disappear and their hopes realized.

–          May we have peace in our land and in all lands that yearn for peace.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2005