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There are two wailing walls. One is the remains of the Temple, symbolizing in part the sense of oppression the Jews experienced under foreign invaders and their longing for their dreams as a people to be realized. The other wailing wall is that erected by the Jewish state, and which the Palestinians believe marginalizes and keeps them from pursuing their dreams as a people.
This conference seeks to draw attention to the often-unrecognized sufferings of the Palestinian people, and to pursue peace that benefits them as well as Israel. The Western church needs to be concerned for Palestinians (including Palestinian Christians) as well as Israelis and other peoples in the region in view of God’s promises made to Abraham for his sons Isaac and Ishmael and which are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
Dr. Tony Maalouf, Director of the MA in Islamic Studies program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will be our keynote speaker at this New Wine, New Wineskins conference. Other speakers include David Austin, former executive director of the State Department’s Interfaith Cooperative Initiative in the Holy Land; Debbie Bayes, ESL teacher to the West Bank; Al Baylis, Professor of Bible and Theology at Multnomah Biblical Seminary; Brad Harper, Professor of Theology at Multnomah University; Daniel Isaak, President of the Oregon Board of Rabbis; Richard Reno, President of Portland’s Rizwan Mosque; Leonard Rodgers, Director of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding; and Judith Rood, Professor of History at Biola University, specializing in the problem of relations between Muslims, Christians and Jews from an historical perspective. Join us on Saturday, October 2 from 9:00am – 4:30pm at Multnomah Biblical Seminary (8435 NE Glisan St.; Portland, OR 97220) for a thought-provoking and eye-opening day.
Click here for a schedule of the conference.
Click here for a list of workshop descriptions.
Click here for a list of speakers.
Click here to register for the conference.
Being in the Hamas family, naturally Mosab was initially part of the Palestinian resistance; he hated the Israelis for oppressing and killing his people. He ended up getting put in an Israeli prison, and while in prison, he was disgusted by the brutality, but not of the Israeli soldiers (which he expected), but rather of the brutality of Hamas against its own people. He saw how much corruption there was in the Palestinian leadership, and how they were using the conflict as a way to get power and money.
After Mosab was released from prison and further witnessed the hatred between the Jews and Palestinians and how they used violence against each other, he then was introduced to Jesus. He has since decided to follow Jesus as his Savior and Lord. He now believes that Jesus’ command to to love your enemies is the only way there can ever be peace in the Holy Land. He says in conclusion to his book:
I appreciate Mosab’s unique perspective into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also admire his courage and I am encouraged by his faith in Jesus as the hope for the Middle East and the world.
See the book on Google Books or Amazon.
This book is very much part of current events! See on Google News. This book’s appearance is also timely for the upcoming New Wine, New Wineskins conference this fall: “Two Wailing Walls and the Peoples of Promise”.
To prepare one’s mind and heart for the conference, I highly recommend a film titled “For My Father.” (Available in Portland at Movie Madness). It’s a contemporary story set in Tel Aviv involving ethnic relations, terror, and politics–but it’s really about personal relationships around and across the divide.
The Oregonian’s Steve Duin wrote a story about a young woman named Rachel who was killed in Gaza. The story seems to put a tragic human face to the Israeli – Palestinian conflict. Here is the link to the story:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2010/09/rachel_corrie_that_name_will_n.html
-Cornelia Seigneur