A Message From Zoughbi Zoughbi, IFOR President In Bethlehem, Palestine
Dear Beloved Community,
Zoughbi Zoughbi
I am reaching out to share with you a powerful message recently articulated by Zoughbi Zougbhi, president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) in Bethlehem, Palestine, concerning the sanctity of life and the ongoing conflict in Palestine and Israel.
In his poignant message, Zoughbi Zougbhi draws our attention to the inherent sacredness of all life, referencing passages from Genesis that speak to the divine breath of life within each of us. Regardless of our spiritual or secular beliefs, his words remind us of the fundamental value and dignity of every human being.
We encourage you to read through Zoughbi Zougbhi’s full message, which is listed below, to gain deeper insights into his perspective and the pressing issues at hand:
In Genesis 1:27, humankind is made in God’s image. In Genesis 2:7, God has breathed life into God’s image, giving life to people. Whether from a spiritual or secular foundation, we believe that all life is sacred, human, and otherwise, and that all life and by the very giving of life, has an equitable right to life, happiness, and dignity.
Life’s sacredness, however, is neither afforded nor recognized in warfare and violent conflict.
On October 7, 2023, the world was horrified at the bloodshed and loss of life in Israel/Palestine, and rightfully so, as any preventable loss of life is a travesty and tragedy. The actions committed that weekend have been cluttered with a series of misinformation and disinformation meant to mar understanding and pacify any voices of dissent at the ensuing gross violations of human rights, dehumanization, and genocidal practices that followed.
It is important to remember that the events of October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, and the positing of these events as the beginning of a war serves to ignore and deflect from the years of apartheid occupation and dehumanization that Palestinians in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and especially, in the blockaded Gaza Strip and in Israel proper have experienced at the hands of the militarized settler colonial project of Israel. To add insult to injury, these unjust practices and gross violations of human right have enjoyed support and even impunity through the largely socially militarized and industrial military complexes of the Global North and West, including that of the Canadian government.
The acts of a few, fueled by their unrecognized grievances, continued oppression, anddesperation has been posited and framed in terms of ‘terrorism’ to quell any attempts of contextualization, and to deposit and present these groups internationally as a monolith, and one that is inherently violent, marked by savagery and backwardness, in alignment with historical colonial troupes and practices. While at the same time, the well-funded, technologically advanced military’s devastation of over 34,000 Palestinian lives, including that of over 14,000 children is posited as ‘self-defense’. The sheer destructive practice since October 7 th has resulted in well over 80,000 injuries, the displacement of 2.2 million Palestinians, the collapse of their healthcare systems, and the destruction and injury of civilians and institutional infrastructures, including universities, mosques, and churches.
These horrific actions make us question where the sacred human may be located in the Gaza Strip. Do they lay under the rebel, still undiscovered, or in the mass graves with no names, have they been forgotten with the effective extermination of the entire family tree, or are they one of the 19,000 orphaned children left alone to survive, have they been lost or deformed by the hunger or malnutrition, or are they fighting for sleep with the families and people taking refuge in a make-shift tents in attempt to shield from the weather forecasts, and the deafening promises of death raining down all around them? Or is this sacred human much like the silent tree in the forest, hidden and felled with no one willing to witness as the abducted Palestinian prisoners, yet to be accounted for? And beyond their location, where will these sacred lives find refuge? Will the surviving people flee to Egypt like the Holy family, and if so, will they ever be able to find passage back, and what is to remain of all that they were, and were?
As words lose their meaning in the backdrop of the unfathomable misery and pain, we remember that we have been here before, and we also remember that we are not alone. We have been here before, the surfacing eyes of forcefully emaciated persons staring into the void, looking for signs of hope, waiting to feel the winds of change upon them, as they continue to invite the world’s gaze, in hopes that it may recognize them, to see them as humans, brothers, sisters, and persons worthy of life. We have been here before and are here elsewhere, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, and all around and amongst us, moved to the periphery, disenfranchised, hungry, homeless, unemployed, and incarcerated. Our liberties stripped away, and our sacredness forgotten and neglected, buried in fear politics that utilize complex and deeply pervasive systemic practices of oppression. TURN SWORDS INTO PLOWS! Yet, we have not only failed to do so, but have supported the development of more sophisticated tools of destruction. What of assault rifles and tanks, of missiles and rockets, shall they be turned into crutches, gravestones, and homes for the disenfranchised, or shall we continue to allow them to messenger death and destruction!
As the land dries up, the moisture collects, polluted with sadness to water the land with tears, where they lay. There is another way! There are OTHER ways, less destructive, less violent, and less dehumanizing, ways that do not force symphonies of sadness into our hearts, but instead bridge the gaps, and present the sacredness again, so that it may thrive, coexist, and live side by side. The sacred being fully appeared, as our weapons and tools of destruction replaced, disappear.
Where is our sacredness and will it once again appear? The system names itself too great, too distant, or strong, but this system is what we make, and through silence perform supportive song.
So let us speak up and stand for all that we believe and wish. Let us call upon the sacredness of those who serve. Let us call for a lasting ceasefire, and cessation of war. Let us support and prioritize the provision of all that sustains life, and let us call for the release of all hostages and prisoners. Let us ring free Gaza, free Palestine and free all! To call for the liberation of the Palestinians and cessation of war, is to liberate both Israeli and Palestinian from the dichotomy of oppressor and oppressed, respectfully, which is upheld by blind-international support and impunity and strengthened through industrial-military linkages.
To liberate us from this cycle of violence is to afford all involved a real opportunity towards just reconciliation and healing. It is to offer all who dwell in the bloodied ‘holy-land’ a chance to build a sustainable positive-peace, encompassing security at the meaningless cost of national and political interests and an oppressive system, instead of at the costly life and livelihood of the Palestinian. It is to affirm globally that no one ever could or does deserve colonization, that no one could or ever will deserve occupation, and that no one ever could or should deserve genocide. It is to stand firm and strong and affirm the unalienable right to life for all understanding that NEVER AGAIN means now and includes everyone!
Finally, to effectively work towards a ceasefire and an end to occupation, is to expand our table and enrichen our lives, it is to afford and recognize in each other our inherent sacredness, which reflect a greater image of God than the greatest of which our divisions could ever hold. A greater, more just, and complete image of life, accessible to ALL that live and lives.
Zoughbi Zoughbi President of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR)