FOSNA Launches New Web Site

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2009

CONTACT:
Sister Elaine Kelley
Friends of Sabeel—North America
(503) 653-6625; friends@fosna.org

Friends of Sabeel—North America
launches new web site to serve Middle East peace activists’ information needs

Friends of Sabeel—North America, a nonprofit group based in Portland, Oregon, that works with Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land to educate American Christians on issues of justice and peace, announces the launch of its improved peace activist-friendly web site <fosna.org>. FOSNA works with the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem to promote a vision for a “just peace” through a theological approach, nonviolence and international law. Sabeel addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as understood from within the Christian faith and in the context of a historical Gospel and the rediscovery of a Jesus who was fully divine and fully human, who was born under a brutal military occupation, lived under oppressive domination and was executed by occupation forces.

“There’s a hope for meaningful change now with the new administration”, said FOSNA’s administrator, Sister Elaine Kelley, “so it is fitting that we make some changes too, particularly to assist newcomers to this issue who need the most up-to-date information and the best resources for their local church outreach programs and educational events.”

The new site is a functional tool providing easy access to features that include the following:

• Most recent news items on what the churches around the world are doing and saying on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
• Streaming videos of presentations from past Sabeel conferences, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s keynote address at the October 2007 Sabeel conference in Boston;
• Announcements of upcoming Sabeel regional conferences in the U.S., international witness trips and young adult conferences in Palestine/Israel, as well as special events, such as Sabeel founder Naim Ateek’s U.S. book tour to promote his latest publication, A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation;
• Alternative travel listing updated regularly for those seeking a traditional pilgrimage alongside an insightful Christian witness and on-the-ground experience of life for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza under military occupation. This feature includes Sabeel trips as well as a comprehensive listing of trips offered by U.S. churches and other peace groups;
• Archive of past U.S. conferences and Sabeel international trips that provide models for organizing successful events with engaging workshops, panels of expert speakers on a range of issues from theology, church social teaching, history, Biblical studies, and U.S. foreign policy,
• Resource section with extensive listings of books, films, other web sites, and a model course of study for adults with curriculum, objectives, and session that can be duplicated or adapted for church study groups;
• Investment Activism section serving the global movement on Morally Responsible Investment and related economic strategies to bring a just and nonviolent peace for Israel and Palestine. Resources include articles, church statements and resolutions, press releases and other items of interest.

The web site project was made possible through a generous grant from Sabeel member Paul Dooling of Lake Placid, New York. The design is by Yapa Designs of Hillsboro, Oregon.

“We have links to over 100 web sites of other groups working to change the situation in the Holy Land,” said Sister Kelley. “This wide diversity of Christians, Muslims, Jews and seculars in the U.S., Palestine and Israel working together for the same outcome is itself cause for hope. It is our shared hope for the Holy Land and for the whole world.”