Upcoming Conferences & Trips

Sabeel Colorado Fact-Finding Trip, June 2 - 16, 2013

elaine — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:02:19 -0700

Start: June 2, 2013

End: June 16, 2013

Seeking Understanding in Israel/Palestine:
A Two-Week Fact Finding Trip

June 2-16, 2013
Organized by Friends of Sabeel-Colorado

Trip Objectives
• To visit with Palestinian and Israeli peace and human rights groups and individuals working for peace.
• To see first-hand the reality of Palestinian life and the impact of the Israeli occupation - the wall, settlements, checkpoints, roadblocks, refugee camps, etc.
• To consider what is needed for a just peace.

Trip Highlights

• Stay inside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem within easy walking distance of the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Dome of the Rock.
• Explore the holy sites and bazaars of the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Stand with the Women in Black on a Friday at noon.
• Visit the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem
• Visit Augusta Victoria Hospital and learn how institutions of mercy struggle under the occupation to fulfill their ministries.
• Meet with the women of Machsom Watch, Israeli Jewish women who stand at the checkpoints to monitor solider behavior and assist Palestinians in crossing through.
• Visit a Bedouin community near Jerusalem, and learn of their struggles.
• Tour the Old City of Bethlehem and visit the Church of the Nativity.
• Visit a refugee camp and take a tour of the separation wall around Bethlehem, and witness checkpoints and roadblocks.
• Visit in the homes of Palestinian Christians in the Beit Jala area, with the option of staying overnight with a family.
• Visit Christian ministries in Bethlehem to see an example of how local churches are empowering people living under occupation.
• Travel to The Galilee to visit Nazareth, the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Tiberius, and spend two nights by the Sea of Galilee.
• Take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.
• Swim in the Dead Sea and visit Masada and see the caves at Qumran.
• Meet with Breaking the Silence, Israeli soldiers now working for peace.
• Meet with the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron and visit the Mosque of Ibrihim, honored by Jews and Muslims as the burial place of Abraham.
• Visit Nablus in the heart of the West Bank, meet with city officials, and tour the holy sites.
• Visit with a Jewish settler in a West Bank Settlement
• Visit the Tent of the Nations, a working Palestinian farm surrounded by settlements, now also a center for peace activities.
• Visit an “unrecognized village” and learn the struggles of Arab Israeli citizens.

Tour Leaders
Joy Lapp teaches religion at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Joy spent three years in the Middle East working with the Mennonite Central Committee, and she is on the Steering Committee of Friends of Sabeel-North America.

Arnie Voigt is a Lutheran minister who has visited Israel/Palestine many times leading groups, servant events, study, and independent travel. He is co-administrator of Friends of Sabeel-Colorado. This the seventh trip Joy and Arnie have organized together.

Cost Summary
Tentative cost is $2400.00 (to be finalized in January, 2013). This includes hotels, two meals per day, tour guide, entrance fees, ground transportation, and tips. This price does not include airfare, lunch, souvenirs, personal expenses, or travel insurance. Prices are based on double occupancy with $685 as a single room supplement. Prices are based on a minimum of 20 travelers, and subject to changes beyond our control. Travelers will arrange their own flights and must have a passport valid six months beyond the date of reentry into the US. Joy and Arnie will assist in coordinating flights to and from Israel/ Palestine. Confirmation and $100 payment is needed by March 1, 2013.

For more information please contact
Arnie: 303.798.7887 arnievoigt@msn.com
Joy: 319.219.9171 lappj@earthlink.net
http://www.sabeelcolorado.org/?q=node/14

Abraham's Children-Listening Tour, June 15-29, 2013

elaine — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:57:58 -0800

Start: June 15, 2013

End: June 29, 2013

Abraham’s Children in Contemporary Israel and Palestine
A two-week listening tour, June 15-29, 2013

Tour participants will listen to a diverse array of Israeli Jews tell their stories, and then Christian and Muslim Palestinians, and finally the Samaritans, Druze, and Bahá’í. Participants will explore how the devotees of the six religions of Palestine and Israel live in a land where ethnic and religious preference is state sanctioned.

Trip Highlights

*Overnight stays in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Ramallah and Haifa

*The most geographically far reaching of any tour in Palestine and Israel

*The most religiously inclusive of any tour in Israel and Palestine

*Visit with groups like Sabeel Christian Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, The Christian Peacemakers, Rabbis for Human Rights, Bethlehem University, the Druze social service organization Golan for Development, and Adalah—the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

*Visit with rabbis, imams, priests, pastors, settlers, and refugees. Listen to people like Jeff Halper of ICAHD, Jean Zaru of the Ramallah Friends, Sufi Sheikh Ghassen Manasra, Samaritan Priest Abu Wisam, and an official of the Palestinian Authority.

*Explore places such as refugee camps, settlements, the Seraj Children’s Libraries, Masada, the Dead Sea, the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, the Bahá’í Gardens, the Holocaust museum, the Old City and market of Nablus, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the mosques of Omar and of Ibrahim.

Tour Leaders

Dr. Pauline Coffman has led tours to Lebanon, Syria, and Israel/Palestine. She studied in Beirut as an undergraduate and is active in the Middle East Task Force of Chicago Presbytery, a co-sponsor of this tour.

Dr. Paul Parker is the chair and a professor of the Department of Religious Studies at Elmhurst College. He has led public tours and student courses in India, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. Both are pleased to serve as volunteer tour leaders through the Siraj Center for Holy Land Study, Beit Sahour.

Cost Summary

Total cost is $2500. This includes hotels; two meals/day; a licensed tour guide; entrance fees; and ground transportation. This price does not include airfare, personal expenses, or travel insurance. Prices are based on double occupancy or $520 additional for a single room. Prices are based on a minimum of 15 travelers, and subject to change should circumstances arise beyond the organizer’s control. Travelers are to arrange their own flights and must have a passport valid six months beyond the date of reentry into the US. Paul and Pauline will assist in coordinating flights to and from Israel/Palestine. A deposit of is required by March 11, 2013.

More Information? Please Contact:

Pauline: (708) 524-5444 or p.coffman@sbcglobal.net

Paul: (630) 617-3559 or paulp@elmhurst.edu

SABEEL Global Young Adult Festival, July 1-6, 2013

elaine — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:03:41 -0700

Start: July 1, 2013

End: July 6, 2013

Global Young Adult Festival
Bethlehem: July 1 - 6, 2013

Invitation Letter and Registration Information

Scholarship Application (pdf)

Chicago , IL Conference Oct. 3, 4 & 5

administrator — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 23:27:19 -0800

Start: October 3, 2013

End: October 5, 2013

A Wide Tent for Justice: Next Steps for Peace in Palestine/Israel

October 3, 4, and 5

Chicago Faith Coalition Conference

Friends of Sabeel-North America

St. James Episcopal Cathedral
65 East Huron Street
Dowtown Chicago, IL

Click here to open flyer with program schedule, speakers, and registration information.

Online Registration

FOSNA Witness Trip, Nov. 10-19 (Previous I/P trip required)

elaine — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:29:01 -0700

Start: November 10, 2013

End: November 19, 2013

FOSNA WITNESS TRIP: November 10-19, 2013

Challenging Injustice: Israeli and Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance in the Holy Land

PREREQUISITE: at least one prior trip to Israel/Palestine

Download & Print Witness Trip Flyer (pdf)

Download, Print & Mail Registration Form (pdf)

This Witness Trip will concentrate on the southern sector of the West Bank and villages, leaders, and various forms of non-violent resistance. Leader: Rev. Dr. Don Wagner, Program Director for FOSNA. Participants can choose the Witness Trip only or combine the Witness Trip with the Sabeel International Conference.

Witness Trip Costs: $1050 includes 8 nights in 3* hotel (single room $250 additional), all meals, bus transfers to and from airport, transportation all days, guides, honoraria for speakers, entrance fees for biblical and historic sites, tips for drivers, guides, hotel. Price excludes: beverages, personal expenses, airfare, insurance, other services not mentioned.

Sabeel International Conference: November 19-25; cost is $1,000 (double room, $450 additional for single); 3 meals/day, registration
by Aug. 15. Full conference program and materials: go to www.sabeel.com to download conference details.

You may register for the Witness Trip only if not attending the International conference.

FOS-NE Pre-Conference Witness Trip, Nov. 13-19

elaine — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:58:04 -0700

Start: November 13, 2013

End: November 19, 2013

FRIENDS OF SABEEL NEW ENGLAND INVITES YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 9TH SABEEL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, “THE BIBLE AND THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT,” AND A PRE-CONFERENCE WITNESS
TRIP IN NOVEMBER 2013.

Download & Print Trip Itinerary
Download & Print Trip Flyer
Download & Print Registration Form

THE PRE-CONFERENCE WITNESS TRIP WITH 3 NIGHTS IN BETHLEHEM, 2 NIGHTS IN NAZARETH, and 1 NIGHT IN JERUSALEM will be led by Bob and Maurine Tobin, long-time Sabeel Witness Trip leaders. The trip begins in Bethlehem with dinner on Wednesday, November 13 and concludes in Jerusalem on Tuesday, November 19. ** The trip will include experience of life in the occupied West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, and Ramallah, visits to a refugee camp and villages losing land to the wall and settlements, and tours of Jerusalem as well as introduction to the civil rights issues facing Palestinian citizens of Israel. We will visit the major holy sites and have time for prayer and reflection in the Galilee.

• COST PER PERSON FOR HOTELS, MEALS, BUSES, HONORARIA AND FEES:

$950 in a double room; $1250 in a single room. Airfare, airport transfers, and personal expenses are NOT included.

** We will help arrange transfers (at your expense) from the airport in Tel Aviv to Bethlehem and will arrive as a group at the conference site in Jerusalem.

THE SABEEL 9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, “THE BIBLE AND THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT” convenes mid-afternoon in Jerusalem on November 19 and concludes with breakfast on November 25. The final formal event of the conference is the dinner on November 24, so return flights may be booked for anytime after midnight or during the day on November 25. The night of Nov. 24 is included in your registration fee.

• COST PER PERSON FOR THE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION, HOTEL, MEALS, AND OTHER LAND COSTS:

$1000 in a double room; $1450 in a single room. Airfare, airport transfers, and personal expenses are NOT included. (Add $100 for registration after May 1 and add $200 for registration after August 15, 2013.)

YOU MAY REGISTER SEPARATELY FOR EITHER THE PRE-CONFERENCE WITNESS TRIP OR THE SABEEL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. IF YOU REGISTER FOR BOTH AT THE SAME TIME, DEDUCT $100 FROM THE TRIP FEE.
For additional information and for conference and trip registration forms, visit the Friends of Sabeel website (www.fosna.org). For additional information, contact Maurine Tobin at mmtobin38@gmail.com or 207 348 9976.

Sabeel's 25th Anniversary- International Conference, Nov. 19-25

elaine — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:38:18 -0700

Start: November 19, 2013

End: November 25, 2013

Sabeel's 9th International Conference:
"The Bible and the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict"

November 19-25, 2013 in Jerusalem

Start planning now to participate in one of FOSNA's witness trips to Palestine/Israel next November that will include Sabeel-Jerusalem's 9th International Conference. The 9th Sabeel International Conference promises to be a stimulating learning experience and opportunity to meet like-minded friends from around the world. Sabeel-Jerusalem has just announced several of the confirmed speakers who will address the conference, including:

• Dr. Mads Fredrik Gilbert: Norwegian physician and professor specializing in anesthesiology and emergency medicine; he has volunteered at a kibbutz and for over forty years labored for justice in Palestine most recently serving in Gaza at al-Shifa Hospital during the 2008–2009 and 2012 Israeli bombardments.

• Ambassador Hind Khoury: An economist who is active in Palestinian domestic and international affairs, she is a PLO delegate and Palestine’s former Ambassador to France (2006-2010) as well as a past Minister of State for Jerusalem Affairs, and serves as the Vice President on the Executive Board of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.

• Dr. Gary Burge: Evangelical scholar and Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, with forty years of experience among Christian communities in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon; he has written extensively about land theology and Zionism.

• Rev. David Mark Neuhaus, SJ: Born in South Africa, Dr. Neuhaus immigrated to Israel as a teenager and converted from Judaism to Catholicism. He is a professor at Bethlehem University and is the Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Saint James Vicarate for Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel.

• Dr. Andrea Smith: Native American (Cherokee) activist, scholar and professor at the University of California, Riverside; U.S. Coordinator for the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologian; Author of “Native Americans and the Christian Right: The Gender Politics of Unlikely Alliances" and "Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide."

• Dr. Mitri Raheb: Palestinian Christian theologian and pastor of Christmas Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem; author or editor of more than a dozen books, the latest two are: “The Biblical Text in the Context of Occupation: Towards a new hermeneutics of Liberation.”

• Mrs. Jean Zaru: Presiding Clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting in Palestine; a founding member of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center; author of the influential “Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks”; and a member of the Center

• Mr. Joakim Wohfiel: Head Policy Officer for Conflict and Justice for Diakonia, a Swedish human rights and development organization with Christian values that works with local partner organizations for sustainable change for vulnerable populations.

• Dr. Naim Ateek: Co-founder and Director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center and the first Palestinian to articulate for the international community a Palestinian theology of liberation in “Justice only Justice: A Palestinian Liberation Theology” (1989) and again in his more recent book, “A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation.”

The conference will be held at Notre Dame Hotel in East Jerusalem. FOSNA is organizing "Witness Trips" that will depart in early November to visit important historical, religious, and political sites in addition to the conference. Watch the FOSNA website as dates and trip options to be announced after Easter.

Registration Form (pdf)

Conference Flyer (pdf)

Philadelphia Conference, March 28 & 29, 2014

elaine — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:58:21 -0700

Start: March 28, 2014

End: March 29, 2014

The conference will be held at the University of Pennsylvania. Details on the conference program (speakers, workshops) and registration information will be posted here.