Musalaha and Reconciliation in the Holy Land
We were very honoured last weekend to have Salim Munayer, a Palestinian Christian from Jerusalem, round for a meal at our home. Salim is the Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College and the founder and Director of Musalaha, an organization dedicated to work for reconciliation ('musalaha' is the Arabic word for 'reconciliation) between Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians.
Salim's family had lived in Lod for many generations but lost everything during the 1948 War. Salim himself has, providentially, been shaped into a man well placed for reconciliation work in the Holy Land: Fluent in Hebrew (having been educated at a Jewish school and Tel Aviv University) and Arabic; having lived and worked on both sides of the divide; being a Palestinian Christian who knows what it feels like to be powerless, and yet who has also been involved in planting Messianic Jewish congregations.
The relationship between Jewish and Arab communities in the Holy Land has long been tense and believers in Christ find themselves on both sides of the divide. Followers of Jesus are certainly not immune to the stereotypes, fears and hatred that each side has of the other. Salim's passion is to see the body of Christ in Israel and the Occupied Territories modeling a love and unity in the Lord that transcends the social divides. He is a truly inspiring man who does not merely dream but acts.
To find out more about the fantastic the Musalaha are doing visit their website at http://www.musalaha.org/ or join the group on Facebook.
Salim's family had lived in Lod for many generations but lost everything during the 1948 War. Salim himself has, providentially, been shaped into a man well placed for reconciliation work in the Holy Land: Fluent in Hebrew (having been educated at a Jewish school and Tel Aviv University) and Arabic; having lived and worked on both sides of the divide; being a Palestinian Christian who knows what it feels like to be powerless, and yet who has also been involved in planting Messianic Jewish congregations.
The relationship between Jewish and Arab communities in the Holy Land has long been tense and believers in Christ find themselves on both sides of the divide. Followers of Jesus are certainly not immune to the stereotypes, fears and hatred that each side has of the other. Salim's passion is to see the body of Christ in Israel and the Occupied Territories modeling a love and unity in the Lord that transcends the social divides. He is a truly inspiring man who does not merely dream but acts.
To find out more about the fantastic the Musalaha are doing visit their website at http://www.musalaha.org/ or join the group on Facebook.
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