From pre-schoolers to pensioners, about 75 people joined for portions of a 36km walk on Saturday 9 March.

The distance symbolically mirrors the walk from Gaza City to Rafah, the route Palestinians have been forced to walk as a result of Israel's military assaults and forced evacuations.

"It was a real liberation to be out in public with a Christian movement and friends calling for peace, justice and liberation in Palestine" Christchurch organiser Cole Yeoman told CathNews.

The march included a poignant visit to the Al Noor Mosque.

"Being hosted by the mosque was a real privilege and we were all incredibly moved to stand in the prayer room" said Yeoman.

Describing the Al Noor Mosque visit as "very impactful" Yeoman said a key part of the journey was recognising the same hate and violence in Gaza has been dealt to Muslim people in Christchurch.

After leaving the Mosque the group walked to the Cathedral carrying the banner.

The Palestinian Christian-led global walk for peace is taking place in four New Zealand cities during Lent - Christchurch, Auckland, Whanganui and Wellington.

These New Zealand cities are among 59 others in eight countries hosting the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage.

The walkers are calling for an enduring and sustained ceasefire, access to humanitarian assistance, release of all hostages on both sides and an end of occupation so a just peace can begin.

The walk aims to show solidarity with the people suffering in Gaza and raise funds for humanitarian relief and support for refugees.

Besides calling for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, the walkers are asking the New Zealand government to allow family members of Gazans living in New Zealand to have humanitarian visas.

Why walk?

Anglican Bishop of Wellington Justin Duckworth says he'll be walking in Whanganui and Wellington.

"I'm taking part in the walk to witness to the suffering of those involved in this conflict.

"As I walk, I will be praying for those killed on both sides.

"Jesus lived a life of non-violence and died a sacrificial death. As His follower, I'm supporting peaceful efforts that give aid and seek an end to the suffering of others."

"It was encouraging to see so many people connecting the dots between Christianity and Palestine" shared a Christchurch marcher, underlining the broad support for peace and justice.

Join the walk

Common Grace Aotearoa and Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine are organising the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage in New Zealand.

Auckland

• Saturday 16th March
• Starting in Grafton and going around the central isthmus

Whanganui

• Saturday 16th March
• From Castlecliff to Upokongaro and back

Wellington

• Thursday 28th March
• From Taita to Island Bay

Source

• Scoop
• Supplied
• Joint Anglican and Catholic bishops statement on Israel Palestine conflict

Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz tells SPIEGEL that her country is gripped by fear and is becoming increasingly suspicious of democracy.

SPIEGEL: There was widespread support in Israel for the operation in the Gaza Strip, despite the huge numbers of civilian casualties and the deaths of hundreds of children. Why is that?

Illouz: Where you see human beings, Israelis see enemies.

In front of enemies, you close ranks, you unite in fear for your life, and you do not ponder about the fragility of the other.

Israel has a split, schizophrenic self-awareness: It cultivates its strength and yet cannot stop seeing itself as weak and threatened.

Moreover, both the fact that Hamas holds a radical Islamist and anti-Semitic ideology and the fact that there is rabid anti-Arab racism in Israel explain why Israelis see Gaza as a bastion of potential or real terrorists.

It is difficult to have compassion for a population seen as as threatening the heart of your society.

SPIEGEL: Is that also a function of the fact that Israeli society has become increasingly militaristic?

Illouz: Israel is a colonial military power, a militarized society and a democracy all folded into one.

The army, for example, controls the Palestinians through a wide network of colonial tools, such as checkpoints, military courts (governed by a legal system different from the Israeli system), the arbitrary granting of work permits, house demolitions and economic sanctions.

It is a militarized civil society because almost every family has a father, son or brother in the army and because the military plays an enormous role in the ordinary mentality of ordinary Israelis and is crucial in both political decisions and in the public sphere.

In fact, I would say that "security" is the paramount concept guiding Israeli society and politics.

But it is also a democracy, which grants rights to gays and makes it possible for a citizen to sue the state. Continue reading

Sources

• Spiegel Online
• Image: Al Arabiya News

The Hamas government has issued a ban on coeducational schools, which means that the five Christian schools on the strip, two Catholic and three Protestant, may have to close. Officials insist the decision was not directed at Christians, but they happen to run the only coeducational institutions in the territory.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, plans to meet Gaza's prime minister to appeal the move. Among other things, presumably he'll point out that these Christian schools serve a largely Muslim population.

For purposes of this column, the way I learned about the situation is almost as revealing as the order itself. As it happens, I received an email from the Israeli embassy to the Holy See, passing along a brief article from the Catholic Herald in the U.K.

Israeli officials clearly felt the story merited attention, and for fairly obvious reasons: It makes Hamas look bad.

It was a small reminder of a larger point: It's often difficult to tell the full story of anti-Christian persecution around the world and a main reason why is the distorting effect of politics, which tends to bring only part of the picture into view. Nowhere is that more clear than the Holy Land.

Many Arab Christians, in tandem with their liberal sympathizers in the West, emphasize the negative impact of Israeli security policies while downplaying Islamic radicalism. On the other side, Israelis and their conservative allies insist that Israel's Christian population is actually growing while pouncing on every perceived Palestinian outrage.

The truth is that Christians face hardships on both sides of the divide, and often for similar reasons. Continue reading

Sources

• John L. Allen Jr in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Counter Jihad Report

John L. Allen Jr is a senior columnist for National Catholic Reporter