After 3 days of seemingly irrelevant information provision today we finally heard from The People That Matter.
Issa Amro is a nonviolent peace activist from Hebron. He was meant to be present at these meetings in Geneva but is facing 18 charges in a court hearing and cannot leave the country. He is regularly imprisoned because if his peace work and he and his family live under constant surveillance. He sent a video message to encourage us in the work of EAPPI and called for us to support economic measures against the occupation.
Danya is an Israeli peace activist working at B'Tselem. She is an American citizen so doesn't even have to stay but she does. She too cannot see an end to the occupation without economic measures against Israel - including the withdrawal and denial of visas for Israelis from all walk of life. It is not a popular viewpoint in Israeli and she has been vilified for it.
These two voices from 'both' sides called independently for us to speak out for political change so it was especially hard to be in sessions where the senior leadership team made excuses for their cancellation of a great peace campaign which Steph, Anja and AnneMarie had worked so hard on. And even harder to hear their 'great' alternative idea is a day of prayer in Jerusalem.
I sincerely do not want to be the one to tell this to Issa.
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