WOMEN BEHIND THE WALL

Like most people our views about Israel and Palestine have been largely shaped by Christian Zionism. I’ve always felt that the God we serve wouldn’t support the oppression and subjugation of the Palestinian people. In the last couple of months I’ve been exposed to the Palestinian viewpoint and your podcast is helping me to understand this more

Listen and you will hear love. The love of the Palestinian Christians for their Lord, Land, each other and their Jewish and Muslim neighbors. Their words mirror the stories, sentiments and hospitality of the families I was privileged to meet when visiting the West Bank last year. I stand with my Christian brothers and especially sisters in Palestine.

Each time I hear a new Women Behind the Wall episode, I slow down what I'm doing and attend with my whole self. The voices of these women are powerful, and often overlooked. Their stories remind me of the human face of the conflict that we Westerners so often conceive of as an "issue," fodder for debate, for political sparring. We approach it on the meta level and lose sight of the people on the ground who live in the tension and dangers. In listening to each of these women share the stories of their lives and families, their careers, their communities, and their faith, the conflict leaves the realm of the philosophical and enters the personal. I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough.

These stories are eye-opening to the injustice and discrimination in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While these women and families do maintain some level of freedom, there is undoubtedly oppression and restriction of humanity. While this (and even worse) exists all around the world, the time, effort, care, and courage put into gathering and sharing these unique and deeply personal stories is invaluable. I encourage everyone to listen, even if halfway around the world, in order to broaden your understanding of this age-old conflict and its implications today.