| Witness in
the Levant |
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Witness is what the Christian Peacemakers do in Hebron, accompanying children to and from school, monitoring checkpoints, asking soldiers why they are searching a vehicle or home, tracking arrests and detentions, and living in the Palestinian section of the city. In short, placing themselves in a hot spot, keeping their eyes and ears open, asking questions, using the authority vested in them by their Christian beliefs, namely, Christ's admonition to serve the other by doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with one's Greater Spirit. I was in Palestine and Israel for two weeks in November 2003, with a delegation sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. We were gifted by a meeting with these Peacemakers, walked with them as they performed their work, ate with them as they explained how they face death, and watched with them from their rooftop the nearness of the Israeli settlements and the ever watchful and intimidating presence of the Israeli army. Witness is what I try to do with my camera, practicing my trade as a socially engaged photographer, inserting myself into zones of conflict, turmoil, injustice, and sometimes danger to interpret what I slowly come to understand of a situation. The camera helps me observe and comprehend—the simple act of slinging a camera over my shoulder invites my body to become an extension of the camera. And the camera helps me show and tell my experience later, portraying my sense of the reality to a larger audience. I am much emboldened by many Christian traditions. One, travel, going somewhere, watching and listening, sharing the load, building the community. Two, walking cheerfully over the earth responding to the deepest in all creation, whether drawn or repelled by those I meet and what I witness. Third, the testimony of simplicity, living a life that allows me to continue this witness, refusing to be overly snared by fear and the demands of the quotidian life. Fourth, and most crucially, following the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ himself, a man who like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. risked his life for the righteous kingdom.\To continue this witness I rely on my various communities. I am grateful to them, and hope to visit congregations around the region with my slide show, "Facts on the Ground, Photographs from Israel and Palestine." —Skip Schiel, January 2004 To subscribe to his free photographic e-mail list, Paired Photographs from the Levant (two photos weekly with brief commentary, images kept small to fit into narrow e-mail boxes): |
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