ConflictMedioEast Tag

John Paul II Foundation / Posts tagged "ConflictMedioOrient"

by
Magazine
December 13, 2024

Since October 7, 2023, the situation in Palestine has changed dramatically, making it extremely difficult to operate on the ground. In fact, increasing instability has led over the past year to the repeated reorganization of activities of our Bethlehem Green City Project*, which aims to improve municipal solid waste management in the West Bank through separate waste collection and urban circular economy initiatives. One of the main goals of the project is to raise environmental awareness in schools that, due to the conflict, have suffered alternating periods of opening and closing. A situation that forced us to reschedule activities and proceed with caution. In fact, tensions arising from attacks-from Iran, Lebanon and Israeli incursions-have affected several areas of the West Bank, imposing continuous disruptions to daily life. Exchanges of experience between Italy and Palestine also varied from the initial schedule. The last visit to Italy, initially scheduled for early 2024, is...

, , ,

by
Magazine
December 13, 2024

Last August we kicked off the 2024-25 school year with much hope and courage. Surprisingly, and despite often impassable roads, all the pupils returned with renewed joy and enthusiasm. They were tired of being locked within the walls of their villages because they were distressed by grueling military checks, not only in their towns but even in their homes! The return to school represented for them a reunion with friends and classmates, but above all it was a moment to rediscover their dignity-a real breath of fresh air. They finally felt welcomed again and "free" to move, talk and be together after months of loneliness and marginalization. A serenity unfortunately only apparent: on the evening of October 1, in fact, we experienced a dramatic moment never seen before. The sky, which in another context would have seemed full of shooting stars, was instead lit up by rockets that passed quickly over our heads. Thanks to the...

, , ,

by
Magazine
December 13, 2024

After the fateful October 7, 2023, I was repatriated to Italy and continued to manage the Jericho Vale* project (on date production in Palestine) from afar. I would like to share some aspects of this decidedly unique experience. Living there for two years allowed me to create very strong bonds with both my colleagues in the Foundation and local partners. Despite language barriers-I do not speak Arabic, and others speak little English-we always managed to maintain contact, both for professional matters and for personal support. The trust and bonds built over the years have helped us overcome the obstacles imposed by the conflict in Gaza and subsequent distance. These solid, yet flexible relationships have enabled us to cope with even the most critical moments, despite the difficult circumstances. You can imagine, therefore, the enormous happiness I felt when, last October,...

, , ,

by
Magazine, News
November 15, 2024

With the intensification of the conflict in Gaza and the increasing difficulties of operating in Palestine, the Foundation chose to stay and intervene alongside children. Our primary thought has been to safeguard the little ones, creating a safe place for them to find relief. Even in the West Bank, children live in fear and anguish aware of the difficulties their parents have in providing for their families. Several scientific studies regarding the consequences that war has on young children have caught our attention. Children respond to the stress of armed conflict with increased anxiety, isolation, sleep disturbances and nightmares, poor appetite, learning disabilities, developmental delays and aggressive behavior. Because of the developmental stage a child is in, exposure to war-related stressors affects the formation of a personal identity and personality, the notion of what is right and...

,

by
Magazine, News
November 8, 2024

  Father Ibrahim, it has been a year since Hamas' attack on Israel and the beginning of the war that has devastated Gaza. Did you expect such a long and devastating war? The tragic attack on October 7, 2023 unleashed a spiral of violence that still envelops the Holy Land today. In Gaza, the numbers of dead and wounded, the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, churches and mosques have soared, and a year later they do not stop: it is a continuous war bulletin that is shockingly updated by the hour. Never would I have imagined that the war would last so long, but what worries me most is its extension to an ever larger area of the region. The war has spread from south to north; for months the West Bank and Jerusalem have been suffering from heightened tensions and the terrible consequences of violence. They have increased...

,

by
Magazine, News
October 9, 2024

"In Lebanon, the situation is very serious. After the explosion of the pagers, which affected more than 2,800 people, we are for all intents and purposes back at war." Bishop Cesar calls the new escalation of Israeli attacks in Lebanese territory a huge tragedy, highlighting how this new drama adds to the difficulties Lebanon has been facing for some time now. Nearly 1,000 dead, more than a million displaced, schools closed and stormed by internally displaced persons, all testify to the enormous suffering of an already battered people who needed no further heartbreak. "We are living through a very difficult time, and we are still unable to come to grips with it," the bishop reflects. The explosions are affecting innocent civilians, and in such a situation one cannot distinguish between people, regardless of personal opinions about Hezbollah or the conflict against Israel. The war comes in an already dramatic situation: there is the political crisis, with a state that for almost two years...

, , ,

by
Press Releases, Magazine, News
September 3, 2024

Florence, Sept. 3, 2024 The John Paul II Foundation joins the initiative promoted by some Florentine parishes to call for peace, "If you want peace, prepare peace." We reproduce the poster that the communities have prepared to invite everyone to Isolotto for Sunday, September 15. The John Paul II Foundation, which has been working in the Middle East for more than twenty-five years, joins the invitation to participate in the prayer meeting for peace, promoted by some Florentine parishes, for Sunday, September 15 in the Isolotto square in Florence. The Foundation fully endorses what the parish communities wrote, "Peace will never be the fruit of distrust, the fruit of walls, of weapons pointed at one another. St. Paul says, "Each one will reap what he has sown" (Gal 6:7). Brothers and sisters, our civilizations right now are sowing destruction, fear. Let us, brothers and sisters, sow hope! Let us be sowers of hope" (Pope Francis). Pope Francis was one of the first to declare that...

, ,

by
Magazine, News
February 23, 2024

"The human capacity to carve out a niche for oneself, to secrete a shell, to erect around oneself a tenuous barrier of defense even in seemingly desperate circumstances is astounding and deserves a more in-depth study" (P. Levi, "If This is a Man. The Truce," 1958). The amazement at how human beings manage, in spite of everything, to survive in extreme contexts such as those of a war and somehow even "accept" its dramatic consequences becomes even greater when the object of our reflection is children. We wonder where they derive the strength to go through such an experience without permanently collapsing; yet, except in limited cases, children who have gone through the atrocities of war do not go "out of their minds." Most of the time, these children even seem to us better, more helpful, more mature than they are in "normal" situations. This incredible ability to adapt can lead us adults to underestimate the...

, .

by
Magazine, News
February 23, 2024

Daydreaming is the faculty of the mind that spontaneously recreates experiences and experiences, immersing itself in another reality. Children possess a vivid imagination; they invent characters and stories by experiencing them as if they were real. As they grow up they understand the difference between reality and the imaginary-a friendly world, a free, open land, harmony with nature. Sometimes reality seems threatening, intrusive, difficult to understand and deal with. But when reality does NOT seem but IS, what tools come to the rescue of the imagination, the dream? Where to wander with the mind, retreat to an imaginary world and find refuge from the fears, loneliness, dangers that are about to extinguish any relationship with what was familiar to us until yesterday? This brief reflection accompanied us on the difficult, uncertain, challenging path of helping the children of Bethlehem today in danger and tomorrow likely victims of the reality that is erasing all imaginary fantasy and smiles or made orphans by violence...

, .

Sign up for newsletter