#63 With Jonathan Kuttab of Palestine, co-founder of Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and co-founder of Nonviolence International: “Most Christian Palestinians are nonviolent peacemakers, and have been since the 1st century,”

Today I speak with Jonathan Kuttab on Palestine. He is the executive director of FOSNA, Friends of Sabeel North America, the best Christian solidarity group working with Palestinians for peace. Jonathan is also co-founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and co-founder of Nonviolence International. A well-known international human rights attorney, Jonathan practices in the US, Palestine and Israel. He serves on the Board of Bethlehem Bible College and is President of the Board of Holy Land Trust. He was the head of the Legal Committee negotiating the Cairo Agreement of 1994 between Israel and the PLO. “The war on Gaza is continuing even today,” he told me just before the US/Israel declared illegal war on Iran. “They're refusing medicine, food, journalists, aid, and they're using the ceasefire to continue the genocide. The world is allowing this to continue, and it breaks my heart.” Jonathan explains why most Christian Palestinians are nonviolent peacemakers, and have been since the 1st century. His conclusion: "Violence does not work. It does not deliver what it is supposed to deliver." FOSNA promotes the vision of Sabeel Jerusalem, an ecumenical liberation theology movement founded by Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, joining Friends of Sabeel chapters around the world. As a nonprofit organization in the United States, they amplify the voice of Palestinians by advocating with churches, communities, and civic leaders for justice, peace, and liberation in Palestine. See www.fosna.org and www.jonathankuttab.org for more information on Jonathan and FOSNA. I have worked with them for many years and gave a keynote speech at the Sabeel conference in Bethlehem in 2008 with the Cardinal of Jerusalem, you can find it here: www.sabeel.org “It is possible for people to live together!” Jonathan concludes. “We have lived together peacefully in the past, and hopefully we will in the future". Listen in to this Palestinian voice for peace today and be inspired to join the grassroots movement of ordinary Christinas trying to live out the teachings of Christ in the 21st century. www.beatitudescenter.org