Father Amjad Sabbara, the parish priest of St. Catherine's church in Bethlehem was a guest at a small dinner reception held at the home of Joe and Arlette Dibsy. Family and few close friends attended. It was a most enjoyable evening, where Fr. Amjad filled us in on the struggles of our homeland.
The following day, aug.14th Fr. Amjad concelebrated a mass at the church of St. PiusV in Buena Park. Many friends and family members attended, he had few words to say about Bethlehem and the struggle of the Palestinian people. Many people freom that parish were at this Mass, which made it more meaningful and more beneficial for others to hear of the hardships that our people have to endure on daily basis, when he concluded his brief statement he was met with thunderous applause from the congregation.
Afterward everyone gathered in the
church hall for a bountiful meal (pot luck). Fr. Amjad addressed the people who
came from near and far and as far as San Francisco, everyone listened
attentively and many had the opportunity to ask many questions. The dividing
wall in particular had everyone's concern, the answer to the wall situation was
very alarming, since the wall means total imprisonment for every Palestinian
town.
Envelopes were distributed and we asked the people to be as generous as possible. Through the efforts of everyone present we were able to collect close to 8,000.00 dollars. Fr. Amjad has many projects which will help the people of Bethlehem. His pet project is to purchase the Handal home that used to house Benny, he is determined to open a much needed hospital, we hope he can succeed and we should make every effort to help him in his endeavor.
The brief visit of Father Amjad
left us all very homesick for him and for our beloved Bethlehem. Arlette and I
would like to thank the Hazboun family for all their support and help, and also
Fr. Amjad's aunt Clemance Masarweh of Sun City California, and his cousin Queeny
and her family for their hospitality and kindness, and for so many many
wonderful friends who helped us.
THANK YOU
Leila Giries
California
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FACTS
published by The Franciscan News Al Salam Wa Al Khaire
IN PALESTINE
FROM 09-29-2000 TO 02-02-2003 :
775,294 trees were
uprooted
43,783 homes 1/2 demolished
3,360 homes completely demolished
7 schools were closed by IDF
205 schools were damaged
60 schools taken for IDF use
2,690 students were injured
261 shops were demolished
127 chicken farms demolished
3,641 sheep and goats killed
598 cows were killed
6,471 bee hives destryoed
213 well destroyed
1,412,406 chicken and birds destroyed
792 water tanks destroyed
426 children killed
176 women killed
42,038 injured
13,108 imprisoned
166 school kids killed
77 teachers killed.
207 homes demolished with all their contents.