TWO MEN STAND TOGETHER FOR PEACE DESPITE
LOSING LOVED ONES TO THE VIOLENCE IN THE HOLY LAND
~ Catholic Relief
Services' Holy Land Speaker Tour promotes peace and
justice for all people in the troubled region ~
May 2008
Despite losing loved ones
to the violence that rips lives apart in Israel and
in the West Bank and Gaza, Rami Elhanan and Mazen Faraj
stand side-by-side, tell their stories and call for
peace. Both men are members of the Parents Circle -
Families Forum, an association of 500 bereaved families
of Israel and Palestine who support peace, reconciliation
and tolerance. Parents Circle - Families Forum is a
partner of Catholic Relief Services.
Rami Elhanan is a 58-year-old
graphic designer in Jerusalem. He was born in Jerusalem
to an Auschwitz survivor on his father's side and a
seventh generation Jerusalemite on his mother's side.
Rami's daughter Smadar was killed on Thursday, September
4, 1997, on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem.
Mazen Faraj is a 32-year-old
married father of one child. In 1948 his father, at
age six, fled with his parents from their Palestinian
village and they became refugees. Mazen and his siblings
grew up in Daheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. Their
62-year-old father, Ali, was shot by the Israeli Defense
Force as he passed by the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem in April, 2002. Today, Mazen and his family
continue to live in the same refugee camp.
Rami and Mazen are visiting
the U.S. as the principal speakers of Catholic Relief
Services' (CRS) Peace in the Holy Land Speaker Tour.
CRS hopes to raise awareness and develop a deeper understanding
of the issues causing the conflict in the Holy Land.
Catholic Relief Services has worked with local partners
in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza for nearly half
a century. Projects in the region aim to support peace
with justice for all people in this troubled region,
while responding to the humanitarian and sustainable
development needs of Palestinians.
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