Friends gather to witness a hundred years of Ramallah Meeting House
Sue Glover Frykman reports on Ramallah Friends’ century of witness and work for justice and peace – 1910-2010
Quakers from various parts of the world gathered in celebratory worship with Ramallah Friends and attenders to mark the centenary of the dedication of the Meeting house on 6 March 1910. After an opening address by Jean Zaru, the clerk of Ramallah Monthly Meeting, greetings were given by Jeanette Mikhail, the mayor of Ramallah Municipality, Tim Hussey, the great-great-grandson of Timothy Hussey, who was present at the first Meeting for Worship, Jim Fine, clerk of the Friends International Centre (FICR) steering committee, Joyce Ajlouny, director of the Ramallah Friends Schools, Marisa Johnson, executive secretary of the Europe and Middle East Section of Friends World Committee for Consultation, and Nina Dodge, representing the American Friends Service Committee. During the ensuing period of worship warm tributes were paid to Ramallah Friends’ work and witness over the years, and to those living in the area during periods of service with Quaker organisations or the Ramallah Friends Schools. Young people from the Meeting performed a short sketch on John Woolman’s witness against slavery, and a surprise party for Jean Zaru was thrown after Meeting by way of thanks and appreciation for her tireless promotion of dialogue and nonviolent social change.
The centenary celebrations, organised by a committee of local Friends and attenders, included a series of public events held at the beautifully renovated Meeting house: a lecture on the Peace Testimony and speaking truth to power today, a lecture and discussion on Quakers in Palestine and the role of women, concerts of music and song, a lecture and discussion on the origin of Quakers and Quakerism, and another on Quakers and diversity. An energetic evening of traditional music and dance was offered by senior students at the Friends School – followed by an opportunity for the audience to join in and learn some of the steps!
The FICR steering committee met with Friends from near and far in a consultation held from 8 to 10 March in the Friends International Centre, adjacent to the Meeting house, to discuss the future direction of the centre’s work. Established in March 2005 as a ministry of the Ramallah Friends Meeting in partnership with Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings, FICR aims to nurture a Quaker presence in Ramallah, find ways to enrich and support the local community and to uphold and further peace and justice issues in the community. Under the direction of Kathy Bergen, programme coordinator, FICR’s activities include a drama project, women’s training, lectures on relevant topics, book launches with a focus on wider issues, a once-a-month film series and talk and potluck dinners with the aim of building a community around the local Meeting and public concerts.
According to members of Ramallah Meeting, the centre provides ‘a safe place for dialogues between Palestinians and internationals’. Indeed, in 1948 the Meeting house became a safe place for nine refugee families (totalling fifty-eight people) from Jaffa, who partitioned off sections of the Meeting house with benches to create small ‘apartments’. A baby was born during this time too, and was named Khalil, meaning ‘friends’. The building also functioned as a school for refugee children from 1948 to 1952, catering for some two hundred children. These stories and others can be found in the special centenary booklet, Stories from the Ramallah Friends Meeting 1869-2010, published by FICR.
Plans are now underway to create a peace garden and deepen the Meeting’s and FICR’s work for peace and justice.
See www.fwccemes.org for more reports and photographs. See www.ramallahquakers.org for further information about Ramallah Friends.
See also
Israeli boycotts, sanctions and divestments – is a corporate Quaker stance possible? and the Epistle from the Friends International Center in Ramallah.
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