Since ever, we thought that most of religious institutes were always standing between us (the normal people with no turbans or miters) and the absolute freedom we've been fighting for!! Ever since the words war, revolution, sacrifice, and martyrs existed.
Yes, we've been standing on crossroads for a very long time, trying our best to figure out how to frame the beautiful picture we created of freedom.
No!! I know we are in Egypt, and the focus, just like most of our political science courses, is on our revolution, and how to maintain what we fought for. However, this time, I'm speaking about Palestine. Yes, against all expectations this 1000 kilo-meters away "far" land has also been one of the dominos falling to form an amazing image. The Palestinians started a new Facebook group calling for marches around the world to stop the division between Hamas and Fatah and consequently Gaza Strip and The West Bank. I was surprised, and sort of heartbroken. My people have no freedom, they lost it 63 years ago, and when everyone around them is calling for liberty, they call for unity. What a depressing point we've reached.
This time, it comes from the church. The Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem; an amazing call; the people demand the end of the occupation. No, it's not someone who's seeking popularity, not someone who has a certain agenda, not someone who took part in the division; it's his all excellence Bishop Atallah Hanna; the second man in the church of Jerusalem. Finally, a religious figure is not publishing an ad. in the newspapers supporting the government when closing Rafah crossing in the faces of children. Finally, some religious public figure that is not issuing a fatwa saying that revolution is "haram" idolizing a bow in front of a unjust ruler rather than God. Finally, I know God wants the children of Palestine and the whole Arab world to live with dignity, to have a bright future, finally, they realized that they don't have to count their armies before fighting, but they rather measure the will of each and everyone on the front line. And before that, measure the amount of belief they have within their hearts.
Thank you, your excellence, see you in Jerusalem.
Your daughter,
