A blog post by Heather-Jane Ozanne
Sami Awad is the founder and Director of The Holy Land Trust (HLT) in Bethlehem. The Holy Land Trust has developed several main areas of work under the ‘Occupation’ which has devastating effects on their community, Bethlehem being largely surrounded by a security/separation wall. Nonviolence is at the core of their work, with leadership training using a Non-Linear leadership programme and community healing and transformation also central to their activities. Please see www.holylandtrust.org for further information.
Since I first got to know HLT through the work of Spirit of Peace as well as personal and family connections, I sensed that HLT’s work was significant not only in their own situation but also in a global context as a model for resolving community tension and creating transformation and promoting healing. Sami Awad’s recent trip to the UK was affirmation of this. Hosted by the Amos Trust, Sami travelled far and wide in England, Scotland and Wales.
Spirit of Peace was delighted to organise his time in Scotland where he spoke at a range of events on tackling sectarianism and addressing the question, ‘How can we create a future of peace from a history of pain?’ His spiritually empowered approach to deep and pressing issues facing human communities is inspiring and hopeful and provides a model for people who wish to live a socially-engaged spirituality, addressing the inequalities and conflict, locally and globally.
‘Towards Human Flourishing’
Certainly there are rich resources here for us, as we develop a section on the Living Spirituality website on the theme of ‘Towards Human Flourishing’, in order to share resources and information for those of us whose spirituality is expressed through engagement with the issues involved in working towards a fairer world where all people can live in peace.
Heather-Jane Ozanne is Founder Director of Spirit of Peace (www.spiritofpeace.co.uk) and a member of the LS Steering Group. She frequently travels to the Middle East.
