wfn.org | UCC reitree tells about life under occupation

[powellb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
General Synod Newsroom
July 14, 2003
newsroom@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

By Martin Bailey

Ken Taylor, retired Connecticut Conference staffer, gives every appearance
of a guy who never went out looking for excitement, much less trouble. His
voice is soft spoken; his manner is gentle, almost uncertain. His step has
a little bounce, paced but not fast.

But when Taylor began telling about the three months he spent in an
isolated village behind razor wire, where the roads are patrolled by
Israeli tanks, delegates and visitors to the United Church of Christ?s
General Synod in Minneapolis sat forward on the edge of their chairs. The
padded seats in the conference room were suddenly uncomfortable.

Taylor is just back from Israel/Palestine, where he went as a volunteer to
serve as one of nearly 30 World Council of Churches? Ecumenical
Accompaniers. He told about the demolished homes he had seen in a nearby
refugee camp. He described going ?as a kind of pastor? to the home of a
family whose 20-something son had been shot dead while he slept in his own
bed by soldiers who thought the young man might be a terrorist.

Taylor showed some pictures: a bulldozed house; a new Berlin-type wall that
will encircle the West Bank; Easter in the Palestinian village ? complete
with a Boy Scout band. He ended with a slide of an uprooted olive tree; a
single sprig of new leaves seemed a sign of hope.

When one person in the audience asked a challenging question, Ken was
unfazed. ?I didn?t see everything,? he admitted. ?I?m certainly no expert.
I?m only telling you what I saw.? The man thanked him for his honesty.

As the session ended, it was clear that the audience had a broader vision
of what it means to live under occupation, why the majority of Israelis
want to find a peaceful compromise, and why Palestinians are eager to
experience the word they have painted on a wall across from their Zebabdeh
church: freedom.

It was also clear why the United Church of Christ participates in the
ecumenical effort called Peaceful Ends through Peaceful Means ?? the
American sponsor of the Accompaniment Program.

And it was easy to see why Ken Taylor is in such demand across Connecticut
to share his own adventure story.

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