Baha Hilo: A Voice from Palestine
Saturday, June 6, 2015 - 10:00am
Westminster Presbyterian Church invites you to join us for a morning of conversation with Baha Hilo who is visiting from Palestine by invitation of the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA). We are happy to present this opportunity for you to hear the Palestinian narrative first hand and learn what life is like for Palestinians and Israelis in light of the illegal Israeli Occupation of the West Bank. This event will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday June 6, 2015 in the Lounge of Westminster Presbyterian Church, 353 East Pine Street, Wooster, OH 44691.
Part of the mission of Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) (IPMN) is to educate our denomination (and others) on the current realities and history of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Baha Hilo will be visiting the United States for several weeks and will be speaking with various groups across the country about a variety of topics including: a brief history of Israel/Palestine, the history and current reality of forcible displacement, apartheid in Israel/Palestine, and non-violent resistance movements like the international BDS campaign, the role and importance of educational tourism, the Olive Tree Campaign and other projects combating Israeli land grabs and human rights violations.
Baha, a native Palestinian currently living in Beit Sahour, has worked with various education and advocacy groups over the years including the IPMN. Baha is a graduate of Birzeit University in Birzeit, where he earned his BA in Sociology. He has put his education to use working for the United Nations Works and Relief Agency in the West Bank, as a Coordinator with the National Council of the YMCAs in Sri Lanka, and working with youth as a camp counselor with the Silver Bay Association in New York. Baha served for six years as the Campaigns Officer for the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine. There he oversaw the Olive Tree Campaign, which enables international visitors to partner with Palestinian farmers whose land and livelihoods are under direct threat from the Israeli occupation. The Campaign educates the visitors on the realities of life in Occupied Palestine, helps the farmers harvest their olives, and also plants or replants land where olive trees have been destroyed and uprooted by Israeli settlers or military. Baha is currently working on a new initiative, To Be There, which provides educational tourism programs, information, and services that seek to bring about justice, equality, and freedom for all Palestinians.
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