Manifesto: We at Bridges for Bethlehem realize the world is foundationally unjust, and nowhere on earth, perhaps, is this more evident than the holy land. This is a land filled with ancient contradictions, false alternatives, zero-sum games, paradoxes, and seemingly unresolvable conflicts. Yet we at Bridges for Bethlehem are here to heal. We are not activists. We do not evangelize or proselytize, or engage in politics or violence of any kind, including boycotts. We believe strongly that violence occurs when sides are chosen, when suffering is ignored, and when peace is preferred only for some. We have an aversion to the roots of violence which define another person as “other,” not valued, or outside the circle of care. As James Finley writes, "Everyone’s an infinitely loved, broken person in a fleeting, often not-so-fair, gorgeous, lovely, unexplainable world.” We are not a religious entity, yet our board of directors and advisors proudly claims a heritage of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Athieism. Our collective lived experience has affirmed in us, therefore, important core beliefs that are common to many major religions. By reflecting upon these principles, we have found a positive means to heal injustices and foster peace, and we encourage others to follow our lead. We do this by first recognizing with patience, love, and forgiveness toward all things, that we are all complicit in this mixed moral universe. Only from this humble starting place, may we begin to try to repair the world (tikkun olam, in Hebrew). We believe if we all keep trying to approach the earth's troubles by some other means than forgiveness, we will all keep projecting, fearing, and attacking problems "over there," instead of “gazing” on them within ourselves ...and weeping over them. And in this small way, seeking, pouring out our hearts and minds with love, remorse, compassion, desperation, hope, joy… we have uncovered many truths: ancient mountains of problems and troubles but also hearts as rich and deep as the roots of the olive that are said to never die… on both sides of the "Green Line." After all, "The holy name YHWH is most appropriately breathed rather than spoken, and we all breathe the same way." The truth, we have found, is we are all one. The strength of this belief, that we are all one, has become the natural and enduring foundation of Bridges for Bethlehem. It has shaped our philosophy and given hope and life to our dream of "repairing the world." We find this concept of "oneness" in many major religions. "Ubuntu" is a Zulu concept which means, “I am who I am because we are who we are.” Ubuntu is deeply similar to the Christian virtue of piety: to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice… We are each impacted by the circumstances that impact those around us. What hurts you hurts me. What heals you heals me. Throughout the world, in different religions, cultures and languages: Mupasi in Africa, Chi in China, Ma’at in Egypt, prana in India... Freethinking humans have found a contemplative path away from destructive, dualistic, either/or thinking. Enlightened individuals refuse to measure, compare, evaluate, and label their neighbors. They go beyond borders, beyond language, wealth, race, creed, and religion, to consider relatedness, oneness, as the organizing principle of the universe. We believe oneness, (God, Yahweh, Allah), is all things. He is stone, water, trees, stars. He is Source, Unity, Spirit, Love. Oneness, is the capacity for goodness, the inspiration to care. It exists within all of us and all around us. Oneness, is visible, touchable, knowable, relatable. We are her body, hands, feet, words.. even her thoughts have power with us. We are one with and connected to the world around us and to each other, as well as all creatures by many common bonds. With the stone we share existence, with the plants we share life, with the animals we share sensation, and with the angels we share intelligence. Every creature is an aspect of "God’s," self-expression in the world. Here, where the three Abrahamic faiths are branches on the same tree, we find countless examples of “oneness.” It is not surprising that many words used daily, especially in prayer, share the same roots, just as the people do. Our favorite is R-Ḥ-M the root of the word compassion: Raḥamim in Hebrew: רחמים, and Raḥmah in Arabic: رحمة, literally, “womb.” Naturally, the Greek root for compassion, "splagchna," is a similar concept to Rahmah or womb. In the Christian Bible, Jesus' heart is not just “moved with pity” No, the Greek word used means that Jesus feels compassion in his guts. We at BfB believe our work would be done if everyone here in the holy land and elsewhere realized we are all from the same womb, the same guts. Holding the belief that all things are connected, it is not only honorable, therefore, but essential to try to heal one another through authentic love, compassion, and inclusion. In Christianity, Jesus consistently stands with the excluded: outsiders, sinners, and poor people. In the gospel we see Jesus moving among so many kept outside the circle of well-being by institutional violence which claimed that healing and happiness belonged to some and not to others. That is his place of freedom and his unique way of critiquing all self-serving culture. Jesus' form of healing, his justice strategy is solidarity—even more than working or fighting for justice per se, which disappoints many activists as well as religious and political leaders. We have learned that fear, anger, divine intimidation, threat, and punishment constitute violence, and violence will not lead people to love or restore justice anywhere on earth. Only love can. Authentic healing involves restoration to wholeness and a structure for conflict resolution that facilitates truth telling, accountability, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restitution. The answer to the quest for Shalom, or tikkun olam, therefore, is to work at restorative justice that actively pursues communal flourishing and repairs as best as possible what cannot be restored. One of the radical nonviolent actions of Jesus was to eat with “sinners” and “tax collectors” and all those “others” which the society of that time excluded. Sharing a common table where everyone is deemed worthy of love and dignity, is peaceful, nonviolent resistance to the violence of division. Just as we believe violence includes not only physical violence but attitudes and actions such as racism, derision, discrimination, and exclusion, we also believe “community” includes everyone: The people who voted for “that guy.” The people who work in the very systems that are destroying our communities. The corrupt corporate CEO. The racist political leader. The foreign dictator responsible for human rights abuses and even countless deaths. This is not to say we condone or ignore violence, insults, or deadly actions. Not at all. Forgiveness does not nullify or eliminate wrongdoings. It is very important to note that forgiveness acknowledges, radically names, and exposes wrongdoings, then gives us the freedom to nourish the active compassion we need to work for social change and restorative justice. Peace, Shalom, Salem, requires the "ferocity of our hope, the holy restlessness that leads us to action, the commitment to justice that fuels our prophetic lament, solidarity, resilience, and courage." 
—Debie Thomas  Our strategy is simple. As Bridges for Bethlehem continues to embrace this core belief that we are all one, that we all belong, loving our neighbors becomes not just a little anecdote or possibility, but inherent to our being. We simply aim to bring peace by being authentic love, "Mishpat," in Hebrew, "be the Torah." We believe that our small loving actions can create ripples with larger healing effects in the broader world and bring solidarity to the suffering in the holy land: the outcast, the marginalized, and the victims of myriad paths of violence. Our goal is not to judge it, fix it, understand it, control it, or even localize it. We stand with it. We are one with it. Diving deeper, Jesus reveals that Love and compassion always rushes to the aid of suffering wherever it is found, including the wounded, and dying troops on both sides in every kind of war, and both the victims and the predators of this world; frankly, this pleases very few people. Yet the acceptance of that invitation to solidarity with the larger pain of the world is what drives Bridges for Bethlehem, specifically, in the holy land, where our hearts have been broken. Finally, the way we “enflesh” our beliefs, Bridges for Bethlehem's mission on the ground is simply and deeply rooted in Liberation Theology. This means, instead of legitimating the self-serving holy land status quo, instead of blindly following often violent, false, and misleading narratives, we read reality and history, not from the side of the powerful, but from the side of the PAIN. It is not our intention to take sides, but to be a true and loving advocate for basic human dignity, to rush to the aid of suffering. Where is human suffering most intense in the holy land? The answer is why you will find Bridges for Bethlehem bringing goods, services, and self-sufficiency initiatives, amidst the harassed and torn, the marginalized, the poor, and the sorrowful, in Bethlehem and surrounding villages. Because we are all one. Thanks be to Love. Credit: This essay relies heavily upon the many meditations put forward from Father Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Our name finds it's origin in the document, "Bridges not Walls: Reflections of the Bishops' Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land, January 2018."