Jersey City 'Stations of the Cross' Remembers Acts    of Violence

For the third consecutive year, over one hundred people took to the streets of Jersey City on Good Friday to observe the Stations of the Cross as a public witness at 14 sites of violence on a 12-block route in a small urban neighborhood.

Bishop Mark Beckwith led the group of fourteen clergy from nine

	Bishop Mark Beckwith

denominations in a liturgy and procession organized by the Rev. Laurie Wurm and the Rev. Tom Murphy and offered by the three Episcopal churches in Jersey City.

Complementing the traditional readings of the Stations of the Cross, the procession featured poetry, prayers, litanies, songs, and the laying on of hands for police officers along the route.

Participants carried three sets of colorful tee-shirts, each inscribed with the name of the one of the city's 29 homicide victims in the past year. Each Station marked a place where there had been stabbings, armed robberies, shootings, or murders. At each stop, clergy reclaimed each place once defiled by violence in the name of Christ.

Gary Commins walks with neighbors.

The public witness drew the attention of neighbors, inquiries from passers-by, and coverage from local media.  

The Rev. Gary Commins, a former chair of EPF's NEC, 

is the recently installed rector of a sponsoring Jersey City parish,

Church of the Incarnation.

NEC member Bob Lodt of Detroit shares this letter from Palestinian women to the women of Flint, Michigan, to mark   International Women's Day.  NEC member Harry Gunkel adds: "During our [Palestine/Israel Network] visit to Gaza last year [2015], we were pleased to have time with Dr Mona El-Farra, the first signer of the letter. At the time, she was frantic because her daughter was ill in London and she was not being granted permission to leave Gaza despite multiple efforts on many fronts and despite possessing a UK passport. Thankfully, she was allowed to leave and visit her daughter some weeks later. This is of course a typical story, except that she actually got out. Most don't."

"Dearest Women in Flint,

On International Women's Day, we, the Palestinian women living under Israeli occupation, announce our solidarity and extend our compassion to you. We understand what you are going through because we face similar hardships in Gaza.

Access to clean and healthy water is a basic right according to international law and agreements. But many people are still fighting to achieve this right. For example, we are living in the Gaza Strip and are suffering a lot and struggling to get clean and healthy water. The Israeli occupation steals our water from the aquifers, controls our water resources, and does not allow us to access the clean water in the West Bank or to build water treatment facilities. Sea water, waste water, and other pollutants contaminate our water leading to sickness and death. This forces us to choose to buy clean water at unaffordable prices or to provide other basic necessities for our families. We know you face these impossible choices too.

In Gaza, we survived three brutal wars in six years and we have lived more than 10 years under harsh economic conditions as a result of the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. The poverty and unemployment reached unbelievable levels. Because what we have been through, we know and we understand what you are going through. It is sad, it is tough.

Disease is spreading among our children because of the polluted water in Gaza and Flint. We know what you are going through. We understand your sadness and helplessness. And we want you to know that you are not alone. We are standing with you until all of us overcome this crisis and access our right as humans to clean water for ourselves, our families, and our communities. We are standing with you as we struggle to hold the governments and private companies accountable for poisoning our children.

Our hearts and full compassion are with you.

Signed by mothers, activists, students, workers and leaders in the Palestinian community in Gaza:

Mona El-Farra
Safaa El-Derawi
Sana Al-Mashal, Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip
Nehaya Abu Nahla, Qattan Center
Jamila Dalloul, Olive Roots
Women of Afaq Jadeeda Association
Women of Sanabel Society
Leila Nassar                 Iktamal Al-Ayla             Randa Martja
Maha Abu Zur             Niveen Madi                   Maha Al-Aqed

Mariam Shaqura        Fayrouz Al-Asar              Fayrouz Arefa
Amahl Siyam               Nadia Abu Nahla            Zayneb Al-Ghanimi
Jehan Al-Aklok            Zahra Al-Bas                  Ferdos Al-Ktri
Marian Abu Duqa       Maha Al-Farra                Nadia Al-Farra
Mona Al-Madhun       Dunya Al-Aml Ismail    Maysr Abd
Lily Qarmot                  Samira Al-Ayla               Suha Mousa
Sabah Abu Reda          Nahla Al-Bader Sawi     Mariam Al-Farra
Mariam Abu Awda      Mada Abu Khattab        Inam Mousa
Ghadeer Shat                Raja Bseso                      Araksi Wahed
Rosette Nasrawi           Sabhia Al-Jamal            Isaf Al-Borno
Layla Qlibo                    Mariam Al-Derawi        Haneen Al-Derawi
Wafa Al-Derawi            Intima Al-Masri             Hadeel Al-Said
Mona Hammad             Manal Maqdad               Safa Maqdad
Manal Abu Ayesha        Nisreen Abed                  Ibtisam Maqdad
Lina Abu Hamra           Haneen Al-Samak         Fadwa Taqish
Zaynab Al-Daghma       Sabah Al-Qara               Rana Abu Ramadan
Hanan Abu Ramadan   Huda Abu Ramadan     Besan Abu Hameed
Haya Al-Agha                 Sana Al-Klut"

"The  Jersey City Public Schools  district discovered lead contamination in eight schools' drinking fountains in 2006, and in more schools in 2008, 2010 and 2012. But not until 2013 did officials finally chart a comprehensive attack on lead, which by then had struck all but six schools."  Read it all HERE