Faith under fire in Gaza

Rain in the night, cool and overcast with even more persistent rain through to the evening. The news continues to be bleak with the Israeli military now fighting for complete control of Gaza city and the overthrow of the Hamas regime. There seems to be no clear plan following the yet to be established interim military rule of Gaza to ensure civilian governance of the Strip with the consent of the surviving population. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped inside an active war zone unable to move to a place of safety. Israeli government spokespeople continue to deny there is a state of famine despite evidence to the contrary from international aid agencies. The compounds of Gaza's Latin Rite Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches are crammed with hundreds of refugees. Clergy and lay workers have refused to abandon those entrusted to them, the majority are Muslim, ready to die with their flocks if fighting overwhelms the compounds.

Meanwhile Trump stands by in detached silence, doing nothing to restrain Netanyahu's destructive zeal, or engage in finding a diplomatic solution to secure Palestine's future. He's made things worse by ordering the withholding of visas for President Mahmoud Abbas and the 80 strong membership of the Palestinian UN delegation due to visit next month's UN General Assembly for a key debate about prompt recognition of Palestine as a member state. He is becoming more dictatorial in his actions and policy decisions day by day. His purge of state officialdom is removing anyone whose expertise contradicts his ideology, and he's taking revenge on political critics and adversaries. No good can come of this.

A big bowl of fresh fruit salad for breakfast this morning instead of Saturday pancakes, inspired by cruise catering. The rain deterred us from going out anywhere together. The morning just slipped away doing nothing of consequence, apart from starting a fresh batch of bread. Clare cooked a curry for lunch with veg chopping and rice cooking support from me. Very good it was too.  I dozed for a while in the chair afterwards, and then went out to buy some fruit. Rain described in the weather app as 'light' was persistent enough to soak my jacket hat and trousers. Serves me right for not taking a brolly. There was decisive break in the rain at seven and the sky cleared driven by a strong breeze. Only then was it possible to go out and walk without getting wet a second time.

All the padel courts were  with quartets of players. I saw people arriving with bats under their arms hoping for a game. The courts are open from seven in the morning until ten at night. The new 35,000 square foot facility is branded 'Smash Padel'. Why such a violent name beggars belief. It's as idiotic as Starmer's 'Smash the Gangs'. An hour and a half court booking costs £39 I understand, plus bat hire if you don't have your own. I was surprised to see a group of cricketers attempting to play a game on a pitch near the courts. They were accompanied by supporters who were cooking barbecue food at the edge of the pitch. I don't imagine they'd been playing during the rain earlier. I walked past the pitch on my way up to the Cathedral for a change, and when I returned twenty minutes later the game had been abandoned and only the people making the barbecue under their gazebos remained. 

By the time I got home it was dusk. I joined Clare watching a documentary by historian Bettany Hughes on the entrepreneural Nabatean Arabs, whose control of the incense trade two millennia ago made them very rich indeed. Stunning scenery throughout and some fascinating archaeology revealing a Nabatean trading post twenty centuries ago on the Bay of Naples in Italy with its unique temple, at the other end of the Mediterranean from Syria, Palestine and Jordan, then part of the Nabatean Empire. Then, after a spell of writing, early to bed.

A new ministry begins on Dydd Gwyl Dewi

I was pleased to hear Rhiannon leaving the house after six this morning. Filming ends this afternoon, so hopefully she can rest and enjoy the weekend. Kath is coming down to stay as well. I spent the morning editing and writing. A colder cloudy day with sunny breaks, and a surprise hail storm mid morning. There may be snow in some places, but unlikely here in Cardiff. It's been much milder this winter with fewer frosty nights and much more rain. I spent the morning recording and editing material for a week next Thursday's Morning Prayer.

After a salmon soul lunch, I took the 61 bus to Fairwater to attend the World Day of Prayer service at St Peter's. This year's service was devised by a group of Palestinian Christian women, reason enough to go. It contained moving stories summarising the plight of Palestinians through the eyes of three generations of women. We also sang a couple of Palestinian choruses, with English texts and the Arabic equivalent rendered phonetically. I don't think I was very successful with the Arabic, but it was worth trying. It was a gathering of two dozen women of a certain age, and just two men. If I had realised the service was at St Peter's before I sent out Sway, last week or this, I could have included a poster for it, but I only found out late last night after the distribution was done. It's an ecumenical event held annually, but sadly such ecumenical activities are few and far between.

I just missed a bus to return home. There's half an hour between 61 buses now mid afternoon, extra buses are laid on exclusively for school children instead. I walked for half an hour until it began to drizzle, then I sheltered beneath a hedge next to a bus stop, and only had to wait a couple of minutes for the next bus to appear. Kath arrived at half past five to stay a couple of nights and return to Kenilworth on country roads to let Rhiannon have the experience of distance driving. She was her driving test in a few weeks time, and values all the practice she can get. After a snack supper, I walked to Cowbridge Road East and caught an 18 bus to take me up to St David's Parish Church for the Licensing of Fr Andrew Sully as West Cardiff Ministry Area Leader in the setting of a Eucharist.

About eighty people attended, and a quarter of them were clergy - half of them robed in the choir and half scattered throughout the congregation. The formalities of a licensing ceremony in a Eucharist have been simplified even more than they were the last time I attended one. I'm not sure if I approve of this or not, as stripping out the somewhat antiquated traditional features may have made it more informal and relaxed but made the occasion feel less momentous and memorable.

It was however, a truly bilingual event honouring St David. We sang 'Mae hen Wlad fy Nhadau' at the end. No choir needed, the singing in spontaneous harmony, was loud confident and enthusiastic throughout. I wish it was that good in the churches I serve every Sunday. There was a sumptuous spread after the service, and many cheerful conversations and greetings exchanged. It's a pity more couldn't have attended. Carol A long standing member of 'The Res' and old friend gave me a lift as far as Victoria Park, so I could walk the rest of the way home and complete my daily step quota. It was good to see Rhiannon had arrived from her film extra job a little earlier than me. We sat in the kitchen and chatted, until tiredness caught up with us one by one, and drew us up to bed.

In the news today, thirty thousand are now reported to have been killed in Gaza since October. It's claimed ten thousand of them are Hamas fighters. It's also claimed the majority of casualties are women and children. At this stage it's not possible to distinguish fact from propaganda. Will we ever know the truth? This grim statistic reminded me of what I was told by a former Red Cross prison visitor before going to Syria. Under the dictatorship of Hafez al Assad, in 1982, an insurrection of Muslim brotherhood members in Hama took thirty thousand lives in a month. If it was reported in Western media at the time it didn't arouse the same kind of political outrage which the war on Gazans has aroused. But then it was a matter of one powerful group of Muslims fighting against another.

Beware the speedy green man

A cooler cloudy day to wake up to. News of the increasing death toll in Israel and Palestine and more and more victims' bodies from the weekend slaughter are found, and more become victims due to the bombing of Gaza city by Israel. Twelve hundred Israelis are known to have died. Over three thousand Gazans including the Hamas fighters killed early on The denial of electricity and fuel to Gaza will lead to hospitals no longer able to function within this day. More will die untreated from injuries sustained during the prolonged bombing which is destroying whole blocks of city high rise buildings. Both sides acting without mercy. How can good come out of this?

There were just six of us for the Eucharist at St Catherine's, the situation was the focus of our prayer and our conversation over coffee afterwards. Roger, who has friends living in the north of Israel spoke about the messages he's received from his friends, living far from the sources of present danger, but sharing the grief and distress of the whole nation. 

Anger is being expressed by some at the concessions Benjamin Netanyahu has made to far right political parties in order to retain his hold on power, leading to increased injustice and oppression of Palestinians. There is no consensus supporting this. At the moment, Netanyahu is negotiating to unite all political interest in a government of national unity, but how much will it be possible for its members to agree on? All agree on the need for national security and stability, but opinion could be divided about how to achieve this, both in the short and long term. The world outside watches, concerned about escalation of the conflict beyond the Holy Land.

After coffee, I collected this week's veggie bag from Chapter. Clare was half way through cooking lunch already, with a delicious gammon steak for me. Later in the afternoon, I did the week's grocery shopping at the Co-op, and then went for a walk in the park. Finally, after four and a half months, temporary traffic lights at the pedestrian crossing on Penhill Road have been removed and the new set of lights installed a few months ago are finally working. 

The only problem is that the green man flashes to tell pedestrians when they can cross only allows ten seconds to cross the road. In effect, if you can't walk at one meter per second, you're at risk from traffic. People pushing buggies or wheelchairs and people with walking sticks are not always able to walk that fast. A twenty second interval would be preferable for safety's sake. When I got home I tweeted about this an appeal which I hope the Council will pick up. If nothing happens, I'll have to contact a local council about it.

Clare went out after an early supper to her Plygain singing group. I recorded and edited my reflection and Thursday Morning Prayer for next week and then watched the second episode of the money laundering mystery drama 'Payback' on ITV. An intriguing plot is developing. Then the news, reporting on the Israeli troop buildup around the Gaza Strip. Regrettably, whatever the Israeli government says about the urgent necessity of utterly destroying Hamas, the death of so many civilians in the razing of sections of Gaza city, and the deprivation of energy, food and water supplies, looks like the collective punishment of the entire civilian population. There are indications tonight however, of negotiations with Egypt to open the Rafa crossing into Gaza, one Israel doesn't control, for emergency aid food and fuel to be delivered. And now to bed.