The Avenue Multicultural Centre drop-in centre for people seeking asylum re-opened in Southampton today. After a gap of 18 months due to Covid restrictions it is good to be back supporting people seeking asylum face to face.
Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group is working in partnership with CLEAR, the Red Cross and Avenue Multicultueral Centre
SWVG are supporting the Together with Refugees Orange Heart Project.
Passionate about peacemaking?
Want to be a part of the global movement in peace studies?
Desire to learn more from dynamic Holy Land Christian peacemakers?
Join us this September in our first online course for audit or credit entitled Introduction to Peacemaking and Justice.
The Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice promotes interdisciplinary research and study of peace and justice in the context of the Palestinian experience. Bethlehem Bible College is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Asia Theological Association, and the Middle East Association for Theological Education.
I am delighted Wipf & Stock have chosen to republish the English edition of my book, Zion’s Christian Soldiers. You can preview come of the content here. Available from Amazon or direct from the publishers.
“Once again Stephen Sizer has produced a seriously worked out biblical theology which challenges some Christians who give uncritical support to the current political stance of Israel. We have here a serious biblical challenge, evangelical in character which, nevertheless, challenges certain kinds of fundamentalism, both theological and political. I commend Stephen’s latest book warmly, not with the conviction that everyone will agree with it, but that all ought to engage in its argument for the very sake of the Peace of Jerusalem itself, now the Holy City of the three great monotheistic faiths, the faiths of the Children of Abraham.” The Right Reverend Christopher Hill, former Bishop of Guildford
Continue readingDr Andrew Ashdown gives an update on some of the world’s trouble spots where Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) is working with local relief agencies. For more information visit www.hart-uk.org
Andrew is also a member of the Peacemaker Trust Board of Reference.
Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and flouting of United Nations resolutions is ongoing and unwavering. Dozens of international corporations profit off this oppression by contracting with the Israeli government and participating in the construction of illegal settlements. As we mark the beginnings of the BDS Movement on July 9, 2005, here’s what you need to know about morally responsible investment and what you can do so that together we can rise up.
Our guest will be Charlotte Marshall of Sabeel-Kairos UK.
Time: Tuesday, July 13, at 4:00pm London time (6:00pm East Jerusalem, Palestine time UTC+3)
Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/94679502800
(There’s no registration page, so please set an alarm for yourself and use this link on Tuesday.)
Remember, if you’d like to receive a reminder about the gathering an hour before it begins, please use the registration form at the bottom of the page.
As a trustee of Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG), I am delighted to share this short introductory video about our work, befriending and supporting asylum seekers and refugees in the Southampton area. We are also continuing to lobby the government for a more compassionate approach toward asylum seekers.
The Jewish Network for Palestine recently invited me to give a short presentation on ‘Convivencia’ or coexistence at their 2021 annual meeting.
Convivencia simply means ‘coexistence’. It is an academic hypothesis, first proposed by the Spanish philologist Américo Castro, regarding the coexistence of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities during the period of Spanish history from the Muslim Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the early eighth century until the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.
By extension the term can describe the contemporary religious and cultural interaction and exchange fostered by such proximity as a way to challenge the various forms of ethno-supremacism and exclusive religious nationalisms emerging in different parts of the world.
A vigil for Gaza was held in Reading town centre on Saturday 5th June organised by Reading Muslim Council with contributions from the Jewish Network for Palestine, Cordoba Foundation, Green Party, Slough PSC and Jewish Voices for Labour. Organisers estimate that around 250 people participated in the vigil while many people out shopping stopped to listen to the presentations. At the end of the vigil balloons were released in memory of each child killed in Gaza. I gave a short presentation (below) and also offered prayers for the bereaved and injured.
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Peacemakers is partnering with the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA in Palestine and Alternative Tourism Group (JAI-ATG) to promote their olive picking and olive tree planting programmes. To find out more visit their website.
This agricultural event is of special significance to the Palestinian economy when all energies and efforts are mobilized. The program aims to assist Palestinian farmers living close to illegal Israeli settlements who are vulnerable to attacks or land seizure.
Besides olive picking, the program features introductory presentations about the current situation in Palestine and the effects of the Apartheid Wall, tours in the old city of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Bethlehem, in addition to evening sessions, cultural event and social gatherings.
In December 2019, Stephen assisted with the olive tree planting project and also contributed to the 2020 Calendar.
