January 2025 brought the best news for which we had been praying and yearning, for many months – a ceasefire in Gaza which brought the first nights of respite for the battered residents of the Strip for over a year. Prisoner exchanges by both sides brought joy and relief but also grief, and in some cases, anger. But at least it felt as if some positive progress was being made. But relief was all too short and the ceasefire failed to progress to stage two. To our deep distress the bombing and killing started again and the prisoner exchange halted.

Lent started with relief but ended in grief. Thus, we enter into the season of Easter in a state of fear and agony with the peace and the hope of justice still a distant prospect. While the peoples of Israel and Palestine continue in a state of war, the day-to-day situation in Jerusalem and in the Galilee is far less dangerous than it has been through most of the time since October 2023. As a result, some pilgrim groups are tentatively returning to the Holy Land. Pilgrimages cannot yet operate as they did before the war began but in the College we feel able to say that it is now a good time to begin to plan a pilgrimage with us for later in the year and for next year because the travel restrictions put in place by many countries such as the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand have been lifted.

The peoples of these lands desperately need the return of pilgrims. Those dependent on the pilgrim/tourist business have endured the deprivations of COVID, followed by the severe financial impact of eighteen months of war. Planning a pilgrimage now will give grounds for a little optimism for the beleaguered peoples of Israel/Palestine. A pilgrimage with St George’s College gives a chance to demonstrate Christian solidarity with Palestinian Christians and spending time with our communities throughout the land will be an important part of any pilgrimage in these days. At certain quiet periods while numbers are still low, a personally planned pilgrimage for a small group may be possible. Please contact me directly about this, if desired.

We have great hopes that our friends around the world who have supported us with prayers and funding through these days of suffering will now be able to show support by planning a return to pilgrimage with us. We can promise an experience which will be spiritually uplifting and informative about the current realities.

We have reissued the College courses schedules which have some alterations. Please see the list below. All booking can be made via the College website: www.saintgeorgescollegejerusalem.com.

With continuing thanks for our worldwide community of support, we send you Easter greetings of resurrection joy.

The Very Revd Canon Richard Sewell

Dean

St George’s College has experienced numerous serious disruptions to its ministry over the past fifty years and there is an institutional memory of surviving these great challenges. We are in another of those moments of deep rupture. Once again, it isn’t the result of the College’s mismanagement or errors of judgement. This crisis is brought about by an explosion of violence between Israelis and Palestinians which has resulted in atrocities by both sides causing devastating numbers of deaths and casualties. The College staff along with people of all faiths and none, mourn these tragic events and the grief and deep trauma which result. 

Pilgrims and tourists have fled in their droves. There has been a rush to the airport even as there have been wholesale cancellation of flights. We have a group of 33 pilgrims with us on a study pilgrimage and it has been a profoundly challenging experience for them. Several decided to leave to return home. But 30 have remained, determined to do as much of their greatly anticipated experience that safety and sensible planning will allow. They feel confident in the College’s planning and assessment of direct risks and so, barring one day when we simply sheltered in the College library, we have been able to offer an adapted schedule of visits to key holy sites in Jerusalem and Galilee. This has been based on a realistic assessment of risks and not a stubborn resistance to accept the facts on the ground.

Rev Rodney Aist, Course Director, Rev Andrew Mayes, Chaplain and myself have been able to lead and guide the course with fortitude, in the best traditions of St George’s College, determined not to be daunted by events. The Palestinian staff have faced very serious challenges to get to work owing to closed checkpoints for some and unsafe travel circumstances for others. But we have managed to offer a good experience for our pilgrims. These travellers from the US, Canada and Australia have been extraordinarily determined, patient and flexible. We hope and pray that they will be able to return as planned in a few days’ time, but they all know there is a risk that they will have to remain longer than planned. We have however had to cancel the pilgrimage which follows this one which is a blow to all. Will it be possible that this is the only cancelled course? We just do not know. We will communicate with those registered on upcoming courses as and when necessary.

Far more serious than that are the realities on the ground for Palestinians and Israelis especially for all those living in Gaza and those living in the environs outside the Strip. 

The implications for all the peoples of the Holy Land could not be more serious. Death, injury, grief, loss of homes and livelihoods is on a scale not seen in these lands since 1967. Everyone is shocked by the extreme violence which has broken out and of course, all killings of innocents and targeting of children and women must be condemned, but the trouble has been brewing for years. A system which subjects two million West Bank Palestinians to military occupation and also incarcerates two million Gazans in an open prison is unsustainable and will inevitably lead to extreme violence. Exactly what can be done to change this reality cannot be agreed upon yet but it is certain that change must come. This change must give Palestinians a viable and acceptable way to live their lives in freedom. Equally, the Israelis have the right to defend their borders and live with security. May the God of all hope lead us out of darkness into God’s kingdom of peace and justice. It feels a very long way off but we cling onto that hope and we must realise that small steps in the right direction give us momentum towards that distant target, which is our goal.