ALLEGANY, N.Y. — A Palestinian Christian familiar to provincial ministries, Daoud Nassar, an advocate for peace in the Middle East, spoke last week at St. Bonaventure University about Tent of Nations, the 10-year-old peace education center that his family founded.
The Nov. 3 program at SBU was titled “Tent of Nations: Cultural conflicts including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” SBU was the first stop on his tour of U.S. colleges.
Nassar is a farmer whose family works a 100-acre farm and olive grove just outside Bethlehem. Workers on the farm strive to maintain a haven of peace and brotherhood through activities at Tent of Nations, a dynamic peace and local education center established by the Nassar family in 2000.
A native of Bethlehem, Palestine, Nassar is married with three children. He is fluent in Arabic, German and English. He holds a degree in Biblical studies from the Bible school in Austria, a bachelor’s degree in business from Bethlehem University, and a degree in tourism management from Bielefeld University in Germany.Earlier this year, Nassar visited several Province ministries as part of a speaking tour coordinated by Jacek Orzechowksi, OFM, co-chair of the Province’s JPIC directorate.
A reflection by a parishioner of St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring, Md., Hillary Meek, describes a transformative moment she experienced last year at Tent of Nations. “I have never experienced such beauty and such love, or such unfathomable power,” she said. “Prayer by prayer, stitch by stitch, they are piecing the colors of the quilt back together.The Tent of Nations website offers many resources, including reports, volunteer opportunities and information on how to sponsor a tree as well as other methods of supporting the initiative.
The photo above and the image behind it were taken at the Tent of Nations on the outskirts of Bethlehem, during the March 2009 Franciscan peacemaking pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
— Jocelyn Thomas is director of communications for the Province.