'29 members of our local Three Faiths Forum have just returned from a very successful, enjoyable and inspirational week’s tour of the Holy Land, visiting many sacred sites in Israel and the Palestinian territory. The group composed 13 Christians, 12 Muslims and 4 Jews, ably led by three well-known local ministers, Revd. Jonathan Evens of St. John’s Seven Kings, Imam Dr. Mohammed Fahim of the South Woodford Mosque and Rabbi David Hulbert of Bet Tikvah Synagogue. It was the fifth such tour organised by the local Three Faiths Forum.
The first days after arrival were spent visiting many of the holy places to be found in Jerusalem. The Muslim members of the group all joined in the Friday noon prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque (the third most holy site in Islam); at 5.30 am on three successive mornings, they also made their way through the silent and deserted streets of the Old City to recite the Dawn Prayer at al-Aqsa. The group visited the ancient church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and his tomb, and the Western Wall, the most sacred site to Jews, where we watched hundreds of worshippers singing and praying to welcome in the Sabbath, as dusk fell on Friday evening.
During the remainder of the week, the group followed a busy and crowded schedule outside Jerusalem, From Hebron and Bethlehem in the south, to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the north. We swam in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth’s surface, and climbed up to the Golan Heights, on the border with troubled, war-torn Syria. The Christians held their Sunday service in the open air, atop King Herod’s great fortress of Masada in the Judaean desert.
So many powerful impressions and experiences in such a short time. There were two particularly remarkable visits, that made this year’s tour especially memorable. As we approached Remembrance Day, one lady made a special visit to the British war cemetery on Mount Scopus, overlooking Jerusalem, to visit the grave of her great-uncle, who had been killed fighting the Turks in the First World War. Another lady was very excited and moved to, for the first time, visit her grandfather’s tomb, actually within the al-Aqsa Mosque. Her famous grandfather was Mohammad Ali Jouhar, one of the leaders of the movement for Indian independence, who had died suddenly whilst attending the first Round Table Conference in London in 1931.'
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