The sun beat down on London as the Kennington Bethlehem Link walked in hope of a peaceful solution for Palestine and Israel.
So far the fundraising total has reached £1335, which will be sent to to provide urgent help for families in Aida Refugee Camp. Members of the Kennington Bethlehem Link were joined by friends from Abingdon, Barnet and Finsbury Park.
Starting at St Anselm’s church we made our way to the Peace Pagoda in 
Battersea Park, over the river to the site of the Millbank Prison and on to the Auguste Rodin sculpture, the Burghers of Calais, in Victoria Tower Gardens by the Houses of Parliament.
We carried placards of Anas Abu Srour as a reminder of the imprisonment without trial of Aida’s youth leader on 28th November last year. We are hopeful that Anas may be released later this month as he completes 6 months in prison, but nothing is confirmed.
On our walk we stopped to reflect on four themes that link with desires and realities in both Palestine and our own society: Hope, Peace, Justice and Mercy. At the Tree of Hope in Kennington, we shared the words of the peace prayer of St Francis. At the Peace Pagoda in Battersea we heard Maya Angelou’s poem, Still I Rise, after Rev Nagase, a Japanese Buddhist Monk who looks after the monument, had said a prayer. At the site of the Millbank Penitentiary, where our focus was Justice, we heard part of Seamus Heaney’s The Cure of Troy and at the statue of the Burghers of Calais, with the focus on Mercy, we heard the second part of The Cure of Troy.
