Chez Gillian Friedli

Bassam from Palestine and Rimi from Israe both lost a child in the conflict. They will share their stories of grief, hope, brotherhood, and peace.

Bassam Aramin lives in Jericho in the West Bank. In 1985 at the age of 17, he was incarcerated and spent seven years in Israeli jails. He went on to study history and holds an MA in Holocaust studies from the University of Bradford, England. In 2005 Bassam was one of the cofounders of Combatants for Peace alongside Rami’s son Elik. He became a member of the Parents Circle in 2007 after losing his 10-year-old daughter Abir, who was killed by an Israeli border policemen in front of her school.

Bassam devotes his time and energies to his conviction for a peaceful, non-violent end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.

Bassam was the Palestinian co-director if the Parents Circle – Family Forum until August 2020.

Rami Elhanan is a seventh-generation Jerusalemite on his mother’s side. His father was an Auschwitz survivor. He is a retired IDF soldier of three wars. He identifies himself as a Jew, an Israeli, and before everything else a human being. On the first day of the school year in 1997, Rami’s daughter, Smadar, was killed by two Palestinian suicide bombers in the centre of Jerusalem. A year later, Rami joined the Parents Circle, and now speaks before Israeli, Palestinian and International audiences.

Rami was the Israeli co-director of the Parents Circle – Family Forum until August 2020.

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Bassam, de Palestine, et Rami, d’Israël, ont tous deux perdu un enfant dans le conflit. Ils nous parlent du deuil, d’espoir, de fraternité et de paix.

Bassam Aramin vit à Jéricho, en Cisjordanie. En 1985, à l’âge de 17 ans, il fut incarcéré et passa sept ans dans les prisons israéliennes. Il a ensuite étudié l’histoire et est titulaire d’une maîtrise en études sur l’Holocauste de l’université de Bradford, en Angleterre. En 2005, Bassam était l’un des fondateurs de Combatants for Peace aux côtés d’Elik, le fils de Rami. Il est devenu membre du Cercle des Parents en 2007 après avoir perdu sa fille Abir, âgée de 10 ans, tuée par un policier des frontières israélien devant son école.

Bassam consacre son temps et son énergie à sa conviction en faveur d’une fin pacifique et non violente à l’occupation israélienne de la Palestine et à la réconciliation israélo-palestinienne.

Bassam a eté le codirecteur palestinien du Cercle des Parents – Forum des Familles jusqu’en août 2020.

Rami Elhanan est un Jérusalemite de septième génération du côté de sa mère. Son père était un survivant d’Auschwitz. Il est un soldat retraité de Tsahal pendant ces guerres. Il s’identifie comme juif, israélien et avant tout être humain. Le premier jour de l’année scolaire 1997, la fille de Rami, Smadar, a été tuée par deux kamikazes palestiniens dans le centre de Jérusalem. Un an plus tard, Rami a rejoint le Cercle des Parents et s’exprime désormais devant un public israélien, palestinien et international.

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in aid of Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital, Nepal
a mission project of the Church of Scotland, Geneva

Nocturnes and Songs by Gabriel Fauré
Xavier Dami, piano
Vivien Liu, soprano

Music from Japan
Ensemble “Cotori”
Mayu Suzuki, flûte à bec (soprano)
Kumiko Togawa, flûte à bec (alto)
Kaori Yano, flûte à bec (bass)

Join us in celebrating Graeme and Meena Clugston’s many years of service in Lalgadh!
Entrée libre, verre d’amitié, retiring collection

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An Ignatian Way Day

This day is the third in a series in 2024. The subtheme: “I am destined for God; my life is a growing in union with God.”

An Ignatian Way Day offers a chance to “catch one’s spiritual breath” in today’s hectic world, a pause to open to silence, with time for personal reflection on one’s life in the light of scripture, and group sharing on related questions.

Cost: CHF 50 (includes lunch and a mid-morning coffee/tea with croissant)
Registration: Email Patricia Laurie or call her on +33 6 85 39 15 66

The first of our congregational book club afternoons, organized by Gillian Friedli

We meet in the fourth floor restaurant of the Coop City in Fusterie (2 Rue du Commerce), at the end table next to the windows.

Book: Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell (London: Tinder Press, 2020).

Maggie O’Farrell is a novelist from Northern Ireland who has won several awards for her fiction and memoir. She is known for her books about near-death experiences, Shakespeare’s family, and Lucrezia de’ Medici. Hamnet won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020 and the fiction prize at the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Awards.

KIRK SESSION MEETING

Friday 30 August: 9h to 18h
Saturday 31 August: 9h to 21h
Sunday 1 September: 9h to 18h

Nourishing Minds aims to provide all children in primary schools in the Ekwendeni area in the north of Malawi with a bowl of porridge each day.

The HIV Resource Centre in Ekwendeni, Malawi is as busy as ever, doing its amazing work with the many young people in its large catchment area. The Centre has been in operation for 24 years now and it has touched hundreds and hundreds of young lives through its activities and its outreach program with over 60 youth groups. Over the years, our church has developed a strong partnership with the Resource Centre, and we continue to support its work through regular Mission donations.

In September, Jane and Han Broere will once again visit the Resource Centre and as before, we would very much like to provide them with a gift of money to take there, and to use to purchase something they see is needed, useful, life-changing, for the people we help serve.
In order to raise that money, we are inviting all members and friends of the congregation to give to this special purpose, over and above our normal giving, if we are able and happy so to do.

Donations for this special gift will need to be received by September 3 to enable Jane and Han to distribute the funds while they are in Malawi. Any funds received after that date will still be used 100% for the work of the Resource Centre, but as part of the regular Church of Scotland Geneva support for its operating costs. Likewise, any funds raised through this appeal that are excess to the needs that Jane and Han find there, will be fully used towards our church’s regular donations to Ekwendeni.

Donations are very welcome either as cash in the offering plate on Sundays (in an envelope marked ‘Special Malawi appeal’) or as bank transfers (again please note ‘Special Malawi appeal’ when making these electronic transfers).

As a reminder of the many important aspects of the Resource Centre’s work, attached is a brief extract from Jane and Han’s report from their last visit in 2022.

With many thanks in advance, on behalf of the Mission Committee,
Jenny Rietbergen

Bank Details
UBS Bank Account: Church of Scotland, GE
Account no. 279-C7114389.0
IBAN: CH13 0027 9279 C711 4389 0

Monthly meeting chez Christine Donaldson

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