In an interview, Abraham recounted how he came to the U.S. at age 18 because the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the school’s founder, offered him a scholarship after meeting Abraham’s father during a trip to the Holy Land. Abraham said that he has retained many friends at Liberty, despite disagreements about the Middle East.
More than anything, he said, he wants other Christians to seek an end to violence in the Middle East and to focus on the Christian message of love and reconciliation. “I want to live in peace with everybody,” he said.
El-Sayegh said that Christians in the U.S., at times, seem to see Palestinian Christians and other Palestinians as inconvenient, as if they are unwanted furniture that can be gotten rid of. She also said that Jesus is present with her people, even as they suffer.
“He is in Gaza and he’s experiencing the loss of every child, and every pang of hunger and the crushing of rubble, just like he did on the cross,” she said. “And he’s rising again.”
This article originally appeared here.
