In this episode of the Touring the Holy Land Series, Jen has a conversation with Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, the executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace. Mae shares some of her transformative experiences traveling and leading trips in Palestine-Israel. She unpacks the role that privilege plays when foreigners travel to the region, emphasizing the cognitive dissonance that travelers often face when encountering conflicting narratives and the systemic injustices that Palestinians endure. Mae shares about how Churches for Middle East Peace facilitates Christian Holy Land pilgrimages, fostering transformative possibilities for Christian peacebuilding through multi-narrative trips that uplift diverse perspectives from Palestinians and Israelis.

In their extended conversation for our Patreon supporters, Jennifer and Mae discuss the impact of Christian pilgrimage on Palestinian communities, highlighting both the economic and emotional significance of solidarity. To access this extended conversation and others, consider ⁠supporting us on Patreon⁠.

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon is the executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace. Cannon formerly served as the senior director of Advocacy and Outreach for World Vision U.S. on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC; as a consultant to the Middle East for child advocacy issues for Compassion International in Jerusalem; as the executive pastor of Hillside Covenant Church located in Walnut Creek, California; and as director of development and transformation for extension ministries at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Illinois. Cannon holds an MDiv from North Park Theological Seminary, an MBA from North Park University’s School of Business and Nonprofit Management, and an MA in bioethics from Trinity International University. She received her first doctorate in American History with a minor in Middle Eastern studies at the University of California (Davis) focusing on the history of the American Protestant church in Israel and Palestine and her second doctorate in Ministry in Spiritual Formation from Northern Theological Seminary. She is the author of several books including the award-winning Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World and editor of A Land Full of God: Christian Perspectives on the Holy Land. Her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Christianity Today, Leadership Magazine, The Christian Post, Jerusalem Post, EU Parliament Magazine, Huffington Post, and other international media outlets.

If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting our work on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide

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Across the Divide partners with Peace Catalyst International to amplify the pursuit of peace and explore the vital intersection of Christian faith and social justice in Palestine-Israel.

Show Notes:

Vox article on the influence of the book Exodus by Leon Uris

CMEP Trips

CMEP Action alert

In this episode of the Touring the Holy Land Series, Jen has a conversation with Jer Swigart on immersive peacebuilding in the context of Israel-Palestine. In this conversation, Jer discusses the complexities of Christian tourism in Israel and Palestine, highlighting its role as a propaganda tool that often neglects the realities of the local communities. He emphasizes the importance of building deep, meaningful relationships with both Israeli and Palestinian kin to foster genuine peacemaking efforts, and how Global Immersion seeks to do this through immersion trips for Christian leaders. Jer shares personal experiences and insights on navigating the challenges of peacemaking, especially in light of recent conflicts. He advocates for local immersion and community engagement as vital components of social transformation, encouraging listeners to connect with marginalized communities in their own cities.

In their extended conversation for our Patreon supporters, Jen and Jer chat about the intersections in peacebuilding work across the contexts of the U.S. Deep South, Northern Ireland, and Israel and Palestine. To access this extended conversation and others, consider ⁠supporting us on Patreon⁠.

Dr. Jer Swigart is the Co-Founding Executive Director of Global Immersion, a non-profit training organization and conflict consultancy that forms Everyday Peacemakers and Reconciling Leaders to mend divides. Whether on international battlefields, the divided streets of U.S. American cities, or in organizational and congregational boardrooms, Jer is adept at guiding immersive processes that transform constructed enemies into co-creating allies and forge conflict-competent leaders and teams.

He is a North American contributing member of the Reconcilers Together Alliance, a Pepperdine University Cross Sector Leadership Fellow, a Bonhoeffer Senior Fellow at the Hebrew College’s Miller Center of Interreligious Learning and Leadership, and on the Leadership Team of the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East (NEME). He holds an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Global Leadership from George Fox University. He’s the co-author of the award-winning book, Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflict World (IVP, 2017), host of the Mending Divides Podcast, a leadership coach & conflict consultant, and a speaker and writer who regularly reflects on the intersection of faith, leadership, and peacemaking. He and his family live in Spokane, WA.

If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting our work on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide

Follow Across the Divide on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠⁠⁠‪@AcrosstheDividePodcast‬⁠⁠⁠

Across the Divide partners with Peace Catalyst International to amplify the pursuit of peace and explore the vital intersection of Christian faith and social justice in Palestine-Israel.

Show Notes:

Global Immersion

Swigart and Huckins, Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World

Elizabeth Neumann, Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace

In this episode of Touring the Holy Land, Jen has a conversation with Sara Williams about the power dynamics of narratives surrounding the Holy Land and the emergence of solidarity tourism among American Christians. Sara shares a shift she has observed in her research from traditional pilgrimage models to a focus on witnessing marginalized communities, emphasizing the call to come and see as a transformative experience. Sara and Jen also discuss how liberation theology informs solidarity tourism, and the complex identities and experiences of Palestinians that travelers can encounter. Their conversation explores the transformative potential of these tours, the ethical implications of participants' experiences, and the necessity of acknowledging the multifaceted narratives of marginalized communities.

In their extended conversation for our Patreon supporters, Jen and Sara discuss the transformative potential of “Come and See” tours and their invitation for travelers to engage in deeper reflexivity and genuine solidarity within Christian communities.

Sara A. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University. Her scholarship examines possibilities for just relationships in contexts marked by asymmetries of power and privilege. Her research on this topic has spanned progressive American Christian Holy Land tourism and gentrifying post-industrial U.S. urban communities. Dr. Williams holds a PhD from Emory University, an MA in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia.

If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting our work on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide

Follow Across the Divide on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠⁠⁠‪@AcrosstheDividePodcast‬⁠⁠⁠

Across the Divide partners with Peace Catalyst International to amplify the pursuit of peace and explore the vital intersection of Christian faith and social justice in Palestine-Israel.

Show Notes:

Hillary Kaell, Walking Where Jesus Walked: American Christians and Holy Land Pilgrimage

Sara A. Williams and Roger Baumann, “Journeys to and among the Margins: Transnational Religio-Racial Identity on American Christian Palestinian Solidarity Tours”

Sara A. Williams, Moral Commodities and the Practice of Freedom”

Sara also recommends Roger Baumann’s book, Black Visions of the Holy Land: African American Christian Engagement with Israel and Palestine