The Rev. Sandra Olewin, a Methodist missionary, came to DeKalb last Thursday as an emissary from a New Jersey-sized country that has seen 4,000 killings over the last three years.

Her stop was part of a six-month, 22-state lecture tour, “Living Under Military Occupation – What Americans Need to Know About the Israeli Occupation.” The tour’s purpose is to educate Americans and to help bring resolution to the turmoil in Israel.

The lecture began with Olewin sharing her experiences of living in Israel for the last seven years and working across the lines of religious denominations. She explained how she lived with and ministered to Palestinians over the last three years, sharing in their joys, discomforts and pain.

With her she brought a call for help from the community she lived with and a commission to greet the people of America by saying: “It is our common faith in God and in the love of Jesus Christ that binds us together to find a way across many oceans to work for a [peaceful] world where God’s reign is on earth as it is in heaven.”

Olewin said her community had been disappointed in the past when millions of Christian tourists would come to Israel, not knowing Palestinian Christians existed, or that they were under occupation, or what that really meant.

Since then, Olewin has made it her purpose to spread the stories of these people that are not being covered by traditional media. She believes if she can provide an understanding of life in Israel, it can aid the peace process.

“Very seldom do you see the daily reality the Palestinians are under and the pressure and violence they are living with on a daily basis,” Olewin said. “One of my big goals is to help these stories get out and to give life and voice to that.”

Olewin said the overriding reality for Israelis is a sense of fear of terrorist attacks surrounding every aspect of daily life. For the Palestinians, there also is fear, and an existence in which no aspect of daily life has gone unaffected due to military presence, curfews, roadblocks and the destruction of private property in cities surrounded by barbed wire. She said she believes both groups feel they are stuck and have no hope for peace.

“A good sign is people are starting to come together to meet and talk,” Olewin said.

A video was presented to illustrate the daily tragedy along with a seed of hope. The video documented a Palestinian family that was removed from its home with virtually no notice. The home was demolished by the Israelis. It was the fifth home lost by that family to demolition.

The video showed the cruelty and the loss experienced by the family. It also showed a small group of Israeli citizens who came to defend the family and, in the end, helped them rebuild their home.

The video informed the audience of the pressure and violence of daily life in Palestine and to show the possibilities for cooperation.

“If you put a video like this on ‘60 Minutes,’” said Craig Greenman, NIU philosophy professor, “it would change the entire U.S. foreign policy. People do not know the realities and the history of what is going on. If you give people the facts, they will make the right choice.”