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Rev. Al Sharpton’s words echo what is already in our hearts. He spoke not to us but for us as we again gathered to bury one loved by family and friends, another victim of injustice. We listen to his words of compassion, solidarity and love, words that call for change, words that call for a response to injustice. Listen, and allow his eulogy for Tyre Nichols at his funeral in Memphis to resonate what we  know what must be done.

By Yara M. Asi

Ms. Asi is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida’s School of Global Health Management and Informatics.

As published in The New York Times, December 29, 2022.

As a Researcher, I study the health of Palestinians. The blockade of my hometown, Nablus, this past October devastated the Palestinian community there in ways that are hard to measure.

This year, during the lead-up to the Israeli elections, I returned to my hometown, Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, to work on a research project and spend time with my family there.

Dear sisters, dear brothers, 

I never thought that one could long for lights. When I got off the Kyiv train in Warsaw, I was surprised by the festival of brightly lit streets, buildings, and, above all, colorful Christmas decorations. When you add to it the snow that just fell in Poland in abundant supply, it all looked like a New Year’s fairytale. In Ukraine, the last couple months have been getting colder and darker. The longer this lasts, the more I squint my eyes in disbelief when looking at the bright streets and storefronts as well as entering warm houses and priories abroad.

Dear sisters, dear brothers, 

Once again Fr. Misha, the volunteers from Saint Martin, and I traveled to Izium and Balakliya. This time we were joined by Mr. Bartosz Cichocki, the Polish ambassador to Ukraine. He’s one of the diplomats who didn’t abandon their posts in Kyiv at the beginning of the war. He and his wife Monika strongly support all kinds of activities and centers of aid, including the House of Saint Martin in Fastiv. We spent three days on the road. The ambassador unloaded the buses and distributed aid to the needy just like the rest of us. The children of the small village of Kun’je outside of Izium were in awe of the toys, reflective armbands, and backpacks. People here live very simply, so the colorful gifts for the kids caused joy and broke the dreariness of life. At the store in the center of the village where we were distributing humanitarian aid, our presence caused a substantial crowd to gather. I suspect that Fr. Krzysztof, the prior from Korbielów, a famous car and motorcycle enthusiast, would be in heaven if he could see this living museum of automotive industry.

Our sisters and brothers in Myanmar have been subjected to atrocities and human rights violation which has gone unreported in the main media. Recently, the military broke into the Dominican Sisters convent in Loikaw and encamped there while others moved into the friars’ convent. Luckily, neither the sisters nor the friars were in the convents at the time. We understand that the soldiers ransacked the rooms and took whatever was valuable.

Please pray each week for our sisters and brothers in Myanmar who continue to face threat to their lives daily. We ask that you remember our sisters and brothers in Ukraine who also continue to face life-threatening situations and destruction of property.