A woman of courage
The French section of International Amnesty and the International Committee for the support of Hamma Hammani and his companions organized a meeting in support to Radhia Nasraoui who started a hunger strike on Wednesday June 26 in Tunisia to demand the liberation of her husband jailed since February 2nd because of his opinions and political activities.
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I admire Radhia very much, a famous lawyer and a remarkable militant. In a recent trip to Tunis, she came to meet me at the airport and and we went in front of the prison where her husband is jailed. When the police started pushing me around, she went into such a rage to defend me that they simply were flabbergasted. |
Radhia started a hunger strike because her husband Hamma did not receive anything of what was promised to him; he is not allowed to receive mail or books; his daughters can visit him only behind a double-wired fence and in presence of numerous guards and herself cannot visit him as a lawyer.
There is permanent pressure on her and her two daughters, most of the militant's phones are disconnected and phone connections to France are unreachable from Tunisia.
| At the Amnesty's meeting, the daughter of Radhia was there. She spoke with her voice filled with emotion narrating how difficult life was for her. Intimidation and threats of being kidnapped were very often her lot. |
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She explained that the gesture of her mother to start a hunger strike was her only hope to resist in Tunisia.
When it was my turn, I evoked the very words Hamma Hamammi pronounced on the steps of the justice court on February 2nd before his trial and imprisonment: "We know what awaits us. Even in prison, we will continue our fight. We have no fear of mock trials, prison, torture or bad treatments". These are courageous words showing that Hamma is a free man. In Tunisia, free men are in prison.
- Young Africans demonstrate
their faith
- At breakfast I met with a group of Africans arriving from Dublin, Ireland, where they had just finished a one year training on development. These young Spiritain priests aged 25 to 30 years old come to Paris during summer to learn French. I admire their humanity, their joy of life and their opening to other cultures.
They come from Kenya¸ Nigeria, Tanzania, Angola and Ghana. - It is not easy for them to live so many years away from their families and their country. They have left everything behind to follow Jesus and the Gospel. They know very well one cannot spread the Word of God without being passionately in favor of justice for all. The road they take will not be an easy one.
- From day to day, they make progress in their knowledge of the French language. I am filled with wonder about their faith in Christ. I give thanks to God when I think of all those who in future will benefit of their presence and their ministry.
A Partenia meeting in Zurich
When I mention that the web site of Partenia is made in Zurich, people are always amazed. Why Zurich? Simply because, for six years now, Katharina Haller voluntarily spent much of her time to continuously built and transform this web site.
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A whole network has been progressively established between translators of different countries, forum moderators, friends of Partenia, men or women. |
When one is connected to the web, distances are abolished. All work smoothly and rapidly.
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It was interesting and necessary anyway to meet each other, to see faces and to share ideas between one another. The meeting was held at the Catholic Center where the auxiliary bishop of Zurich lives; he came to greet us in a friendly manner. We did share a lot; heartily learning about all that is done. How thankful we are for all these persons who give some of their time and heart for the propagation of the Gospel.
I noted the importance of the forums in different languages and the necessity to have teams to animate and control these forums.
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Good news: in September a book written in German will be issued with all the texts of the logbook. It was a huge amount of work and we have great hope in it. |
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The Eucharistic celebration at the end of the day brought all of us around Jesus, he is the Tree of Life, to which if we are grafted on it we will produce plenty of fruit.