Dallas pastor trapped in Israel trying to find a way home
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - "It's an odd feeling to be in the country here at this time," said Rev. Dr. George Mason, a Dallas pastor who traveled to Israel days before the conflict there began.
Like many people across Israel, Mason woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of sirens as the Hamas militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel.
"We started hearing loud booms, rockets that were probably being intercepted by the Iron Dome," Mason said. "Sirens would go off and we would need to move to shelter rooms here in the hotel."
He's in Jerusalem because his Dallas-based interfaith organization, Faith Commons was about to host a tour for about 30 people on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Until war broke out.
"I'm in the kind of eye of the storm so there's an eery quiet that I would say exists in West Jerusalem and just down the road, no more than 40 miles, is a horrendous scene of human massacre and carnage taking place," said Mason. "Some of the most inhumane acts of war are going on."
Mason's tour has been canceled and he and other members of the group are unable to travel home to the United States right now. They've been confined to their hotel.
"This is what the journey of faith is all about," said Mason. "You have to have a sense that we live in a dangerous world but we nonetheless recognize that we can't protect ourselves entirely and when people are suffering, to be in proximity to them and their pain is part of what our humanity is about."
He hopes Americans will educate themselves about the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The Israelis are a resilient people and they've been through this kind of thing before," Mason said. "They live with a constant sense of tension about this, but so do the Palestinians. The Palestinians have been living under occupation for 75 years since Israeli independence."
Mason believes there is a message for all of us as we watch this new chapter of fighting in the Middle East.
"The only other thing I would say to your viewers is there are people in the US, people who are their friends who are not here but their hearts are with Israel or with the Palestinians, or with both," said Mason. "They have friends, family members who are losing their lives, who have been wounded, who are afraid and whatever you do, reach out to them, share sympathy with them even if they don't share your point of view. This is a time we should be looking out for one another and being compassionate."