What inspired you to become an ecumenical accompanier? Celia: I had visited Israel and Palestine before. I have a background in Middle East studies and have always found the situation important to address. As I finished my Masters degree in International Security and Law in February 2024 I wanted to get experience from the field with human rights monitoring. I found out about the opportunity to become an accompanier through DanChurchAid. I really like what that organization stands for, which further motivated me. I had furthermore just finished a short contract after my student job, so the timing was perfect. What kinds of incidents did you witness? Celia: I kind of knew what to expect, as I have been following the situation in Israel and Palestine for many years and I found it important for me to know what I was going to witness. But being there is always different from reading about it or watching small video clips. Every Friday, there was both a violent and extremely harassing environment right in the time before the Friday noon prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque. In the beginning of my time as an accompanier, I saw that there were a lot of ID checks by Israeli police, and a lot of people being rejected from the mosque. What was very striking, and quickly developed during my period as accompanier was that, after a couple of months, then there were only very limited incidents of ID checks. It had developed beyond that. It was people being rejected by the Israeli police without even a single conversation. On my last day of work as an accompanier, I came to a site where a mosque had been demolished by Israeli authorities, and with it a Quran school. Young teenagers were there trying to gather items very neatly in the corner, and they were very welcoming towards us. This was a unique experience, seeing people having so much engagement and still trying to make it possible for them to continue their school, trying to motivate and getting back together. Also, there was one day where seven houses were demolished by Israeli authorities, with people standing on the rubble trying to dig in the rubble and find their belongings. These demolitions stick with me. What were some of the challenges in becoming an accompanier? Celia: I think it demands something from you, from your personal life. I’m in quite a different situation now that I have a job, but I would definitely do this type of role again. It’s demanding. It’s tough. You have to make it work with your team. You’re under such high pressure. But there’s this feeling of doing something that makes so much sense. It takes up a lot of space in your head. Are you able to share some of these stories in Denmark? Celia: I have had to find my own way of how to tell things. I’m soon going to begin to do talks to groups such as congregations and schools. When you come back from something that means so much to you, the feeling of having to start advocacy work is overwhelming. I want to tell the stories in a correct and thorough way. Was it difficult to leave people in a challenging situation? Celia: The good thing about the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel is that new ecumenical accompaniers come. It is never easy to leave people and a situation you care much about and start your normal, calm, and much more privileged life up again. | 
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