A Dallas pastor is now stuck overseas after landing in Israel with his non-profit group just days before Hamas attacked the country.
Rev. George Mason, president of Faith Commons, said he arrived in the country on October 1. He was planning on going on a “dual-narrative tour of Israel and Palestine” meant to “help people understand the different ways people experience life in the Holy Land.” He said he expected to join other religious leaders during the tour.
“We have about 14 that are still here in Jerusalem, and the tour has been canceled, but we are unable to get back at this point,” Mason said, according to NBC 5 DFW.
Finding a flight out of the area may be difficult since many airlines worldwide have chosen to cancel flights traveling in and out of Israel. The decision to cancel flights followed calls by pilots’ unions for members to refuse to fly to Israel.
“We started hearing loud booms, rockets that were probably being intercepted by the Iron Dome,” Mason recalled, according to CBS News Texas. “Sirens would go off and we would need to move to shelter rooms here in the hotel.”
Although Mason is unsure when he will get home, he has contacted his family and friends to tell them he is safe.
“We are talking with family via Facetime and Zoom, text, email every kind of way. In fact, it’s just a preoccupation all day long and assuring people that we’re doing okay,” Mason said, per NBC 5.
Mason said it is an odd feeling to know that he is in a hotel while “some of the most inhumane acts of war are going on” nearby.
“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,” Mason said, per CBS News.
Moving forward, Mason said he hopes people can understand that experiences such as these are “what the journey of faith is all about.”
“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 said, according to CBS News.
As Mason continues his journey, he wants those who hear his story to remember that “not all Palestinians are terrorists, and not all Israelis are supportive of government policy.”
“The way of peace is now more in peril than ever,” added Mason, according to WFAA. “This is what we should be seeking as human beings – peace and justice for all.”