On 2nd April sculptor and pilot, Mark Coreth will lead a flight of 10 light aeroplanes in two formations forming the shapes of swifts as they circle Jerusalem high above the ‘Tree of Hope’, Mark’s olive tree sculpture with its swirling bronze swifts
This symbolic flight, with representatives of the three Abrahamic Faiths including Professor Yossi Leshem, who has striven for peace through conservation, General Spiegel and Jordanian General Rashid who were both architects of the 1994 Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, and also astronaut Ricky Arnold who has recently returned after his second flight to the International Space Station, will follow the route of the swifts over Jordan and Israel.
The participants are united in bringing a message of hope for peace and mutual respect which the swift, that knows no boundaries, embodies.
Birds as instruments of peace may seem improbable but in practice the coming together of all the People of the Holy Land to protect birds has built mutual trust without raising sensitive issues and has resulted in friendship.
The swift project, erecting nests for the birds in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem is a small, but very real step towards peace.
Swifts now fly out from the nesting boxes around Mark’s ‘Tree of Hope’ as Mark forges more bronze swifts, in groups of three, and places them in troubled places around the world to act as ‘prayer flags’ that the three Abrahamic Faiths might travel and exist together in mutual respect.
Eight light aeroplanes will leave Britain on 25th March and will be joined by two Israeli aeroplanes, together with the Royal Jordanian Falcons display team, on 2nd April.
The British aeroplanes will return on 6th April arriving home on April 9th.
