March 12, 2018

We stayed with Palestinian families over Sunday night (3/11) in Zababdeh, a village in the northern part of the West Bank. I had the opportunity to stay with a wonderful woman named Amna. She lives very simply: her husband has died and she is a cashier. She is wonderful and giving, happy to share everything she had. We stayed up until 11 PM talking to her and her son, Feras. It took a while to convey that although we are American we don’t like Trump.

Hanging in a shop window in Palestine, even here they know how inaccurate and foolish FOX News is! Also, this is made in Minneapolis!! (sorry to anyone who likes FOX)

Wherever we go, the second question after “where are you from?” and the answer given is “America,” any Palestinian promptly asks, “do you like Trump?” If you say “yes” I have no doubt you wouldn’t be treated with kindness. However, as we say an emphatic “no,” we are immediately welcomed into conversation and people are very nice. Anyway, after being sure she knew we didn’t like Trump we had a very engaging conversation about politics in the US and Israel. It was a great evening and subsequent morning.

We arrived very late to our homestays because there was a clash in Ramallah, where we were in the afternoon that day. Instead of being able to travel directly through the city and onto Zababdeh, we had to go around to a different gate – along with everyone else, during rush hour. If you’d like to read an accurate article about the clash, visit Arab News. If you read the Israeli Times (which comes up when you try to google Ramallah clash) you will get a very inaccurate account of the event. If you read both articles, you’ll get a good example of Israeli propaganda and media.
Yet again, it was a hard day, Monday. We went to OCHA in the morning to learn about Humanitarian work by the UN for Palestine. And in the afternoon we visited the Defense for Children International – Palestine.

This is a graphic often seen in Palestine and in any refugee camps run by the UN. You can also find it online.

During the talk at OCHA (Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) the reality of Gaza became clear – it is exactly an open air prison. There is no more clean drinking water. There is not enough food. You can’t get quality medical care. You can’t leave. There is a population of two million people in a space of only 365 square kilometers. This is about 6 km wide and the length of a marathon long. As we learned about the history of Gaza it became clear that Israel is trying to do the same to the West Bank. They start with a small permit system. Then it grows and becomes more rigid and challenging. Then trade is restricted. Then Israel starts annexing the land to make it smaller. And the walls go up. And more. The realization brought me to tears.

As if that wasn’t enough, we then visited the Defense for Children International – Palestine. This was a presentation of the egregious actions committed against Palestinian children daily.

I feel this is an important prayer for all of us, I found it in a church we visited in the morning.

In 2017 there was an average of 310 children in prison each month. There is no other quantitative data. About 60% of Palestinian males have spent time in Israeli prison. Our speaker told us about everything. Most children are arrested between the hours of midnight and 5 am to promote a sense of fear. What typically happens is that the child wakes up to a unit of armed Israeli soldiers surrounding their bed with their parents forced in a corner. This promotes fear in two ways: one, because they learn that their home isn’t safe; two, because they learn that their parents can’t protect them. Once a child (child refers to boys ages 12-17) is arrested they are dragged out of their house (in their pajamas, blindfolded, and with their hands plastic tied behind their backs) and brought into a military vehicle where 72% of children report being abused in every way. Since the arrests are committed at night the child is dragged around to various military bases until the interrogator is ready – from the Israeli police department. Every time a child enters a base, they are strip searched and harassed. During this time (and the subsequent investigation) children are denied access to food, water, and toilets. Then the interrogation, and I don’t feel the need to elaborate. I imagine you can fill in the blanks from what I’ve described so far. Children serve anywhere from 3-12 months sentence in addition to a fine and a “parole” system. The Israeli military court has a 99.7% conviction rate. They illegally hold and abuse children until they get a confession. No exception.

Throughout this hour long presentation, I randomly pictured all of the guides we had met over the course of our travels so far, all of whom had been arrested at least once. Our primary guide was arrested twice, once at 14 and again at 16. I brought this up to him after the speaker and he said his experience was worse. What is told in the presentation is the most common experience.
After all this, I felt hopeless. Not disbelieving in peace itself, but in humanity. The whole group tried to understand how someone could act this way. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find an answer or understand.

Knafeh stop in Huwara Village

The late afternoon had two incredible treats for us. One was a sweet shop! It was all cheeses covered in pastry dough, sugar, honey, etc. It was wonderful! But unfortunately gave me a stomach ache later, but still super worth it!

Next we went to the Jacob’s Well Church. This is the most accurate historical site in the Holy Land. Why? Because you can’t move a well. It was a very cool church for many reasons – first of all the well still works! It’s 40 meters deep and the water is delicious.

Jacob’s Well Church, Nablus

The other piece is the history of the church itself. The city of Nablus (where the church is) there is a lot of settler violence (settlers refer to Israelis moved into the occupied Palestinian territory in large developments (settlements) built by Israeli government). Settlers around Nablus are all Jewish Zionist. Thus they are often violent and aggressive to any Palestinians. In the last 10 years the Jacob’s Well Church has been attacked 15 times. The current priest has received four significant injuries during the attacks. The priest prior to him was murdered by settlers. The settlers who committed the crime were deemed unwell and not punished for their actions.

Overall the day ended well. Getting to meet Amna and the priest, seeing the faces of beautiful humans who will stay the course was what I needed. I think this is the summary of our pilgrimage: it is a beautiful country full of hope and immense sadness and injustice, but the people are resilient and inspiring.

~ Monica Shaffer

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Floating in the dead sea is the type of thing one puts on a bucket list. Not a “real” bucket list, but rather a very out of reach bucket list. The stuff of dreams. It was on my bucket list of dreams. Those things are the truly once in a life-time opportunities So… This trip. Yes, today we visited the dead sea; most people went in, and were thankful for our friends who stayed on land and took photos, protected passports and money, and watched bags.

The water was colder than many of us anticipated. It’s 400 meters below sea level with desert on both sides, but it’s more like summer lake temperature. Floating is counterintuitive. It is easiest to just crouch and roll back and float! The water is 28% salt, 10x saltier than the ocean. There is no life aside from the floaters. If you get the water in your mouth or eyes, you must wash immediately.

The famous dead sea mud is only in certain places. It’s soft, smooth, and not smelly. I do not recommend  walking through a mud pit. I got stuck up to my thigh on one leg and knee on the other. A helpful man from Eastern Europe gave me a hand. I smoothed the mud all over and let it dry. After the float and mud, and washing with soap in the shower, my skin feels super soft, and like it has a film on it.

We went in at the north end of the sea, near Jericho, where we had gone to church in the morning. It’s a small city, an oasis in the desert for 4000 years. Palm trees, fruits, vegetables, and farms are in abundance. Water is inexpensive and plentiful. We went to church at Church of the Good Shepherd, and after that went around town to see the stump of “the sycamore tree Zaccheus went up,” Zaccheus’s bones, and St. Andrew’s bones. We also stopped at a vista overlook for fresh local orange juice, figs, and snacks and shopping. A bedouin had a camel on hand for tourist entertainment, and Virgil elected to take a camel ride.

Our group at the Jordan River site where tradition says Jesus was baptized.

While in the area, we also visited Jesus’s baptismal site at the Jordan River. Many Orthodox pilgrims from Eastern Europe had the same idea, and they had white robes to baptize themselves. The Jordan is not a mighty river… It’s a cute, but muddy, stream. Decades of water diversion by Israel and Jordan, as well as climate change have caused this transformation.

In addition, we stopped by Qumran, the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Tourists were in abundance. The site is partially excavated and you can read more about it here: https://info.goisrael.com/en/national-park-qumran-59021

On our way back to Bethlehem, we stopped at Wadi (valley) Qelt to see the sunset, wadi, and St. George Monastary. A Roman road is very visible in the wadi. This is the old road between Jerusalem and Jericho, where the good samaritan parable takes place. Let me tell you, there is no room for the priest and levite to walk on the other side of the road!

We are all busy packing tonight; we are heading north tomorrow.

And so, this was our day today.

~ Madeleine Halberg

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Yesterday afternoon a 24 year old man (who’s disabled) was shot and killed in Hebron. Every Friday there is a peaceful demonstration to end the occupation. Some younger children started throwing stones (at a military fortress where all the guards are armored, inside an armored tower, inside an armored base). Some military persons came out and intentionally shot this young man who was not participating in the demonstration and standing off to the side.

Old City of Hebron, seen from a rooftop

Today we visited Hebron. We went very early in the morning so as to leave before noon – the time when demonstrations usually begin. Hebron is one of the most noticeably segregated cities in Palestine. After the 1994 massacre in the Abrahimi mosque (as well as many other acts of violence growing throughout the months and years ahead), in 1997 the Oslo III Agreement divided the city of Hebron. Ever since then the divide has grown worse. There are streets that Palestinians are not allowed to walk on, the main market street was closed (permanently shutting down 2,000 stores, leaving all goods inside to this day), establishing 123 barriers and checkpoints throughout the city for Palestinians to go through, and that’s just to name a few.

Inside the mosque.

So backing up a bit: the Abrahimi Mosque is also partially a synagogue. In the caves below there lie the bodies of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leia. It is a holy site for all three monotheistic religions. This is the religious site located in Hebron and thus can be a source of conflict. The two religions share a building, the Synagogue getting 60% of the compound, the mosque getting 40%. In order to get to the mosque, you must go through at least one checkpoint. This means, that the Israeli “boarder patrol” have the ability to restrict Muslims from entering the mosque if they choose.

The man on the right is holding the same rifle as the military personnel.

Walking through the city of Hebron was like entering another world. The market street (Shuhada St) that was shut down for Palestinians is now a Jewish pedestrian mall. But the buildings were never opened. It’s like a ghost town. Since the homes above the shops are still active, but Palestinians can’t walk on the streets, many have to climb into their homes on ladders through a window on the opposite side of the house. Israeli soldiers walk through the streets everywhere in their full armor and with all their weapons. One of their scare tactics is to randomly search people (Palestinians) and even raid their homes – they don’t need any sort of permission or written note. Even the settlers (Israeli Jews, mostly)are obligated to carry a gun with them everywhere they go. So fathers walking home from prayers have their child in one hand and an assault rifle in the other.

One of the ways the settlers try to attack Palestinians is by throwing water, sand, rocks, and garbage at them. The wire was put up by an international relief organization. However, it doesn’t always hold and some Palestinians can be wounded by the aggression.

The hardest part about the day was having to watch our guide (who is Palestinian) leave us to take a different route since he was legally not allowed to walk on the same road as us.

After we walked through Hebron, we visited the Christian Peacemaker Team, an organization requested by the community to be present at all times and bear witness to the atrocities. Their whole purpose is to observe and watch for any human rights violations, count them, and report them to UNICEF and the broader world. They count things such as children detained on their way to school in the morning, settlers attacking Palestinians, military personnel searching Palestinians without cause, etc. They are also present at different times to help increase safety. Simply by having international people around, the Palestinians are safer and the Israeli military will behave themselves – not always, but often.

Tent of Nations welcomes everyone.

Finally, we had the privilege of going to the Tent of Nations. A Palestinian farm that has existed on the hills of the West Bank for over 100 years. The Israeli military wanted to take the land to use for settlements but the owners won’t let them. To try and get them off the land, they have cut off their electricity, water supply, roads, bulldozed their fields, attempted to bulldoze their home, threatened them, raided them, and robbed their harvest. However, the family has stayed strong in their pursuit of practicing peace. They have gone through the Israeli military courts as instructed and incurred millions of dollars in legal bills – currently on their 27th year of the “postponed” trial for their land. The farm now gets support from around the world and so is able to care for their legal bills and continue to function.

Tent of Nations farm

It’s hard to see pain and destruction in such a beautiful place with wonderful and hospitable people. However, Tent of Nations helped me to find some joy and re-commitment to my purpose in coming on this pilgrimage: I believe in peace, blindly, but I believe in it. I know that if enough people believe it can happen and work to create it, eventually it will come. The Tent of Nations sees each new attack as an obstacle that they have to get creative with. Israel cut off their electricity, they built solar panels; Israel cut off their water, they dug cisterns; Israel says they cannot build, they transformed the caves underground into meeting rooms. Their commitment is inspiring. If you’d like to learn more about them, visit http://www.tentofnations.org/.

~ Monica Shaffer