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<\/a>Dean Hosam Naoum at the Cathedral of St George<\/p><\/div>\n
The last day started with an early call to be packed, fed and on the bus to East Jerusalem by\u00a07:45.\u00a0\u00a0Despite a 20 minute traffic delay, the Bethlehem checkpoint posed no problem.\u00a0 We were greeted at the Cathedral of St George by Dean Hosam Naoum, a 1991 graduate of Mar Elias.\u00a0 He is in charge of the Arabic and the English congregations of the church,\u00a0is principal of the 900 student school next door and is head of the churches in Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0In spite of all the problems he discussed, how good it was to hear him say “good things are happening here\u201d.\u00a0 Once again, we sang \u201cPray For the Peace of Jerusalem\u201d.<\/p>\n
A short distance away was the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs\u00a0 (OCHA).\u00a0 Their reports have documented the many problems we have seen for Palestinians such as illegal seizures of Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, establishment of 135 Settlements and about100 outposts.\u00a0\u00a0Roads built exclusively for Israelis, barrier walls that fragments the community, travel restrictions and a cumbersome permit system that separate people from jobs and needed social and medical services were discussed.\u00a0\u00a0Unfortunately the UN has not been able to change policies.\u00a0\u00a0They do provide relief and OCHA runs the refugee camps and schools within. Nearly one-third of the registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.5\u00a0million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.<\/p>\n
<\/a>“I shall put my breath into you and you shall live again and I will set you upon your own soil…” The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Israel<\/p><\/div>\n
Next was an unforgettable visit to Yad Vashem, the official Israeli memorial to the Holocaust.\u00a0\u00a0The voices recalling their memories of the horrors, the art that was produced, the shoes and uniforms they wore, the tributes to those who tried to help will always be indelibly imprinted in our minds.<\/p>\n
Meeting with Dalia Landau (far right), whose story is told in Sandy Tolan’s book, The Lemon Tree<\/p><\/div>\n
By\u00a05:30\u00a0reached Ramle and finally climbed the path to a beautiful monastery where we had an opportunity to process our reaction to the trip.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All agreed it has been a life changing experience with a group of welcoming and caring fellow pilgrims.\u00a0 We loved the order of the trip starting with IIbellin and the camaraderie that developed among the group.\u00a0\u00a0For me, the most memorable event of the day was our meeting with the charismatic Dalia Landau, a key figure in\u00a0The Lemon Tree<\/u>.\u00a0 Her heartfelt decision to embrace the pain felt both by her Jewish community and the Palestinians and search for the path of peace inspired us as it has so many others.<\/p>\n
Kudos to Joan for arranging a wonderful final dinner at Samir\u2019s restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0As we moved on to the Tel Aviv airport, we all knew we had experienced an amazing and unforgettable trip.\u00a0\u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by\u00a0Joanie Grierson The last day started with an early call to be packed, fed and on the bus to East Jerusalem by\u00a07:45.\u00a0\u00a0Despite a 20 minute traffic delay, the Bethlehem checkpoint posed no problem.\u00a0 We were greeted at the Cathedral of … Continue reading