Thursday, May 20, 2010

It's almost time to go home...


This year was set to be something different and now as I reach the end of it I realise I am something different. It's difficult to say how I have changed, but I know I have. There have been times of deep, dark soul searching and times of going with the flow. I have adventured with an open heart and mind and am returning home ready for the next adventure.

So what am I taking home with me? The knowledge that, with God, all things are possible. That something old and broken can be made into a new thing. That even when it gets dark, God can shelter me under wings of protection. That however far from home you go, you are never really far from home.

It has been a time of listening, of much silence, a time of rest and revival. For all the space that I have had to reconnect with where I came from - I say thank you.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Getting to the finish line - 5k 10th April 2010

Here are the runners, me, Brenna, Becca and Anne. All first time runners except me, who was returning to the track...slowly.
Brenna "three biscuits" transformed into Brenna 33.01mins for her very first 5km!! Great achievement!!


It was a lovely run in Liberty State Park, New Jersey. We ran with views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and a gorgeous sunny morning along the Hudson River. Perfect.
I had run 5ks before and I knew I wasn't ready for this one. I was in the grumpiest of moods and as the announcer reminded people who were not six minute milers to get away from the front lines, I moved as far back as I could go. I met a man who explained that he didn't think he even drove a six minute mile! I had barely crossed the start line and I was all for just turning around and heading back to the car. Just at that point this woman came up behind me with some encouraging words. So I decided I would run up to her and run with her to keep me going.

Her name is Jackie and we got each other through the race. I watched those who were at the front of the race run past us as they looped back to the finish line. None of them looked happy, they all looked like they would do anything to be first and I realised that those of us at the back were glad just to have turned up and would be even happier to cross the finish line. So Jackie and I set each other small goals and stuck with it. We built a little community for the race and exchanged words of encouragement as we went. Just when one of us thought we could go no further, the other one would pull us on.

At one point I exclaimed that the back of the race is where Jesus would be, then turned to her and said "for all I know, you could be Jesus!" And for that morning she was. She was the gentle encouraging voice, the supporting voice that valued me and not my achievements, and she was running with me, so I was not running alone. Sounds like Jesus to me.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Spring...

There is so much to blog about in these past few months on my return to Princeton. The most exciting thing is the bulbs that were planted in October are bursting through the dark soil and into the light - which signifies spring is here. I have been warned that New Jersey can have snow in April, so not to pack away my winter stuff yet, but the days are lighter and I feel in sync with that. Funny how life marches to the beat of the earth's drum. I feel like things that were planted in me and have sat in the darkness are now coming to light and new things will blossom in time.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Checkpoint 300

Checkpoint 300 is the name given to the checkpoint at the entrance to Bethlehem. Everyone who wishes to enter must show their legal papers - for foreigners their passport - for locals their ID cards which state whether they are Palestinian or Israeli. A simple ID is not enough to go in and out of their town - permits are required to go specific places. Some people have special permits - like "religious worker" that allows them to attend work at their Christians place of work.

Having been in and out of Bethlehem all week, since it is in walking distance of our accommodation - each experience was pretty similar. I was largely ignored, as an obvious foreigner, and in some cases did not even get my passport out of my bag. The times of day I had been in and out were quiet and there was rarely more than a handful of other people in the building. Today, as we were leaving Bethlehem, after having lunch with friends, there was a long queue of people waiting to get out of the checkpoint. The line moved slowly and unpredictably sometimes allowing a few people through and sometimes no movement for a while. What had previously taken 5 minutes from start to finish took us 50 minutes. This is still fast for the many Palestinians who wait sometimes hours and sometimes are not allowed through at all.

In order to leave Bethlehem on foot first you walk up a fenced walkway, along the side of the 8 metre wall (twice the height of the Berlin wall) and then through a 2 metre turnstile. At this point you are caged in from all sides, another turnstile ahead, controlled by the duty soldier or security officer. Then walking across an enclosure, which I can only liken to a prison exercise ground, you enter another enclosed walkway that takes you into a large shed.

Inside the large shed it is not particularly clear where you should go, but the crowds suggest you should stand in line. A zig-zag line stops people from pushing in too much and allows for only one person width of the line. It reminded me of how animals are channeled when they are waiting for things, so they can't kick or move any way but forward. The next full height turnstile has a green and red light above it and it will only turn when the light shows green. Often only one person will be allowed through at a time, forcing families to be separated. Beyond this, there is an x-ray machine where all your possession much be placed for inspection - very similar to airport security. Next you walk through a metal detector which is set so sensitively it goes off with every person who goes through it. At a whim those on duty can search anyone they like. This is rarely anyone but Palestinians.

Only one more check to go, where if you are foreign you wave your passport and walk through another turnstile. If you are Palestinian your hand gets scanned (again similar technology as is used in prisons like Barlinnie in Glasgow - the highest security prison in Scotland) and your papers are inspected. At any of these points Palestinians may be sent back.

One last prison like walkway and you are out of the West Bank and officially in Israel. One Palestinian said to us earlier in the week "You can taste the free air", when she got through the checkpoint.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

MachsomWatch

Our group had a visit from a member of MachsomWatch. Our guest was a volunteer for an Israeli activist organisation that maintains a presence at the checkpoints to try and prevent violations of human rights for the Palestinians who use them daily to get to their work, hospitals and places of education. The three aims of the group are:
  • to protest the very existence of the checkpoints and barricades, which hamper the daily life of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories
  • to monitor, observe and document the conduct of the security forces (IDF soldiers, Border Police and Israel Police) at the checkpoints and barriers.
  • to intervene, when possible, in order to protect the human rights of Palestinians who try to pass through the checkpoints.

Our guest spoke with passion about how the establishment with power is always insensitive to those who are powerless and they are trying to be a voice against the oppressive behaviour of their government. The volunteers simply alert the soldiers to a differing viewpoint "I see a tired man going to work. You (the soldiers on duty at the checkpoint) see a terrorist."

There is recognition that those serving on the checkpoints have been raised to believe that they are helping keep their country secure. For those born in Israel they have no concept beyond they are serving their country and doing all they can to keep it secure from being taken from them. Many of the MachsomWatch volunteers have immigrated to Israel from other places of conflict and so understand the need to not watch another society crumble from violent, oppressive behaviour. Will it be too late when that generation is gone and no one has a memory beyond the status quo?

Many Israelis suffer from cognitive dissonance. They love their country, but hate what their country stands for. This puts many Israelis in a difficult position where they have to choose whether to alienate themselves from their friends and family in order to stand up for justice, by doing something like these brave volunteers are doing. They do this not only for the Palestinians who have their human rights violated daily, but for those who serve in the Israeli army.

"To explain that it's really complex, that Israel needs to be made to understand that it can't oppress people forever. It's not anti-Semitic, it's not anti-Israel - it's just the opposite. It's so unhealthy, so much alcoholism and violence...murders in Israel...I am convinced it is to do with the occupation. You can't have a spirit like that. Being in the army affects everything."

This brave woman, with a face that held a many songs and stories and much sorrow, was asked what gave her hope for the future. With pain in her face she told us that she did not hold much hope, but the hope she did have was that "the world will help to understand that a solution must be found."

www.machsomwatch.org

Wi'am

While some of our group explored the Church of the Nativity, a couple of us explored the market places around Bethlehem. I was struck by the desperation some people would go to in order to make some money. We were in search of some freshly squeezed juice and after refusing to pay a high price of 7 shekels, we found someone who would give us orange juice for 5 shekels. Sitting down in the backroom of his stall, we realised that he did not sell orange juice at all. Instead he sent someone out to buy oranges from a neighbouring stall and squeezed them himself! Very enterprising we thought!

We were the only tourists in the market place. The mounds of fresh fruit and vegetables were all for local people. Some of the stalls were clearly selling second or maybe third hand shoes. There were empty areas, that would have previously held vendors, but now they lie empty because the economy is so bad.

After exploring the markets, we were reunited with our group and made out way to Wi'am. This project works on education the local youth in reconciliation, in the hope that the next generation can hold the key to a better way of communicating non-violence. Wi'am offers many programmes to support the young people of Bethlehem - including specialist programmes for children, young people and women. Wi'am have a new base from which to deliver their work - right next to the wall that separates the West Bank from Israel. They have high hopes to raise money to develop their site to hold a play area for children and a fully functioning conference centre.

Having visited this project in 2006, it was good to see some positive changes for their organisation and to see our group clearly gain a lot from the experience of hearing Wi'am's story. If you want to know more about Wi'am - here is their website http://www.alaslah.org/.

Orthodox Christmas

January 6th was the Orthodox Christmas and this is normally a big celebration in Bethlehem - particularly at the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square. We arrived to see the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches, as they led the processions from Manger Square around the town. Standing in Manger Square it felt deserted. Where were all the people?

It turned out that the Greek Orthodox Patriarch had leased and sold some of their land between Bethlehem and Jerusalem for use by the Israelis and as a sign of their discontent many had decided to boycott the Christmas celebrations. This was a painful decision for what symbolises the central image of this town. Even our taxi driver explained to us that he was not happy with the Patriarch and some people put up banners saying "The Holy Land is not for sale or lease" and "The Patriarch has damaged relationships with our Greek neighbours".

What must it feel like to discover that your church has started selling and leasing land to those who are keeping you prisoner and destroying your business? From whence does their hope come then? You have to choose to absent yourself from the most special holiday of the town, in a life which already has most celebrations dented in some way because of the illegal occupation. Who is going to speak out to change this? Who is going to stop other churches from feeling pressured into taking similar decisions?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

On the road again...

I was barely off the plane in Tel Aviv when I was pulled out of the crowd by one of the security people at the airport who were waiting at the end of the gangway to the aeroplane. Due to having a cold my hearing had gone from one ear and it was difficult to communicate - especially with little sleep. Although she had never heard of Tantur (which is hardly my responsibility) I was sent on my way to head through immigration. Happily it was only about 20 minutes between landing and collecting my luggage all in all - which was better than it could have been.

I waited for my fellow student to arrive from his flight and then we boarded the shuttle to Tantur. We were most likely the only non-Jews on the shuttle and subsequently we went around many of the Israeli settlements to return people to their homes. It was a chilling moment when I realised one of the previous trips I had made to where a settlement was proposed with a billboard saying "Luxury Apartments" was where we were dropping someone off. These illegal settlements are built on Palestinian land and drain water resources from the Palestinian villages. When settlements are talked about it always sounds temporary and makeshift and to see the luxury apartments, some with swimming pools and signs to "carwash" - when there is a drought on - is quite sickening.

After a good rest, the next morning the three of us who had arrived early headed in to Jerusalem on the bus. First it was interesting working out the differences between the Arab and Israeli buses - the difference in price and the difference in atmosphere on the buses. Not by design, but by circumstance we boarded an Egged bus, which is the Israeli company. The bus was quiet, people didn't seem to really acknowledge anyone else on it and over the speakers played traditional Jewish music - violin, telling a sad tale of the Jewish past. There was no escaping the fact that even the bus journey reinforced the Jewish story for all on board.

An errand needed running that took us to the Jewish parts of Jerusalem that I had never spent much time in. We discovered that almost every shop window had things that told the Jewish story there too - it is truly embedded in everything. People walked about freely, seemingly without a care in the world.

On returning to Tantur we caught the Arab bus. A much smaller bus, that held possibly 16 and this time the local Arabic radio station was playing. There was much more conversation on the little bus - which was noisier than the double length Egged bus we had been on earlier that day. The bus drove up to the check point to Bethlehem and there was not enough room for everyone on the bus. Many just had to wait for the next one to come along.

The majority of our group joined us by lunchtime and a small delegation decided to go to Bethlehem since it was so close. We walked along the road to the checkpoint and made our way through the cattleshed-like building. There seemed to be endless turnstiles, narrow walkways and fences alongside the enormous apartheid wall. There was little concern at us walking through. We were obviously foreigners and tourists at that and we were practically ignored. I noticed some Palestinians who were trying to leave Bethlehem we not getting the same treatment. They were being ignored yes, but not allowed to pass through the checkpoint. I have no idea how long they might have been waiting or waited after we left.

There was great excitement at the taxi rank when we got through the checkpoint. The taxi drivers were jumping at the chance to charge us 4 times the usual taxi fee to take us to the Church of the Nativity! This is not only because they want to rip off tourists, but because they are desparate for money enough to do what they can to feed their families. Aware of all of this we didn't really mind being ripped off, but we were a bit more savvy for our return journey!

The taxi driver, not only content with having overcharged us stopped on the way to try and entice us to a tour of some of the other places around Bethlehem. We we refused, he said he would at least take us to his family's shop and hope that we would buy some of the hand carved olive wood goods there. This man would not take no for an answer and eventually, we had to send the group onwards, so we were no longer such an attractive prospect before he would allow us to pay for the taxi. Needless to say we looks for a better deal on the way back!

There were few people inside the Church of the Nativity. January is always a quiet month, but the only people there were probably in Bethlehem for the Orthodox Christmas which is today. More on that later...