October 6, 2000 — Mudeif Productions

Tonight was a chance to see more of the village. Abuna Tomie, the Orthodox priest, met a group of folks from the nearby Arab-American University (most of them our neighbors) to see the interior of St. George's Orthodox Church. It was built on the site of an ancient grotto that dates back many, many centuries. They're not sure how old - there's a stone with either Greek or Roman letters carved into it (it's hard to tell because it's so weathered) that no one has been able to date to give some evidence of its age. The church building was completed in the 1870s.

*Icon of John the Baptist in Zababdeh’s Greek Orthodox Church.*

*Visiting the grounds of the former Melkite Church.*

Afterwards, we went to visit the abandoned Melkite Church. In communion with Rome but liturgically Eastern, this particular Melkite church has fallen between the bishops of Haifa and Jerusalem. The last priest (our tour guide's grandfather) died in 1985, and the doors have remained shut. There is a priest in Zababdeh who has been trained and is willing to serve, but political machinations have kept the doors closed for fifteen years. It seems that politics are everywhere these days.

*The former Melkite Church, gathering dust.*

After our tour, we had a good old-fashioned Middle Eastern barbecue with the folks from the University. They've been about the only thing open these last few weeks. Many of our neighbors have done some interesting tours of duty, including Iran in the 1970s and Lebanon in the early 80s. So violent clashes are something they're used to, but are weary of.

Oh, and there's no school tomorrow - ten more dead yesterday in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. Israel has sealed us in the West Bank and has begun limiting travel to its own Arab citizens - at least through Yom Kippur.