March 26, 2001
After the treat of going to Shefa'amer yesterday, we had yet to accomplish a couple of simple tasks:
Meeting with folks from Hope International as they begin to explore their ministries in this area;
Transferring the paperwork on the car into our name. For both, we needed to go to Jerusalem, but first Marthame had to take Elizabeth back to Zababdeh for classes.
The paved road, on the right, bulldozed by the Israelis. The dirt road, on the left, which Palestinians have created as a bypass.
New lights line the settler bypass road just outside Jenin.
Numerous transport trucks were entering the checkpoint to the West Bank empty. We had heard rumors that the camp at the edge of Zababdeh was going to be abandoned soon, but that's a rumor that's been around at least seven years to no effect. More likely is that there is a changing of the guard after a three- month stint, which means that the soldiers who now know our car and our faces will be leaving and will be replaced with new folks. The roadblocks are still in place, with a new unofficial checkpoint as an IDF jeep waits halfway between Zababdeh and the border to turn cars around. There are also new electric lights going up along the settlers' bypass road, as if to further emphasize the difference between Israelis and Palestinians living on the West Bank.
A Palestinian mechanic comes to our rescue, making a “house call” in Jerusalem.
Marthame's route took him down the Jordan Valley, which is where the brakes went out on the Citroen. Nevertheless, he managed to drive all the way to Jerusalem (not many advantageous places to stop before then, and no AAA), and called a very good friend, who came to his rescue. Our friend from Hope International was waiting for Marthame in the Old City, a five-minute walk from where the car was. Marthame called him to tell him to come talk there, rather than in the quiet cafe they were anticipating. As he was giving directions, the battery on the phone died! Nevertheless, our friend was resourceful and found his way. Marthame spent the rest of the day recovering from the anxiety of the trip.
News came today about the ten-month old baby killed in Hebron. This is the kind of stuff that knocks the wind out of your sails as you think about the mounting suffering, so naturally we write about it. Even so, the intensity makes us need a few moments of escapism, which Marthame found by watching a rebroadcast of the Oscars.