March 30, 2001

Marthame’s family is about to see Palestinian hospitality on display!

Marthame's family is here! We drove the Citroen (no excitement this time) down to Tel Aviv to do a little mall shopping (have you ever been asked for your passport to enter a mall before?) and get our taste of the global monoculture before heading to Ben Gurion. Their flight was an hour late, which meant we'd be getting into Zababdeh a little after dark - not ideal, but usually not a problem (sense the foreshadowing?).

When we got to the checkpoint, there was a problem. A few minutes ago, apparently, a Palestinian vehicle had driven from Jenin and shot at an IDF jeep before fleeing back into Jenin. Welcome to Palestine! After twenty minutes, we were allowed to pass, which happened without incident. We sat down to a late-night, exhaustion-filled dinner. The nighttime shootings didn't disappoint, either. Welcome to Zababdeh!