November 28, 2002

The news today is chilling, of Israelis targeted in attacks in Kenya. Several dead Kenyans and Israelis at a hotel, and many more fortunate as rockets missed a flight out of Nairobi. Again, militants are using civilians as targets, but this time, disturbingly, it has become internationalized. Historic images of Israelis and Palestinians murdering each other abroad come to mind, though the conflict is clearly broadening. Likud's elections today remind us of Israel's hardened swing to the right - today is unlikely to change this development.

In spite of the news, we did enjoy Thanksgiving- the Hebron Christian Peacemaker Team's message for today helped to remind us of our need for thankfulness. And while not a recognized Palestinian holiday (we had school as usual), people are aware of it - as well as the importance that turkey plays for some reason in the American tradition.

Elizabeth’s students preparing their presentations on African nations.

We give thanks that everyone was able to arrive to school today. Elizabeth's seventh graders are in the midst of oral presentations that they have prepared, each about a different country in Africa.

A small glimpse of our Thanksgiving feast!

We love the people who have come here to work at the Arab-American University of Jenin.

Music takes center stage at our expat gatherings.

After school, we gathered at the Arab-American University of Jenin, as has become our holiday tradition over the last three years, to celebrate with the other ex-pats. The numbers are progressively getting smaller, but we treasure this time together nonetheless. One of the American teachers is a Muslim, so we combined traditions into a Ramadan Thanksgiving, eating the turkey and fixin's after sundown. We had the works - turkey, dressing, gravy, even sweet potato pie. After eating, we played music and sang songs - everything from folk standards to old spirituals and blues to advanced improvising. One of our number is a gifted musician and artist who prefers the latter to songs everyone knows, usually leading to a balance between chaos and creativity (lyrics would go something like, "Over the water, so deep and so far; no matter what happens, nothing can keep us apart" - or the less-lucid, "I tried out for the opera, and I tried out for the circus; one was a mistake, and the other was on purpose"). We give great thanks for such times.