December 23, 2002 — Mudeif Productions

*A message of gratitude: “Merry Christmas , Roswell. We love you!”*

We divided duties today - Marthame grabbed a taxi and headed to Salem, the Israeli Army's District Coordinating Office. Prior to the Palestinian Authority, this was the bureaucratic system every West Bank Palestinian had to face - for travel permissions, work permissions, etc. Now that the Palestinian Authority has been ground down to one building in Ramallah, these offices have been put back into use. We had been here two years ago, but didn't recognize the place. It was once on the main road from Jenin to Haifa. Now, the road coming out of Jenin dead-ends into a military camp. It took Marthame a while to recognize that this was the same place.

*Fr. Aktham with one of the school’s Kindergartners.*

Today, he had come here to seek permission for one of Zababdeh's young women to travel from Ben Gurion Airport to attend the World Scouting Jamboree in Thailand as a representative of the Palestinian scouting program. Marthame waited, was told no, was then assured that maybe a certain different person could help, waited, and waited. Three hours and many phone calls later, he was told definitively that such a thing was impossible. Palestinians are not allowed to travel from Ben Gurion anymore. And it takes three hours to deliver this definitive news, apparently. He began the long road back, foregoing errands in Jenin due to incursions throughout the city.

*Baba Noel wishes one of our Muslim faculty a Merry Christmas.*

Meanwhile, Elizabeth distributed her 7th grade exam and then excused herself to play Helper to Baba Noel, who was headed to the kindergarten. And as exams finished, Elizabeth took pictures and wished kids Merry Christmas as part of their annual party sponsored by Roswell Presbyterian Church. For the last three years, the Atlanta-area church has purchased the gifts for the children of the school, both Muslim and Christian. And each year, it has grown a bit in scale. In a time when solidarity between Eastern and Western Christians seems to be running on empty, such celebrations are a gift.

In the evening, after Mass, Marthame delivered the bad news to the young lady hoping to go to Bangkok. Though there is a possibility that she can go from Jordan, that still requires travel permits - both from the Israelis and the Jordanians - and time is short. To say she looked "devastated" is an understatement. It rounded out a pretty awful week.

Our respite and relief came in a gathering with the University ex-pats over homemade sushi and Christmas carols. There's nothing like harmony to refresh the soul.