December 25, 2002

Fr. Thomas spreads incense through the congregation at the Orthodox Church.

With Fr. Hosam trapped in Nablus and Fr. Firas without his own sanctuary to pray in, Zababdeh has two (not four) Christmas morning church services. Marthame went early to the Orthodox Church, arriving as Fr. Thomas was preparing the eucharist and one young man was chanting the part of the chorus. Soon enough, the rest of the congregation arrived, filling the small church to capacity. Even though Christmas on the Eastern calendar doesn't take place for two more weeks, in Zababdeh the celebrations are together - Christmas on the Western calendar, Easter on the Eastern calendar. Ecumenism works sometimes...

Orthodox communion. The traditional method includes mixing the bread and wine together in the chalice, the priest serving each communicant by spoonful. All baptized Orthodox are eligible to receive.

Fr. Thomas' son is in town, back from studying theology in Greece, and took part in the liturgy, chanting the epistle. He is planning to be a priest at this point, and is one of only five Palestinian theology students at the Orthodox Seminary. In this area, Orthodox parish priests often haven't had the opportunity to attend seminary. After worship, a delegation went with Fr. Thomas to wish Fr. Aktham and their Latin brothers a Merry Christmas.

Several Muslim students and a teacher from the University had attended worship as well - some are part of the group that is preparing to work with the American students coming and are interested in long-term Muslim-Christian relations. Marthame then joined them at Fr. Firas' house for an impromptu lively discussion of "martyrdom operations," the inappropriate title given to Palestinian suicide bombings. Marthame was arguing for a non-violent Palestinian strategy while others were putting forth others: confining military struggle to the West Bank and Gaza, anything goes, something in between. There is truly a desperation and anger fueling the suicide bombing - no doubt about that. We've seen enough of the quality - or lack thereof - of Palestinian life to know that. But the fact that civilian attacks are used as a strategy is something entirely different.

One in the group said, "I think if you are suggesting a political strategy, you should be the first to put yourself on the line. Those sending suicide bombers into Israel won't do the same. That shows they're not honest."

It reminded Marthame of seeing a Hamas leader interviewed on TV. After Israel retaliated for a suicide bombing by launching an attack in Gaza which killed a number of civilians he said, "This is the price we must pay, and we are willing to make the sacrifice." What price, exactly, is he paying? And what price is he forcing others to pay for his convictions?

Olive wood carving of the Holy Family.

There is an important distinction between understanding a point of view and agreeing with it. The longer we are here, the more we grow in both understanding of and disagreement with these violent movements.

We spent the rest of the day getting ready for travel. Somehow it was fitting to have this discussion on the eve of vacation. The olive wood Holy Family carving - a Christmas gift to ourselves - reminded us of what lies ahead: Egypt!