February 28, 2002

The past two months of "calm" (whatever that means) had lulled us into a sense of normalcy here. That was all shattered today. We arrived at school to learn that the Jenin students and teachers are again absent - the Israeli army had cut off Jenin again, as they did back in December. 100 students and 2 teachers are stuck at home, and the situation there was particularly tense today with Apache helicopters overhead. The 12th grade picnic was cancelled, not so much out of concern for the safety of students going into the hills, but more out of respect for their fellow classmates (around 6) who were stuck in Jenin.

A funeral procession through the streets of Zababdeh. These have become all too commonplace.

At about 1:00, the church death bells rang - not for a death in the village, but for the ten "martyrs" from Jenin Refugee Camp and the nearby village of Jalqamus. From the school window we could see the funeral procession (in Islam, people should be buried the same day they die) as it headed up the road past the University. This stuff gets real old real fast, and it isn't over yet around here. And all this comes as the Saudi peace plan is just beginning to gather steam...