April 22, 2003
Elizabeth stayed home sick today, hoping to gather her strength for Holy Week and Easter festivities. Marthame has a two week break in the school schedule up at Ibillin - one week for those on the Western calendar and another for those on the Eastern one. It gave him the opportunity to attend a peace demonstration organized by several Israeli and Palestinian groups to commemorate the events of last April - the double-suicide bombing in Netanya, and the massive Israeli incursions of the West Bank, particularly symbolized by the destruction of Jenin Camp. Somewhat telling of the current situation, a year on, the original plan to hold dual commemorations in Netanya and Jenin was changed to Netanya and Tulkarem. It was felt that the situation in Jenin was not stabilized enough to enter. It's still too unpredictable from day to day.
Marthame went with one of the World Council of Churches team members, catching a shared taxi from Zababdeh towards Tulkarem. The plan (that word has become somewhat obsolete here) was to meet up with the demonstrators in Tulkarem, then travel back to Zababdeh with about eight of them, most of them from the World Council of Churches teams that are working throughout the West Bank and Gaza. On our way, we got a call. The demonstration in Tulkarem was called off, the situation there too tentative as well today, and instead would be replaced with visits to the village of Baqa Sharqiyye just inside the Green Line.
The strangulation around cities close to the Green Line is worsening.
As we arrived in Tulkarem, the driver got a call: the city had just been placed under curfew. We drove towards the Agricultural Center in town, hoping to figure out things from there - perhaps make our way to Baqa, perhaps the eight would come here, we'd clearly have to play it all by ear now. We arrived - most everyone was going home due to the newly-imposed curfew. We could hear Israeli military traffic passing around town, but sparse enough so that Palestinians could still move, when soldiers and jeeps were not nearby. We promised the folks at the Center that we'd be gone as soon as we could, but they were unconcerned by having to receive visitors in such absurd circumstances - this was normal. We continued to touch base by telephone, plans changing from minute to minute. Young men ventured out from their homes to throw stones at passing jeeps in the streets outside and were repelled with tear gas.
Eventually, even the event in Baqa was canceled, meaning no commemoration would take place in the West Bank at all - a moment that spoke volumes about the situation as it still faces the Palestinians and Israelis. Nonetheless, the eight internationals were going to meet up with us in the town of Baqa, and we took our taxi there to meet them. We eventually arrived separated by two checkpoints - they weren't allowed into the West Bank, we weren't allowed to pass the checkpoint half a kilometer inside the West Bank - and were unable to get any closer.
Marthame spoke with the soldiers at the other checkpoint by telephone - the internationals weren't allowed to pass into a closed military area, and we weren't allowed to pass out of one. "Besides," he said, "You won't be able to get to Zababdeh anyway. The roads are all closed." Marthame and his Swiss companion made it back to Zababdeh, no presence of Israelis evident along the road, a long pointless day - but for one t-shirt compliments of the Agricultural Center.
Meanwhile, the other internationals caught a bus to Afula, then a taxi to the Jalame checkpoint where they were simply waved through. They caught up with us in Zababdeh after all, and we capped off their successful arrival with dinner up at the University's coffee shop. We returned home with three of them from Sweden (World Council of Churches volunteers serving in Gaza) who will stay with us for a few days.