April 7, 2002

We slept in a bit today. After reviewing the night's catch of email over tea and biscuits (including the news that the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal published a piece on us using one of our updates), we treated ourselves to the first half of a home movie (The Pelican Brief) - nothing like a little conspiracy theory to ease the troubled mind. Then our friends invited us to join them for lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Nahariya, a coastal town near Haifa. We were initially a bit edgy about eating in a restaurant in a Jewish town, but our hosts assured us we were safe. There was a guard at the door, and hardly any customers - so many in Israel are similarly on edge or just plain scared of public gathering places. At any rate, it was a treat to have Chinese food - not something we got much of in Zababdeh - especially the deep fried pineapple dessert.

While the West Bank is under siege, we spent a perfect sunny day with friends roller-blading in Nahariya, Israel.

Boys’ basketball game between Jewish and Arab teams in Israel.

We then headed to a park on the beach, as our friends' kids roller-bladed with other children enjoying the sunny day. We took a quick stroll by the sea and headed back towards Haifa where our friends' son had a basketball game. We cheered the Nazareth team, which is exclusively Arab kids (except our American friends' son). It was interesting to see the two teams and parents interact. We were a bit nervous that things might get ugly, as happened a few months ago when the opposing team (all Jewish boys) spit in their hands before shaking hands with the Nazareth team and called them names. Other teams have refused to shake hands with the Nazareth boys. However, today everything was done with great sportsmanship, in spite of the worsening political climate here. Nazareth won by one point in a riveting 28-minute game. Afterwards, the host team shared chocolate brownies and soda, making a point to include everyone from the opposing team. It was very encouraging.

Throughout the day we made calls to friends in the West Bank. A good friend who is in the Galilee spoke to his family (who managed to contact him with an Israeli cellphone; they called from their roof, and even then the connection was bad because of the weak signal), and they related that there is no electricity in Zababdeh now, and shops are mostly all closed; those that are open have very little for sale, and the people have no money to buy goods. The Arab-American University of Jenin, on the other hand, still has electricity, because they have their own generators and petrol reserves. Four internationals (Americans and Canadians) have remained there, spending most of their time reassuring and holding together the twenty-some female students who are stuck at the dorms.

We heard from a friend in Ramallah who is trying to help the Latin Patriarchate coordinate a delivery of goods to the Sisters of Charity and their orphanage in Nablus. Even in the midst of their suffering, they still manage to think about those who might be going without. Another friend on the outskirts of Ramallah said there is no water or telephone service at her home. We spoke to her on her cellphone, on which she can only receive calls, since the card has run out. They haven't had any perishable food for a week. She is Belgian, and she was told by her consulate that they could evacuate her this past Friday. However they could only evacuate mononationals - that is, she could not bring her two young children because they had Palestinian IDs in addition to Belgian passports. Of course, she stayed (as have many internationals in similar situations). The afternoon before the Israeli invasion, her husband broke his knee. As a result, he had to wait six days for medical attention. His doctor, a Jerusalem resident with offices in Jerusalem and Ramallah, was refused entry to Ramallah at the checkpoint. The soldier said "we don’t want you operating on Palestinians with war wounds."

One of our friend's colleagues at the Belgian Technical Cooperation was taken into detention, like scores of the other men rounded up from their homes. He was taken to Ofrah, a West Bank settlement, and never told what the charges against him were. During the first 36 hours, he and the others were given no food, and made to dig a ditch and roll blindfolded in the mud in the cold and rain. In the week he was held, he was told several times that he would be released later that day, or the next morning. Finally he and several other men were released, without their IDs, into Qalandia refugee camp. They had to walk home amid fighting. He still has no ID. He was furious and humiliated and wanted to tell the Israeli government, "Now you have made me a terrorist." So much for a war on terror. There are still many men being held at Ofrah. We have heard stories like his before, and Amnesty International has put out an appeal for urgent action focused especially on these detainees.

We also spoke briefly with our friend in Jenin. The situation there is much the same - that is, horrifying. His words of wisdom, which have given us strength the last week, for today: the US doesn't need to be in favor of the Palestinians, or of the Israelis. Instead, they simply need to return to the word of God. He then reminded us of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25) and the proverb "to whom much is given, much is expected." Teaching - and preaching - under siege...