May 13, 2003 — Mudeif Productions

Elizabeth slept in today, enjoying a one-day holiday from school because of Mohammad's birthday. Meanwhile, Marthame made his way back from Ibillin, waiting in Nazareth for a Federal Express package to be delivered.

A friend of ours from Zababdeh is supposed to be traveling to Chicago for a conference early next week. As a West Bank Palestinian, though, she is forbidden to travel from Tel Aviv. The Conference organizers at Fourth Presbyterian Church scrambled to get the tickets changed from Tel Aviv to Amman. They had to FedEx them to her, but FedEx doesn't deliver to the West Bank - so much for "everywhere in the world." Marthame picked up the tickets before heading back to Zababdeh in the evening.

The news was all about the suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia. We half-expected that traveling would be difficult as a result. Due to some easing of travel restrictions, a number of Arab-Israelis had gone into Jenin this morning to shop. When they all came out en masse, they were stopped at the border on their way out. Marthame's ride was one of them, making a morning run into the West Bank as well. Instead, Marthame grabbed a taxi from Nazareth, which was only willing to go to the border. The fifty cars lined up on the other side were a good reason not to enter.

*Marthame, Elizabeth, and Fr. Aktham speaking with a Presbyterian task force meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi.*

Marthame walked in and got home in plenty of time for a scheduled conference call. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is in the midst of a major assessment and rebuilding of their mission program. Today, a task force was meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi, to talk about ministry in Palestine and Israel. We were brought in by telephone to be part of that conversation, and they were also interested in hearing from at least one of our local partners. Fr. Aktham joined us to speak with them about the situation. We do hope that this conversation yields fruit in both attention and staffing for the region, especially since PCUSA's Palestine-Israel staff will be down to one person when we leave in December.