June 5, 2002

Sometimes the scars of war are visible. Other times, they run deep below the surface.

Today is the anniversary of the 1967 War. The official Israeli view is that that War was a war of self-defense (as Ariel Sharon's op-ed published in the New York Times said today). Other voices, including those of the Israeli New Historians (bouyed by declassified remarks of Moishe Dayan), see the War as something Israel prompted with the intention to occupy the West Bank and Gaza. Whatever the interpretations, the fact is that today marks the 35th anniversary of the Occupation. Marking this, a member of Islamic Jihad drove a car (loaded with a car bomb) into a public bus at the Megiddo junction, killing a number of soldiers and civilians. We received word of this through friends who work at the school. People here are tired of the violence, tired of the coming and going of the Israeli army, tired of being unemployed and poor, tired of having no freedom of movement. Another suicide bombing, for those folks, does not bring any light at the end of the tunnel. We couldn't agree more.

We wrapped up exams a bit early in order to get the kids home before the Israelis entered Jenin again in response to today's attack. Fortunately, there was enough school time for Elizabeth's seventh graders to complete their final exam. We spent most of the day working - grading and trying to catch up with all that has piled up in our absence.

Foremost in our minds is our two months of travel and conversation in the States. In the evening, we heard the disturbing rumble of military activity in Jenin as planes circled over head. Isn't it nice to be home again?