October 11, 2003

The roads in and out of Nablus have become difficult to the point of being dangerous.

Elizabeth and Andrea got up at four thirty to film Sylvia as she made her journey to Nablus. After a small breakfast, a 4-wheel drive truck - our taxi through the hills - arrived. The "road" was the roughest Elizabeth had ever been on in Palestine; often she was convinced we were about to roll over - sometimes to the side, sometimes forward. Elizabeth remembered that the last time she was in Nablus, a university student said a friend of hers died in a car accident in the hills, trying to get to school. Thank God we arrived safely. The rest of the day was spent filming and getting settled with our kind hosts at the Anglican compound near the Old City.

Fr. Aktham has taken pity on Marthame - the poor bachelor - inviting him to share lunch with him and Deacon Imad. Fr. Aktham is supposed to leave after church today to travel to the States, but given the situation, he is now waiting for permission from the DCO ahead of time to cross the checkpoint. It has not come, which means he has postponed his trip.

Other internationals were turned back when trying to leave the West Bank, so it seems the old days of preferable treatment for non-Palestinians are slowly slipping from our grasp here. It's possible this is a temporary measure, and we all hope so, but who can be certain at this point.

Marthame spent much of the day planning for a group from the PCUSA to come on Monday. We hope they can get in. Marthame should meet up with them on Sunday, but it's not clear that he would be able to arrive in Jerusalem or that he would be allowed back in once out. Better to stay and to coordinate things by telephone.