October 12, 2003

This morning Elizabeth and Andrea went to worship at the Anglican Church in Rafidia (sister city to Nablus, like Ft. Worth is to Dallas). Much of the time in church and afterward we spent filming and eating good food with nice people. Meanwhile, Marthame went to Mass at the Latin Church, sharing in the liturgy with Fr. Aktham.

In the afternoon, Marthame joined with two English teachers from the University in a trip up to Jalame to visit native son Nasser Abu Farha. Abu Farha is currently working on his PhD at the University of Wisconsin on the possibility of a long-lasting solution to the conflict here. It has sprung into a grassroots organization. To sit with him was a pleasure, to hear a man committed to real peace, who isn't afraid to speak the truth - to whatever community - and to both challenge myths and get to the root causes of the conflict. He roundly criticizes the possibility of a two-state solution, because it doesn't answer the deep-seated concerns of both states: for Palestinians, it is the question of their indigenous rights. For Jews, their safety and security. Both should be taken seriously. However, two myths need to be dealt with: the myth of an exclusively Jewish State, on the one hand, and the myth that Israelis should "go back to where they came from" on the other. It is, in short, a just proposal which takes both practicality and idealism into consideration. In short, it would be a single confederation of alternating Arab and Jewish States - Tel Aviv would be Jewish, Nablus Arab, and so on. He has no illusions about the probability of its implementation, but is here to both promote it and to do further research.

Taking a moment to strategize with our dead battery.

On the way back, as the sun went down, a taxi driver stopped us to warn us of a checkpoint on the road ahead. He told us of an alternative route, which we tried to take - we got lost, the van got stuck a couple of times, and the battery failed at one point. We decided to turn back and take our chances at the checkpoint, which in the end had been removed.

A little dusty, we made it home to find a moving email from one of our favorite students who lives in Jenin:

Hi Miss Elizabeth,

I'm glad to know about your news, and very happy to get a letter from you last week, especially ,I didn't see you a long time, I hope that you and Mr. Marthame are happy because you will go to the States ,I know that is hard for you and us ,but I think the life there is better for you, there is no war ,no blood ,no killing, no check points .

I'm very sad about what is happening here, especially these days after the bomb in Haifa that is killing us one by one, before that bomb there was good days, many check points opened, like that one between Zababdeh and Jenine, Hamra, and more. But this bomb was very bad for Palestine and Israel. hamas and jihad are killing us these days by there bombs. I don't know what they want, what was useful in killing 19 human? Just to close roads, to damage more than 20 houses in rafah and to kill more than 8 people? To make curfiew in Jenine, and to close schools and clinics, and to damage cities, why? Is that not terror? But who can say any thing? It's the 30th day that I'm absent this year.

But now I try to go to school in curfiew, I went last Wednesday .and I will go in Monday If I will can .I know that is dangerous, but what can I do? I can't be absent more .I hope we will get little of peace soon.