June 3, 2003

The question mark in today's transportation was Ibillin to Shefa'amer. Marthame walked down to the gate of the school, and it wasn't two minutes before the Anglican priest of Shefa'amer passed by. Marthame and Fr. Fouad shared coffee before he caught his bus to Nazareth and ride to the border.

The wait at the border was interminable. Cars were entering, but at a very, very slow pace. Marthame walked up to see if he could pass and if his driver could cut in line to keep him from carrying his luggage. Marthame was allowed in, but the driver wasn't allowed to cut. Marthame walked back to the checkpoint, and the soldier had found a car to drive him into Jalame. Those in the car were more than a little baffled. Marthame caught the taxi in Jalame and headed straight to Tubas to help work on the church's webpage there.

Long lines at temporary Israeli checkpoints are a daily hassle for Palestinians.

While talks are happening in Aqaba, the situation on the ground here seems just the same. A new checkpoint was set up along the Tubas road at a little nothing village called Kfeir (just outside of Zababdeh). Word spreads about such checkpoints quickly, which means their usefulness is dubious. We decided to go through the checkpoint rather than drive around (we could've done either and likely reached our destination). After an hour of waiting in the sun (not much fun for the soldiers, either), the taxi driver was ready for Marthame,\ to give the soldiers a mouthful.

Marthame rolled down the window, and handed over his passport, saying, "Hi. How are you."

"What are you doing here?"

"You know," said Marthame, "I was going to ask you the same question."

It wasn't the yelling and gesticulating that the driver had hoped for, but the point was made. The soldier clearly didn't want to talk about it - usually an indication that they're not fully buying the "for security" argument. "Have a nice day," was the reply as they were waved through.

Marthame worked with the church council President on the webpage, trying to create something in English and Arabic. For a church community of sixty, their dedication to ministry is impressive.

By the time Marthame headed back to Zababdeh in the evening, the checkpoint was gone.