June 6, 2003

Catholic confirmands waiting their turn at the Latin Church of Zababdeh.

At nine this morning, the Latin community gathered at the church for the Confirmation of their sixth graders. The scouts were arrayed in the courtyard wearing their uniforms and playing a celebratory beat on their drums, waiting for the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, to arrive. With great anticipation, the crowd waited, and waited. The scouts moved out of the sun as the morning grew hot.

Patriarch Sabbah anointing one of the confirmands.

Meanwhile, Patriarch Sabbah was turned away at the Hamra checkpoint, refused entry under any circumstances, in spite of Vatican laissez-passer and consular license plates. His driver turned around and went up to the Tayasir checkpoint, where they were denied entry because the driver had a Jerusalem ID (Palestinians who live in Jerusalem have special status, permitting them entry to Jerusalem, but these days they're often not allowed to travel into the rest of the West Bank). In Zababdeh, Fr. Aktham got on the phone with his contacts in the military coordination department. "But you let Jerusalemites travel here all the time - the rules are not consistent! If they were, we'd work within them. Who do you want to drive the car? You won't let a West Banker do it, you won't let a Jerusalemite or an Israeli pass. Who will drive? You?"

Fr. Aktham shows Patriarch Sabbah around the impressive exhibit.

At one point it seemed as though Fr. Aktham might load the confirmands and the congregation onto busses and try to have the confirmation at the checkpoint; that would have been a powerful statement. However, the powers that be relented and allowed the Patriarch to proceed to his parish, only an hour and a half late. A sigh of relief was breathed when his car arrived, and those who waited outside filed into the air-conditioned church to find a seat in the crowd. In the front sat the confirmands next to their godparents and parents, who walked up with them as they received the anointing of confirmation from the Patriarch one by one.

Patriarch Sabbah tours the impressive school exhibit.

After the service, the Patriarch went to see the art/science/English/school anniversary exhibit, which was well received. After a brief tour, the entourage proceeded to the school/church hall for graduation. The room was packed, with the older scouts acting as bouncers, keeping a throng of kids outside. There isn't enough room in the hall for all of them, so only those attached to a parent were allowed in.

Song is always part of school-wide celebrations.

The hall is filled to standing room only for graduation.

Soon, the graduates arrived, in their hats and robes, lined up for their entry march up the aisle and onto the stage, where they sat on risers. As they processed, a short (four minute) film played, with scenes and sounds of the students in their final year. The film was the first practice we had on the new film editing software purchased for the production of our documentary of Christian life in the northern West Bank. Let's just say the learning curve is surmountable, but steep. At any rate, the film was an enormous success, capturing the students at their best, and enthralling the audience.

The party continued with messages from Fr. Aktham, the Patriarch, traditional and modern dance numbers, speeches by students, and of course, distribution of diplomas.

Elizabeth addresses the gathered crowd as we wrap up our official duties as teachers here.

We had asked for a moment to speak as well, so we were invited up front so we could say thank you and good-bye. It wasn't really good-bye, since we'll be here until December, but it is good-bye to most of our work at the school, so it was nice to be given an opportunity to show our gratitude.

We joined the clergy for a delicious (as always) lunch in the convent before the Patriarch departed back towards Jerusalem.

It’s not an official celebration if there’s no Palestinian folk dance!

In the afternoon, Marthame picked up with the video project, meeting to do interviews with the Sheikh and Fr. Thomas at the Greek Orthodox Church.