July 14, 2003

Sunburn and poor sleep prompted Elizabeth to stay in bed today, missing her usual morning work under the pines as well as class at Birzeit. Marthame headed off to school, where his classmate's absence (there are only two students in Level II) left him alone with the professor.

Over the past few months, we've been corresponding with a young Californian named Frank about a possible visit - today, we finally connected, so Marthame, Frank, and our friend Jonathan from the Arab-American University went into to Ramallah to eat, see the sights, and just hang out. Frank had planned to stay here for three months, but was given a ten day visa upon entry - perhaps a similar profile to International Solidarity Movement volunteers or his Filipino ancestry prevented him from the automatic three-month visa.

After lunch and ice cream, the three met up with two friends who recently graduated from Birzeit University. They're both from Gaza and neither has been home in years - Gazans are no longer given West Bank permissions, so a trip home can mean no exit out of the Strip. One is going home tomorrow, the other will be going to continue his studies in London. He won't be able to see his family before he leaves, though, because he won't be able to leave Gaza once he goes back. Gazans seem to be bearing the brunt of the injustices of occupation and siege. Our conversation touched on everything from non-violence to the East-West communication gap.

The city of Ramallah begins to shut down in anticipation of an announced Israeli curfew.

While sitting back in Jonathan's Ramallah apartment and playing guitar, we learned that the Israelis had announced a curfew in Ramallah. We listened to the sounds of the streets, deciding it was safe enough to venture outside. Sure enough, the town was open - not nearly as active as normal, but open. Store owners sat in front of their shops, their metal store fronts half-open, as if they were ready to spring and close it with a moment's notice. We ran into other internationals and compared notes - apparently things were quiet all around.

The three of us then went over to Ramallah's Latin Church, where an ecumenical prayer service was being held. Never an easy feat, this one was quite well done. Different elements of the different liturgical traditions were included, and the Melkite priest was invited to give the sermon.

We later learned that a few blocks away stones and rubber bullets were being exchanged. Marthame made it back home via Surda with no problem whatsoever.