December 3, 2001

Fr. Aktham with some of the students under his care. Running a school under Occupation is not for the faint of heart.

Marthame is subbing for one of the English teachers (4-6 grades) who lives on the other side of Jenin. This whole year, her presence has been unpredictable, and Marthame has done this before. But given the news that all Israeli-controlled roads in the West Bank are off-limits to Palestinian traffic, it seems like we need to plan for a longer haul than before.

Tonight, the Israeli Air Force destroyed Arafat's helipad and helicopters, and there was some fighting in Jenin, too. We hope our teachers and students are OK. It's going to be a long week.