One of them is a new Lebanese song which has become quite popular, "Nahnu mish irhabi", with the chorus, "We're not terrorists. We're the people of freedom - Muslims and Christians." Everywhere you go in the West Bank, people are singing this - Muslims and Christians.
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It was a long, exhausting day, but wonderful - the schedule gelled well, the group was enthusiastic and pleased, and it was a long-overdue chance to show of the area of Zababdeh that we've come to know and love.
Read MoreSomeone has been adding to the graffiti on the ruins, adding slogans like "Live Free or Die", "Give me librty [sic] or give me death," or "We won't forgive, we won't forget" (reminiscent of Elie Wiesel's sentiment).
Read MoreThistles are in full swing: blueish, purple, yellow, white all going gangbusters.
Read MoreThe number of people filing into Nablus (the morning commute) was staggering - people dressed in their business best, struggling downhill, making their way between the donkeys bearing people or their bags, through the white dust, coming out on the other side coated with a thin layer of the stuff.
Read MoreAt one point, they devised a shirt for use at checkpoints - by tying strings from the sleeves to the bottom of the shirt, you could raise your arms and your shirt in one movement (something many young Palestinian men have been forced to do in the last several months). They jokingly made plans to market their new invention. Such is humor these days...
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The caretakers of the Compound, an Orthodox Nablus family, spent the entirety of the battle and onslaught in their home (and a few days of it in one room) with a tank parked outside. Most of their windows were broken from the sound, and a few were broken from stray gunfire. One metal shutter had an enormous hole blown through it. But they are safe, and it was good to see them.
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Late in the afternoon, as we sat out on our porch with a student from the University, two tanks went rumbling along through the fields - the sound of their grinding motors is unmistakable. They then headed up the hill, probably on their way to Qabatiya. One isn't sure of much these days.
Read MoreThe Israeli army apologized, but this is not an isolated incident - a number of "accidental" killings have happened over the past year and a half (not to mention over the 35 years of Israeli Occupation), further fueling anti-Israeli sentiment in this area.
Read MoreShe asked why Marthame didn't just become an Orthodox priest, especially after such a week. We said it'd be better to bring the rest of the Presbyterian Church with us rather than abandoning them to their Protestant ways like lost sheep.
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The fire quickly passed throughout the Church, from one bundle to another (33 candles together make quite a torch). It was, at the same moment, thrilling, moving, and terrifying, as we were tightly-packed in with very enthusiastic people jumping and cheering with big sticks of fire.
Read MoreAt about 1:30 in the morning we thought that they were almost finished. That's when we noticed that they were only halfway through their prayer books. We went home; we clearly don't have the endurance to be high, high church Orthodox.
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Ethiopians have strong connections with all three faiths of this land - Mohammed said that Ethiopians were unparalleled among the nations; one of the first converts to Christianity was the Ethiopian eunuch baptized by Philip (Acts 8); and the kings of Ethiopia traced their lineage back to Solomon via the Queen of Sheba (I Kings 10).
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