An early morning will have us off, hoping for smooth "sailing" on our path!
Read MoreTomorrow we head off so we can fly to Cairo for The Presbyterian Church's Middle East Mission Personnel Retreat in Alexandria.
Read MoreLater the guitar came out and we sang songs over our coffee.
Read MoreFor three years the University has been trying to get work visas for its foreign faculty. No dice. So every three months (or less) they have to leave and come back in, hoping to get another three month tourist visa at the border. Once this was standard procedure for many organizations and NGOs. However, now, tourist visas are harder to get if you in any way resemble a peace activist (young, single, carrying a backpack).
Read MoreWe were very sad when the first email rolled in notifying us that Edward Said died. His death is an enormous loss to the Palestinian community and to the academic world.
Read MoreWe realized we need some great Orthodox hymns in the film. Several members of his church came early to afternoon prayers to sing Eastern hymns. Haunting and perfect.
Read MoreAfter three days with Fr. Thomas, Marthame is exhausted. How he does it, at age 62, is beyond us.
Read MoreThis evening, we were invited to the engagement party of the daughter of dear friends.
Read MoreTubas is a church with great spirit - though few in numbers, they work hard and have accomplished much. It is always good to share in their fellowship.
Read MoreWe had enough steam left in us to go up to the University where some of the teachers had a get-together involving lots of guitars and beverages. A good (and late) night was had by all.
Read MoreShe spoke about her father, who recently passed away at 99 years of age. "He saw our land under the Ottomans, the British, the Jordanians, the Israelis, and finally the Palestinian Authority." It is amazing to think of how many regimes have come and gone here in such quick succession. No wonder people are yearning for self-rule.
Read More"Wow, getting into into an-Najah is harder than entering Qalqilia!" Everyone laughed.
Read MoreThe army had been in a few days ago, and during the incursion shot a ninety year-old man in his sleep. His funeral was yesterday - his martyr poster is up today, its colors soon to fade into the dull blues of the others which surround it.
Read MoreGoing to School with Jane Doe.
Read MoreWe need to get some footage for our film - one of our subjects who now lives in Zababdeh grew up in Haifa, and fled her home in 1948. We'd hoped she could get permission to come with us, but was refused.
Read MoreLast year, when the army entered Qalqilia one night, they fired off hundreds and hundreds of rounds to announce their arrival. When gunfire passed over the giraffe area, the male got stressed out and began to run around in circles. He eventually ran into the fence and fell down. If a giraffe stays on the ground for too long, it dies because the blood pressure necessary to get blood up its long neck will kill it if not fighting gravity.
Read MoreAfter filming for a while, we attracted the attention of Wall Security, who eventually started to yell at us. While they couldn't exactly get past the barrier to come after us, they did have big guns, so we decided it was time to leave.
Read More"I was astonished by how much anti-Jewish hatred I found in Germany - and among the younger generation too. Other Palestinians I knew there were also surprised that we found more of this prejudice in Germany than in Palestine.”
Read MoreThis morning we shared in worship with the Orthodox church, after which Marthame went with Fr. Thomas to visit one of Zababdeh's native sons who lives in Milwaukee.
Read MoreAt school today, Marthame took pictures of the new computer lab, a great new resource for the school.
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