Such things like that don't even register on people's radar screens anymore, let alone make the news. Nevertheless, they perpetuate and spread hopelessness.
Read MoreRoughly 25,000 people live in Jenin Camp, a third of the population of the city, all refugees and their descendants from the 1948 expulsion of Arabs from Israel proper. At first, they lived in tents, but then began to build irregular housing - their living conditions are reminiscent of the colonias along the Mexican-American border. Add to that the military activity of fifty to sixty tanks, air support, and who knows how many soldiers, and you begin to get a picture of what life is like now.
Read MoreWe did so not only to give each other a break and some support, but also to talk about what - if anything - more we could be doing to participate in peace-making and justice issues in our immediate area. Most people are writing a great deal now, but trying to find Western newspapers willing to publish a view "outside the mainstream" is much like beating your head against a wall.
Read MoreWe set out in the afternoon towards the forest near the village of Raba, but were intrigued by a seasonally dry stream bed we saw as we walked along the road. We spent the next hour or so traversing the pastures along its lush and flowered banks, hidden from the world by the tall fields of wheat on either side.
Read MoreWe both joined the busses, more to keep the students calm than to do anything concrete. One of Marthame's students remarked, "You'll see us on TV soon wearing plastic handcuffs".
Read MoreAt least the outcry from Israeli Holocaust survivors has been heard in response.
Read MoreCynicism is contagious.
Read MoreWe then headed off to the Beit al-'Azza (the house of mourning), in which families of the fifteen killed were receiving people. It was the third day after their deaths, as is traditional in Arab society for visitation and condolences. We drank our bitter coffee and left.
Read MorePeople of the village have been gathering food and money for the victims of Jenin Camp from the recent Israeli attack. We will probably go as part of an official delegation tomorrow.
Read MoreFamilies of those who had died in the past year handed out sweets to those who came to pay their respects. It seems like death is simply everywhere.
Read MoreMarthame headed to school and then off in the afternoon to play soccer. It was a good chance to get some of the pent-up emotional baggage of the last few days out.
Read MoreIsraeli tanks had apparently come to the edge of Tubas, so we were anxious to get our many Tubas students and teachers back home to their families.
Read MoreThere are worries that the Israeli army, hot on the heels of Sharon's frightening message of "hitting the Palestinians harder", is preparing to enter more and more Palestinian villages conducting house to house searches. People here are feeling worried, sad, angry, and hopeless.
Read MoreThe lectionary was the story which most of us know as the Prodigal Son (interestingly known as "The Wise Son" in Arabic - because he returns in the end) from Luke 15.
Read MoreA good friend of ours who works in Israel told us about his return trip home to Zababdeh. When he approached the border, the soldier leveled his M-16 at him and made him demonstrate - from a distance of some 50 meters - that he wasn't carrying any explosives. Attacks at checkpoints are on the rise, and the soldiers, many of them scared 18 year-old kids, are not taking many chances. But, beyond the call of security, people have also been shot, detained, beaten without reason, fearing for their lives.
Read MoreBalata refugee camp was hit today in Nablus - and hit hard according to the initial reports we've gotten. These people, refugees from the 1948 War and their descendants, were refugees again today as the Israeli army told them to leave while they conducted house-to-house searches. Many preferred to stay, remembering quite well what happened the last time they left their houses "for a little while".
Read MoreFrom the school window we could see the funeral procession (in Islam, people should be buried the same day they die) as it headed up the road past the University.
Read MoreIn the afternoon, Elizabeth coached the girls at basketball practice - they've got a big same Saturday (it's not clear whose more nervous, the players or the coach!).
Read MoreWe noticed that the gas station has a department store attached to it - the place advertises bridal goods and wear in particular. A bizarre little oasis of dead commerce in the midst of a warzone.
Read MoreJust because a Palestinian has official permission to travel doesn't mean it will be accepted by soldiers at a particular checkpoint at a particular time.
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