One person said they'd been told by an American Christian that working for reconciliation in Israel and Palestine is sinful, because it impedes God's progress toward Armageddon.
Read MoreAfter deciding Abdallah wasn't returning, the Israeli soldiers rounded up the students. "We just want the Muslims. No Christians." We've heard about such deliberate dividing, but to hear about it first hand was somehow more disturbing. Tensions do exist between Christians and Muslims in Palestinian society, much like racial tensions exist in American society. Stoking those tensions seems much like an intentional divide and conquer policy.
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As has become all too familiar, the Jenin bus arrived late - an hour late, to be exact. The road situation is never predictable, and today was no exception. On top of this, Tubas is a "closed military zone."
Read MoreIn Zababdeh today, leaders of the Christian community went to the home of Sheikh Fathi to greet the elders of the Muslim community. This has been a traditional practice in this part of the world, that people stop by to wish each other Kul 'am w-intum bi-kheir (may you be well all year). Muslims visit the priest at Christmas and Easter, Christians visit the sheikh at 'Eid il-Fitir and 'Eid al-'Adha.
Read MoreFr. Paul helped us locate the item Deacon Firas had been asking for: a wooden stamp used by the Eastern churches in the baking of eucharistic bread.
Read MoreWe noticed the proliferation of Hebrew signs announcing that "Jordan is the Palestinian state" and suggesting the transfer of "250,000 Arabs" as the solution to peace.
Read MoreWhen bombings and clashes and invasions are ranked in the currency of lives lost, it is too easy to forget the "lucky" ones, perhaps like this man, who will also always bear the scars of the conflict.
Read MoreAt that point, Marthame chimed in - sometimes it helps to let the Israeli soldiers know that they're dealing not just with Palestinians, whom many view with disdain if not outright disgust (sometimes it has no impact) - "Is there a problem?"
Read MoreThe news of the ninety-five year-old woman shot and killed by Israeli troops as she tried to get in Ramallah by taxi is disturbing.
Read MoreOver the past couple weeks, Elizabeth's eleventh graders wrote short skits in English, imagining a dream, fantasy, or nightmare of their homeroom teacher.
Read MoreAfter lunch, we received visitors from American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA). The school, in partnership with the Women's Studies Centre, has given them a proposal for a computer center, with special emphasis on women and girls' professional training.
Read MoreMarthame spoke with the Melkite Deacon Firas in the evening, who had made a trip to Haifa and back to see his bishop today. The official news is that his ordination will be on December 14th in Zababdeh.
Read MoreWe give thanks that everyone was able to arrive to school today. Elizabeth's seventh graders are in the midst of oral presentations that they have prepared, each about a different country in Africa.
Read MoreThe old West Bank taxi stand outside Damascus Gate has relocated to this intersection. Cement blocks and army vehicles are everywhere, making the line of cars into and out of Ramallah interminable. Most of the commuters have given up and simply walk across through the dust and mud.
Read MoreOnce an Arab village that was overwhelmingly Christian, Ein Kerem is now almost thoroughly Jewish. The churches are maintained by their respective communities, and one Arab family remains from the once-thriving Roman Catholic community.
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One bishop with a splendid title (Bishop of Constantina) was responsible for IDs and appointments for the Patriarch. Another with a similarly wonderful prefix leaned over a lectern bending under the weight of notebooks (in Greek) detailing the reimbursements of parish priests. Another chain-smoked as he worked over a computer (history and technology meet in bizarre ways here).
Read MoreAnother passenger talked about being a maternity nurse in Ramallah, and described a newborn baby which arrived dead at the hospital. His mother was not allowed through a checkpoint in time; he was born and died there.
Read MoreThe news is full of the British national killed in Jenin Camp. After initial denials, the Israeli army admitted to shooting him, thinking he was carrying a weapon (a UN flag, it turned out).
Read MoreDifferent stories are abounding about what really happened, the Israeli army claiming he was caught in a cross-fire and shot accidentally. Given the recent coverage of the attack in Hebron, the idea that the truth, and not political spin, will out is getting harder to believe.
Read MoreAt breakfast in the hotel, we heard news of a bus bombing in West Jerusalem. As we walked back to the Ministry, it was a chilling feeling, wondering where the bombing was, if the girls we'd been chatting and knitting with had been there.
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