Now, they are on tourist visas, some of them as short as two weeks. Some have met with the US Embassy to shove the process along - Tel Aviv seems to be a clueless world away, with US government travel restrictions on their employees preventing them from even approaching the West Bank and getting a sense of what's happening on the ground.
Read MoreA few days into the incursion, she and her sister ventured out so she could lend a hand with the medical crisis. There was no gunfire at the time, no airplanes overhead, no curfew in effect. Stepping outside their door, they were gunned down by Israeli soldiers. For twenty minutes they cried out, but no ambulance came to help them. When they did reach the hospital, her sister died. She remains severely wounded.
Read MoreThe young men in town began gathering stones to throw - this has become a pastime here: the tanks pass through, the youth throw stones, the tanks keep on going. Every now and then, reports come out of a soldier who shot a stone-thrower or simply fired at random killing someone.
Read MoreRefreshed after a long journey, the group then went to Zababdeh where they were met by students and hosts from the Arab-American University of Jenin (AAUJ), Christian and Muslim alike, welcoming them with handmade cards reading "Welcome to Peace Land."
Read MoreLast night it was tanks. Today, it was a helicopter, circling Zababdeh repeatedly. They are a menacing sight, and indicate that something may be afoot.
Read MorePlanning here can be a practice in the absurd.
Read MoreThere hasn't been the kind of excitement we had prior to our departure, but just about every night the roads around town are closed.
Read MoreLast year, priests were spared the hassle while seminarians waited a little longer for their legal status to come through. Now, it has been a six-month process for some. Many are in limbo, having filed their papers months ago with the Israeli Ministry of Interior but still have had no success. The Patriarch has filed official complaints, as has the Vatican, all to no avail.
Read MoreIsrael, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia all boast coastline on this stretch, and all are within range of the naked eye.
Read MoreThe water was much calmer today, though, hardly a ripple across the surface. Underneath, the Red Sea teemed with life.
Read MoreFirst light came soon, as did the Nigerians' singing. The Germans were celebrating communion, and the Bedouins were still hawking their blankets - a remarkable cacophony. Sunrise, the last sunrise of 2002, came at 6:30, a brilliant red peeking over the horizon.
Read MoreOne of the two reasons we came to this area is the Convent of St. Catherine's. Since the third century, small monastic communities settled on and around the holy Mount Sinai, fleeing Roman persecution and revering the site of the burning bush and the delivery of the ten commandments.
Read MoreWe walked from the center of town to our hotel, spread-out stone bungalows perfectly camouflaged in the shadow of impressive mountains that surrounded the slowly tilting plain.
Read MoreIt was then that the contrast really struck us - the brown, seemingly lifeless, dry desert peaks above, and the colorful, breath-taking scene teeming with life below.
Read MoreThe "holiday village" where we are staying is pleasant enough, standing off by itself. Clusters of rectangular stone huts topped by whitewashed domes, like Motel 6's version of Cairo's City of the Dead.
Read MoreThe conversation was pervaded with questions of whether to stay in Israel, who was already gone, where to get gas masks, whether to get inoculations. The looming war with Iraq has serious consequences for people in Israel, as Saddam Hussein - if attacked - would probably try to attack Israel, as he did in the first Gulf War.
Read MoreThere is an important distinction between understanding a point of view and agreeing with it.
Read MoreIn the words of Fr. Aktham's Christmas message, "In the midst of a war zone, we send to you our greetings in the name of the Prince of Peace." Merry Christmas.
Read MorePalestinians are not allowed to travel from Ben Gurion anymore. And it takes three hours to deliver this definitive news, apparently.
Read MoreSince 9:00 that morning, soldiers had stopped all movement along the road. Perhaps two hundred students who had tried to make their way from Zababdeh up to take their exams were stopped by the soldiers, not allowed to go to the University or back home. Most young men had their IDs taken as they waited. After a couple hours, the women and the professors were told they could go, but they decided to stay, both as a sign of solidarity and because they feared what might happen to the male students if they left.
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