Going 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.
Read MoreA soldier who learned English from watching Monty Python; joking with one of the soldiers about his girlfriend; being scolded and threatened by another for talking to Palestinians who passed through the checkpoint; watching the sun go down and wishing each other "Shabbat Shalom"; two kind soldiers, two that cannot be described kindly. Surreal.
Read MoreOur friends from Nablus, who are to stay with us tonight, had arrived. Often we enjoy the immense hospitality of Palestinian people (including these friendly folks), so it is nice to offer it to them.
Read MoreA wanted AAUJ student was killed. He was the young man we wrote a story about a while back - it looks like he didn't turn himself in after all. The story circulating is that he was killed at a checkpoint - stories conflict as to whether he was carrying a weapon or not.
Read MoreFor the first time we availed ourselves of the horse carriages at Surda. Since the roadblocks returned last month (so much for the loudly proclaimed opening in July), the roadside fruit vendors have, too, along with the horse and donkey carriages.
Read MoreWe sat in the section set up traditionally with cushions on the floor and low tables. It was fun to be able to read the menus in Arabic - our summer classes showing their benefit.
Read MoreAn Israeli jeep was perched on the hill overlooking the checkpoint, it's search light periodically shining on the masses.
Read MoreA few photos from our vacation to visit with family friends in Finland.
Read MoreIhe Israeli Ministry of Interior for Arab Jerusalemites, resembling a prison even more when closed than when swallowed up in masses of waiting people.
Read MoreWe headed into town to meet up with friends from Birzeit and AAUJ . An enjoyable evening was spent relaxing by the pool, playing guitar, and singing.
Read MoreShe was eager to share horror stories of trying over the years to get permissions for her kids to leave (although they are Belgian citizens, they are also Palestinian, and are treated by the IDF as such) and then her own visa to return (she's never been granted a Palestinian ID even though she's been married for many years).
Read MoreToday we worked at our assigned volunteer activities at Star Mountain, Elizabeth cleaning cabins and doing remedial landscaping; Marthame assisting with webdesign for the institution.
Read MoreThe Syndicate of Palestinian Journalists had organized a memorial march for Mazen Da'na, a Reuters cameraman and the second Palestinian journalist to be killed by US forces occupying Iraq. According to the official US account, a soldier mistook the Da'na's camera for a grenade launcher. It was to be the award-winning cameraman's last day in Baghdad.
Read MoreOur driver, who is from Zababdeh, had gotten a fake ID to cross that very checkpoint; like the rest of the population, without special permission, he is not allowed to travel out of his home district (but allowed to return to it). So he got an ID listing his home district as on the other side of the checkpoint (hence allowing him to cross it); on the way back, his Zababdeh ID would do the trick. But not today.
Read More