The result is that most of the produce is simply rotting on the vine while people in Gaza City have none. Economic strangulation.
Read MoreToday was the beginning of 'Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast which celebrates the sparing of Ishmael (in the Qur'an, it is understood that Abraham took his firstborn - i.e. Ishmael not Isaac - to sacrifice) from the knife of Abraham, and marks the end of the season for pilgrimage to Mecca.
Read MoreOur neighbor was headed down to the Gaza Strip to see his family and invited us to come along.
Read MoreOur mechanic is desperately trying to find a 1987 Citroen automatic transmission that can make it through the dozens and dozens of roadblocks.
Read MoreHospitable, resourceful, and generous. So many stereotypes subverted in one moment. Here we were, the Americans whose tax dollars are contributing to their oppression. Here we were, with Israeli license plates. And here we were, Christians in a Muslim town. None of that mattered - we were people in need, and they came to our aid.
Read MoreSince all of our building's telephones are in the name of our landlord, and since one person recently moved out without paying his phone bill, all of the lines were cut.
Read MoreToday is Ash Wednesday as Lent begins.
Read MoreThe recent unrest has accelerated some departures, as lack of work and closures (as well as a failed peace process) are strangling everyone here.
Read MoreThe situation faced by Palestinians today far surpasses the conditions faced by Blacks in apartheid South Africa, in terms of the violence, randomness, ferocity, and sheer venom of the Israeli occupation.
Read MoreWe then headed down to central Ramallah for a solidarity rally, led by a Muslim sheikh, a Coptic bishop, and an Anglican priest.
Read MoreWe visited the rooms in the Red Crescent/Red Cross hospital which burned after being hit by Israeli shelling; we also saw other damaged targets, including homes, a minibus owned by a school for deaf children, and a nearby newspaper office.
Read MorePeople are celebrating in a much more muted way. There's music, but no dancing. People are still in a nation-wide mourning.
Read MoreOur West Bank is landmarked by Palestinian cities and villages, connected (now) by windy roads, whereas hers is marked by Jewish settlements connected by highways. It was as if we were talking about two totally different countries.
Read MoreFor all of the talk of opening roads and lifting closures, our experience today belied the political rhetoric.
Read MoreThe word for "rain" in Arabic is the word they use for the season of "winter."
Read MoreThe lush new growth on nearby rocky hills reminds us more of Ireland than John the Baptist.
Read MoreIt seems that Zababdeh has no running water (except for that stored in rooftop tanks) because of a broken water pump. The pump for the town is under Israeli control, and the Israelis have thusfar failed - or refused - to fix it.
Read MoreViruses aren't good. Elizabeth's been in bed with one, and Marthame managed to give one to our computer.
Read MoreWe gathered with a crowd of folks along the road to see what can be seen - sometimes the red lights of Israeli tracer bullets (we think) can be seen disappearing into the hills. Suddenly, we saw one of these lovely red lights headed in the direction of our gathered crowd - thirty feet in the air and to the left (it wouldn't be a field goal), but in our general direction. Everyone scattered - Marthame went one way, Elizabeth another. Five or ten more followed suit afterwards, no one was really sure what was happening.
Read MoreUnfortunately, the Dead Sea is shrinking at the rate of an inch a year - it's hasty retreat is dramatic. As in most places, this has to do with the appropriation of its natural sources for other uses.
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