We cleaned up a bit, shined our shoes (to get the dust off), and headed off for the engagement party of the Anglican priest, Fr. Hossam.

The IDF is still in Beit Jala, and gun-battles are in the streets of that Christian village. Our inbox is clogged with pleas for help, to call/fax/email Israeli and American leaders and officials to stop this reoccupation and escalation of the conflict, particularly pointing out the occupation of the Lutheran church and orphanage.

We had a wonderful visit, as we played with their children and listened to our friend's father-in-law regale us with his stories of living as the only Christian in various Muslim towns around the area.

The village of Al-Ghayar lies just northeast of the Golan. In 1967, the Israelis assumed it belonged to Lebanon and left it alone. Instead, it had been a Syrian village and was now cut off from the rest of Syria by the Israeli presence in the Golan. Now it is under full Israeli military control and guarded by quite the bevy of troops.

The Palestinian villagers say that they left the older people of the village gathered in one house at the edge of the village since they couldn't run fast enough to escape to the hills. They returned to find them all shot and killed. The Israeli soldiers deny this part of the narrative.

We had learned about the bombing the way most Palestinians do - disconnected from it personally (the bomber apparently was from 'Aqaba, not far from Zababdeh, but very far from Birzeit) but living the consequences of the punishment.

Kahane's followers are essentially calling for the ethnic-cleansing of Israel of all Arabs. They have made bumper stickers that read, "No Arabs, No Terrorists" in Hebrew - in other words, you get rid of all the Arabs, you get rid of all the terrorists.

One of their friends who is from Birzeit came over and recounted his story of getting grazed by a bullet in the skull at the Birzeit checkpoint a few months back. Nothing like that to sober us up from our dreaming.

We caught our taxi from Damascus Gate, which is always such a Eastern cultural counterpoint to the Western feel of the New City.

Tonight there was a large Peace Now demonstration in Tel Aviv, which was calling on Sharon to stop escalating the situation, asking him to move away from war and return to the negotiating table.