May, 2003
Having been here during the total collapse of Oslo, we remain skeptical that things will turn on the right track. St. Thomas had it right - at least when it came to politics.
Now it's a matter of making sure that all his travel permissions get lined up. He's currently waiting for the proper paperwork from the US Consulate in East Jerusalem.
Marthame has been working on another video project, this one for the Baladiyye, the village municipality. They want a simple half-hour video introduction to Zababdeh
We sat in silence for a while, and after the distribution of bitter coffee and dried dates, we all left.
Just as only men go to the burial in the cemetery, only women mourn over the body before the funeral.
Marthame had lunch with several members of St. Andrew's, including two Palestinian women who live in West Jerusalem - the only two left from the pre-'48 Arab population of that area. Their homes are lovely Arab-style homes, as are the rest of the homes in the neighborhood - the only difference is that there are Arabs living in these two.
It would be like needing special government permission to travel from your home in Wheaton into Chicago, and getting permission to go to Canada to do so.
We supped on grilled meat, fresh bread, cucumber and tomato salad, tea, and coffee. It was a nice relaxing time, looking down on Zababdeh, nestled in the golden wheat fields, which wave and rustle in the wind.
One of the locals from nearby Qabatia told us that his grandmother was Jewish - his grandfather met her while working in Israel. This place is far more complex that we had ever expected.
Israeli checkpoints are like a box of chocolates - you never know whom you're going to get.
“Do you know Zababdeh?" "I've heard of it." "We call it Zababdeh, DC. Like Washington, DC."
We're hoping the Road Map will bring results - people here have heard years of talk; what they need is real movement on the way to a just peace.
Her seventh graders led the assembly today, the last day of classes before exam period begins. They wished their fellow students good luck on their exams, and nostalgically said farewell to those who will not return next year.
Today is first communion for the Latin Church's third graders and is also graduation for the school's Kindergarten class.
We went to visit and have lunch with one of the Christian families in Tubas. The laity here is extraordinarily active, impressively taking the initiative on their building, activities, and expansion.
The 12th graders and their parents came by for a meeting this afternoon. Their Ministry of Education comprehensive exams are on the way, now that they've finished their school comprehensive exams.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is in the midst of a major assessment and rebuilding of their mission program. Today, a task force was meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi, to talk about ministry in Palestine and Israel. We were brought in by telephone to be part of that conversation, and they were also interested in hearing from at least one of our local partners. Fr. Aktham joined us to speak with them about the situation.
The students were restless tonight - it's their midterm exam, and they had tried to postpone after feeling unprepared. Marthame had stuck to his guns, much to their displeasure. We thought such concerns would end after high school, but apparently not.
Those kids that don't have ice cream almost always have a fist full of green hummos, the fresh chick peas which are now in season.
This morning Elizabeth's eighth graders led the morning assembly in English, something the older classes do once or twice a semester.
Elizabeth's seventh graders received care packages today from their pen pals in Maryland. They opened them with the glee of small children opening Christmas presents, finding goodies like family photos and lip gloss.
The young man from Nablus, when he goes back home, has a minimum six-hour commute facing him due to road closures and checkpoints. And that's for about forty-five miles of travel. We joked that he could work as a nurse in the States and have a shorter commute back home!
Crossing the checkpoint was a breeze. It was the wait for the ride that took so long - an hour standing by the side of the road in an abandoned concrete bus stop. There were plenty of cars, but no one wanted to pick him up.
Today was an historic day in Zababdeh. For the first time in twenty-three years, the Melkite Church rang its bell on Sunday morning to gather the faithful for worship.
Work continues apace on the Melkite Convent. Today, Fr. Firas has hired a bulldozer to come and clear away the growth that has smothered the land over the past twenty years of neglect, as well as to even out the land around the church so that he can make it a more welcoming place. Today, he estimated that eighty trailers of rocks, garbage, dirt, etc. were hauled away.
He's headed towards Rafah in the Gaza strip, where now two ISM volunteers have been killed.
