By Kathy Maldegen

All of our days are so full that I hardly know where to start. Today we visited the Mar Elias High School after arriving in I’billin last night. Mar Elias began with a kindergarten in 1968.  The community requested a high school next, because public education ended at 8th grade unless students traveled a great distance. Most families couldn’t afford to send their children away.  Also, sending children away was not popular because of the importance of the family in Arab culture.

11th -grade students plus my daughter, Susan

The high school overcame great odds before opening in 1981. The Israeli Ministry of Education refused to issue a permit, saying, “This school shall not be opened. And if it does open this year, it shall be closed the next.” Mar Elias was denied phone, electricity, and water service. They built the school without a permit and opened it anyway.  They finally were allowed to buy a permit two years later. Today, Mar Elias Educational Institutions also include a kindergarten (ages 3-5), an elementary school (grades 1-6), and a middle school (grades 7 & 8).  In 2010 they added birth-to-three daycare for faculty and staff with young families. 2,275 children from birth to age 18 arrive on campus each day.

We’re staying in the Mar Elias Guest House, which is on the 6th floor of the elementary school building. We arrived at the high school this morning in time to hear the principal give morning announcements to the student body of 1,150 (grades 9-12) in the schoolyard. We then split into two groups, one of which toured the school; my group visited an 11th grade English class. We introduced ourselves, and when they found out I was a music teacher, we were treated to a haunting melody in Arabic, sung by a girl who intends to be a singer. She gave a concert at the school last month. Our group then sang “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.” Students here don’t have music after 6th grade, but there are many extracurricular opportunities in the fine arts—visual art, drama, music, dabke (Palestinian folk dance), film, etc., and students can perform and participate in art exhibits.

After singing, we divided into small groups for more conversation. All of the students plan to attend college. Mar Elias’ students have outstanding test results, and graduates continue higher education in Jerusalem, Europe, and the U.S.A. They study Arabic, Hebrew, English, history, civics, and mathematics. They also choose a major in science or technology. For example, Computer Engineering majors study computer science, physics, and software engineering. Another major includes courses in psychology, sociology, and ecology.

The school’s mission has always been to “Build peace on desktops.” Druse, Christian and Muslim children learn together from a faculty that includes Jewish teachers in addition to the three groups previously mentioned. I was impressed by the principal’s message that “Accepting the Other plays a vital role in our daily lives because we cannot be whole in God or humanity without the Other. It is difference that creates the beauty and uniqueness of any masterpiece.” This made me think of Desmond Tutu and the African concept of ubuntu. I remember it something like this: I cannot be human alone. I can be human because you are also human.

Father Chacour in the Bir’im church where he was baptized

We ate lunch in the ruins of Bir’im, an Arab village destroyed by the Israeli army in 1948. Today it’s a national park, but there is no mention of the 1,100 Palestinians who formerly lived there. Most of the villagers fled to Lebanon, only three miles north. They remain there in a refugee camp, and are not permitted to enter Israel. We were guided by an 87-year-old man who was 20 when the army drove them out. He showed us the well he and his brother had dug in their yard. It’s still there by the foundations of his house. Now he lives in a nearby town. He once returned to plant flowers in his yard; another time he planted an olive tree. Both were uprooted by the Israeli army.

Old church, new bell

Bir’im was mainly Christian, and the lovely church remains standing, although all the homes were destroyed. Jewish settlers took the best quality stones from the destroyed houses and used them to build a kibbutz nearby. They also took the church bell. Father Elias Chacour, who was born in Bir’im, went to the kibbutz and requested that they return the bell. They told him to come back in a few days. When he returned, they had broken the bell and left the many pieces for him. After saving enough money, he went to a foundry in Lebanon to have a new bell cast. But when he went to pay, he found it had already been paid for: Bir’im refugees in the Lebanese camp had taken up a collection to pay for their former church’s new bell.

In spite of all they have suffered, the Palestinian people remain hopeful. Their spirit is amazing. They are like the olive trees. One plants olive trees for one’s children, as they take time to mature and may not bear fruit until they are 25 years old. Many olive trees are over a thousand years old, some over 2,000 years old. Like these trees, Palestine’s Christians have been here since the time of Jesus. They are the original Christians, following the teachings of Jesus for 2,000 years, right here in the Holy Land.

Peace be with you, Shalom, and Salaam w’aleikum from Kathy Maldegen, a Pilgrim of Ibillin.