by Joanie Grierson

Dean Hosam Naoum at the Cathedral of St George

The last day started with an early call to be packed, fed and on the bus to East Jerusalem by 7:45.  Despite a 20 minute traffic delay, the Bethlehem checkpoint posed no problem.  We were greeted at the Cathedral of St George by Dean Hosam Naoum, a 1991 graduate of Mar Elias.  He is in charge of the Arabic and the English congregations of the church, is principal of the 900 student school next door and is head of the churches in Jerusalem.  In spite of all the problems he discussed, how good it was to hear him say “good things are happening here”.  Once again, we sang “Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem”.

A short distance away was the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs  (OCHA).  Their reports have documented the many problems we have seen for Palestinians such as illegal seizures of Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, establishment of 135 Settlements and about100 outposts.  Roads built exclusively for Israelis, barrier walls that fragments the community, travel restrictions and a cumbersome permit system that separate people from jobs and needed social and medical services were discussed.  Unfortunately the UN has not been able to change policies.  They do provide relief and OCHA runs the refugee camps and schools within. Nearly one-third of the registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.5 million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

“I shall put my breath into you and you shall live again and I will set you upon your own soil…” The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Israel

Next was an unforgettable visit to Yad Vashem, the official Israeli memorial to the Holocaust.  The voices recalling their memories of the horrors, the art that was produced, the shoes and uniforms they wore, the tributes to those who tried to help will always be indelibly imprinted in our minds.

Meeting with Dalia Landau (far right), whose story is told in Sandy Tolan’s book, The Lemon Tree

By 5:30 reached Ramle and finally climbed the path to a beautiful monastery where we had an opportunity to process our reaction to the trip.   All agreed it has been a life changing experience with a group of welcoming and caring fellow pilgrims.  We loved the order of the trip starting with IIbellin and the camaraderie that developed among the group.  For me, the most memorable event of the day was our meeting with the charismatic Dalia Landau, a key figure in The Lemon Tree.  Her heartfelt decision to embrace the pain felt both by her Jewish community and the Palestinians and search for the path of peace inspired us as it has so many others.

Kudos to Joan for arranging a wonderful final dinner at Samir’s restaurant.  As we moved on to the Tel Aviv airport, we all knew we had experienced an amazing and unforgettable trip.  Thank you.