20 Oct ~ Shannon Clarkson and Anna Schoettle

Shannon: We began our morning at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem.  The church filled fairly quickly and although the pastor, Mitri Raheb, whom we had hoped to hear was not there, the liturgy carried the day.  Even tho the language was Arabic, the order of service and litanies were familiar to many.  We prayed, sang, went forward to receive communion and were blessed.  Following the service we walked through the streets until we were guided into a small restaurant and then led up narrow winding stairs to an upper room where our leader Usama collected our preferences, vegetarian, beef, or chicken, for our “sandwiches.”

Anna: We did only two things today, but they were both extremely significant. Besides having a little free time this morning, we attended church at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas church. This is a beautiful medium sized Church in Bethlehem. It has beautiful, original stained glass windows, three of which depict scenes of the Christmas story. Today in this church there were the regular congregation from Palestine, then people from a number of places in the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan. The service is mainly in Arabic, but they invite people to sing and pray in their own language. This was particularly noticeable during the Lord’s Prayer, when there were at least five languages being spoken. One of the musicians played the oud, and two of the sung parts of the service used Middle Eastern scales and style, and added a lovely flavor to the music.
    

Shannon: Following a quick change from church clothes to hiking apparel we gathered on our bus for a ride to a sometimes challenging hiking trail through a valley currently occupied and farmed by Palestinians, but which is destined to become Israeli land when the wall in that area is completed.  Meanwhile, as long as the roofs on the scattered houses are made of temporary materials their homes are not destroyed and the caves and fields remain accessible to them.  We passed several owners picking olives and on our way out saw two men carrying large burlap bags on their shoulders filled with them.  As a compliment to our group, our guide commented that he had never led a group that was able to walk so ably and at such a good pace through the valley.

Anna: After the service, some conversation, a walk through the market, and lunch, most of us set out on a hike down a beautiful Valley outside of Bethlehem. Here we got to see terraces of olive trees and people harvesting their olives. Many of the terraces are hundreds if not a thousand or two years old. We also got to see where the wall has not yet been built. Once the wall is built, the Palestinian farmers will not be able to access their traditional family farms. This is painful to hear about. It is yet another place where the squeezing of the Palestinian people is very obvious. The Israeli government is not the first government to take land from another people. We from the US could reflect here… That doesn’t excuse this though. Being able to experience the beauty of this land made me appreciate lands that we have set aside in the US for all to enjoy. It was a beautiful day and in the moment did seem like a day the Lord has made.

Shannon, further reflections: Back on the bus, someone asked how guides were chosen for Israel and Palestine.  He replied that there are about 13,000 Israeli tour guides and about 92 of them are permitted to also lead tours in Palestine.  However, he noted that many more also lead tours there.  Only 40 Palestinians are permitted to lead tours in Jerusalem and while there may only tell the Israeli narrative.  As we watched the kestrels soaring freely above us, many if not all, thought of the irony that the birds of the air were free to fly where they wished, but those whose soles were citizens of Palestine must stay within their ever diminishing borders.

Sat 10/19 ~ Dave Gamble

After lunch we visited a Palestinian farm in Bethlehem that has been owned and worked by the Nassar family since 1916.  (Farm website: www.tentofnations.org.) Two brothers told their own stories about their bond to the land and their desire to remain on the 100 acre farm while in harmony and brotherhood with their Israeli neighbors.

Daher, the older brother, bubbled with joy to show us the farm and the caves the family lived in when the family began farming olives, grapes, carob, and figs. He led us in songs of faith, hope and fellowship in the cave and gushed with hospitality for all including the adjacent Israeli settlers.

Daoud, the younger brother talked about the challenges associated with trying to prove family ownership of the farm with voluminous legal records and witnesses.  It was frustrating to hear the litany of how the Israeli government and lower court system seemed to be focused on gaining control of the land for Israeli purposes instead of justice.  Daoud stressed the need to be proactive in finding solutions while avoiding the trap of victimhood and hate.  He was inspiring in his efforts to make the land a healing place.

His message for us was to take action via – come and see, then go and tell. He witnessed that we can make a difference as all people understand justice and we all must have faith, love and hope.

We ended our visit by harvesting olives from several trees while looking down at the Israeli settlements and hearing Palestinian children from the village but at a distance laughing and watching us hand pick olives. We watched the sunset as we boarded the bus as the end of our day was culminated by the faith, hope and love of the Nassar’s.

Saturday, October 19 ~ Brenda Mehos

“It’s easier to build strong children then to repair broken men”- Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and Statesman

“Children are one third of our population and all of our future”- Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health. 1981.

Our third morning was tough. We visited Hebron, known to be a flashpoint spot for violence because of its unique situation of having an illegal Israeli settlement right in the heart of the city. It’s reported that there are 33,000 Palestinians living in Hebron, about 900 settlers, and 1500-2000 Israeli soldiers there to protect them. It’s a flashpoint because of the displacement (illegal by international law) of Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the middle of Old Hebron City and because it contains at its heart the Tomb of the Patriarchs, one of the holiest sites for both Jews and Muslims. Palestinian movement here is harshly restricted by multiple checkpoints throughout the city and we experienced two of them as we visited the mosque and walked the souk (market place).

At the end of our morning we ate lunch and talked with two Christian Peacemaker Team members (CPT). CPT Palestine was invited to Hebron to be a presence in 1995, just after the signing of Oslo II when the Hebron Municipality issued an invitation to monitor and document human rights violations of Palestinians. In Hebron CPT provides ongoing presence at checkpoints where school children are at risk. It’s also present in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque during Friday prayer to monitor and document human rights abuses and is available for emergencies such as home raids, school raids, housing demolitions, arrests, and detainments.
One statement by a team member is hard to get out of my head and it is this. “The military does use force on children.” Equally disturbing was the statement that here a Palestinian will be tried as an adult if they are age 12 or over by the military court. Child arrests are up from 5 in 2017 to 19 in 2018. Settler violence has been on the rise since the beginning of 2018 with an average of six attacks per week. (2019 is still being compiled.)

All I can think about is what it would be like for my kindergartener to have to walk through checkpoints to go to kindergarten? What would it be like for our family to fear that soldiers could come in anytime during the night and arrest one of my family members? What does this type of continuous stress do to a child and what kind of person will they become?

I am thankful for young people who want to do this type of work. You can check out the organization’s website at www.cptpalestine.com.