Lunch with Sammy&Rula

We went to Nablus this morning to attend the service at The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd. Thereafter lunch was served at the home of Sammy and Rula, a Christian Palestinian couple from the congregation. It was lovely to be with them. I felt at home and comfortable. They were so hospitable and would not allow us to leave. I definitely made some new friends. Their house is aproximately two hundred years old and has been in the family for generations. Sammy mentioned that the Christian population in Nablus used to be more than eight hundred but this number has reduced drastically over the last few years. We discussed at length the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel and the seperation wall. We talked about the place for Christianity in a predominantly Islamic country and came to the conclusion that peace can only be achieved once you find true peace in your heart. We need to build the country and not the army.

Richard, a photo journalist from the UK is visiting our placement for a few days. He is covering a story on the effects of the seperation wall on the farmers and he is scheduled to exhibit his work in a few months. I saw some of the photographs he took. It is just incredible.

Taybe / Efraim Checkpoint

All Palestinians who live in the West Bank and work in Israel have to pass through a checkpoint at some point. This is true for Tulkarm and surrounding areas. Their checkpoint is called Taybe also known as Efraim. Around four thousand people cross this checkpoint every morning between 4h00 and 7h00. Workers line up at Taybe as early as 02h00 in the morning. Israel claimed that it was neccessary to protect its land and people against Palestinians who are a security threart. We are not allowed to pass through the checkpoint. Apparently before passing through to the other side they should lock their fingerprint, show a valid permit and have their bags scanned. Most times they are subjected to utter humiliation; they are talked down to and insulted to a degrading level. Sometimes people are turned back and if this happens they will lose a days work and will not be paid. "No work - no pay". This is a concern as the per capita income for the Tulkarm population is only around $250 per annum.

Shufa Girls School

Shufa is a village outside Tulkarm. For a while they had no electricity in the village. Apparantly they refused to have electricity installed some time ago because the village would not collaborate with their oppressor, Israel. This will soon change it seems; they will be provided with electricity in a few months. Having such a firm opinion for a cause is both fair and applaudable. There is an Israeli settlement next to Shufa; these two communities never interact with each other. Probably as a result of propoganda, solidarity and a strong sense of patriatism. Until just last year the Shufa Girls School used to be of mixed gender (both boys and girls attended there), but as from the next school year the boys will attend at the new Shufa Boys School. The School celebrated with an open day and awards for academic achievement. It would have been special to have a few sports or cultural awards. They had beautiful items of song, poetry, dance and theatrics. The underlying message was to achieve freedom for Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Prisoners Day

Every Tuesday, at 10h00 family and friends gather in Tulkarem in front of the office of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to share in a peaceful prisoners sit in. The purpose is to show solidarity for the hundreds of young men and women from Tulkarem who are under security detention in Israeli prisons. The Israeli Military is known to have placed Palestinians (also from Tulkarem) under arrest after a search operation or in cases where they feared a security threat to Israel. Today marked the annual commemoration of such detainees. The EAPPI team was there to show solidarity and a protective presence. The political detainees are currently on strike in Israeli prisons. The form of the strike is at the time of publication of this blog not clear. I have been reliably informed though that the families of prisoners are supporting the strike by not registering for visitation. Alledgedly, one of the detainees are demanding their release. I hope to follow up with an article.

Jericho

Jericho is recorded to be the oldest city in the world. It was truly a memorable experience that taught me so much about the people, the history and the landscape. We saw the Mount of Temptations,visited Hisham's Palace, The Jericho Village Resort and off course the Dead Sea which I enjoyed most of all.

Bethlehem

I am on placement visit in Bethelehem.
We visited the village of Nahhalin and shared some interesting thoughts with the women about the occupation in the Westbank and its effect on society. They were clear that the people of Palestine are in need of assistance and that the truth about the conflict should be shared with the world. They are ready to see some much needed development in their village. Thereafter we attended a meeting with Nidal AbuZuluf. He is the manager of the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) of the YMCA in Bethlehem. They are also spearheading the Olive Tree campaign. We discussed the Kairos Document in detail. This document is a call from Palestinian Christians to the world churches for support.
I leave Bethlehem tomorrow for Jericho and the Dead Sea.

"Spring cleaning" Tulkarem Church

We went to the local church in Tulkarem and helped the caretaker, Daoud to clean the garden. This town of approximately 50 000 people has only two christian families. Daoud cannot remember the last time they had a service in the church. Normally he travels to Nablus (one hour away) to attend mass. He has very little support and taking care of the church is clearly an overwhelming responsibility for one person. Palestinian christians are in the minority in the Westbank. According to a report by the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) around 400 000 Palestinian christians were living in Palestine before the 1948 war when the state of Israel was created. Now this statistic has decreased from 10% to only 2%. Many of them were forced from their homes by the Israeli Military and as a result they emigrated to the diaspora. I heard Dauod say to us while cleaning the garden, "I thank God for you."