Jammin' in Jerusalem May 29, 2006

Greetings from Jerusalem!

(YAY! The hard returns work on this computer!)

I'm writing to you from an internet cafe by Jaffa Gate, the Old City. On Sunday morning, Marty and I went to worship with the Arabic speaking congregation at Redeemer in Jerusalem. What a wonderful group of folks!The pastor trained at Tubingen. Though he preaches in Arabic, his style is clearly German. Naturally, everyone in the congregation is multi-lingual (couldn't say that in the States) so there was no need to translate my greeting or Marty's. Very hospitable folks. They worship at the same time as the English speaking congregation at Redeemer (there are also German and Danish congregations) so they share coffee hour together in the beautiful courtyard. Funny Lutherans. They provide only HOT beverages: tea and (argh!) Nescafe! (Nescafe is all over the place! Even the Swedes serve it!)

As we waited to be picked up near Jaffa Gate, the Armenian priests and seminarians came through. (They have marshalls at the head of the pack who bang something like maces on the ground as if to say, "Make way for the Armenians.") Well, there Marty and I stood in our black clerical shirts! Did *I* ever get looks! It was pretty funny!

We spent the afternoon with the pastor and his family (three daughters; what was JEd Bartlet told when the man found out he was the father of daughters? I've lost that line. Carey?) as well as Bp. Younan's brother, who is a riot. They fed us until I thought that we would burst! I did learn how to say "Thank you" and "Yes" (politely) and learned the word for lamb. Important stuff, eh?

Sunday night (was that just last night?) we moved into the Lutheran Guest House. As I said to one of my cohorts, "We're not in Bethlehem anymore." The difference between the hospitality we were offered by our Palestinian hosts and the German innkeepers is marked!

After dinner last night, we heard a presentation by two men, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, both of whom have lost loved ones in the conflict and have translated their grief and anger into energy and action in service of the cause of peace through an organization called The Parents Circle. Their stories were powerful and deeply moving to all of us who were in attendance. You can read more at: www.theparentscircle.org.

Today, we went on a tour of settlements with Jimmy from ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions). Jimmy shares his time between Chicago and Jerusalem, doing peace work of various kinds in both locations. He was wearing a Jerusalem Garden t-shirt (from Ann Arbor); we liked that. VERY nice guy and very dedicated to peace & justice issues.

Our first stop was an illegal Israeli settlement in West Jerusalem and our second was at the portion of the wall at Abu Dis. Rather than dividing Israelis from Palestinians, it cuts right through a Palestinian neighborhood. They put razor wire atop the concrete barrier because the Palestinian youth, being thin, strong and nimble (oh, to be those things) would find 2 inch cracks between panels of the wall and "Free Climb" up and over. No longer.

Jimmy took us to Ma'ale Adummim, a huge settlement (it's likely to top 80k residents when complete). It was like going into a gated community in Orange County, CA. Lush, green, with all of the amenities one might ever need or want. It has an industrial section outside the residential zone.

Then, Jimmy took us to a Palestinian town (the name escapes me at the moment) where all 33 houses in the town are under demolition orders. Once such an order is issued, it can be put into effect after 3 days (the military can come on the 4th day and take the house) or anytime after that. One family lived in this precarious situation for 7 years. When the forces show up to demolish a house, the family has 15 minutes to vacate.

While in this little village, we saw camels grazing near a Bedouin encampment and met a few little kids in the town. (Having gum and finger puppets to hand out proved popular.)

I almost forgot. We were stopped at TWO checkpoints today. Both times, we had to pass forward our passports for examination by the Israeli soldiers. It's a bit unnerving to have someone with an AK-47 standing in the front of a mini bus, looking at the photos on our passports and then searching out our faces. Since these were not national borders, the action was illegal (internationals are allowed to move freely throughout Israel and the West Bank) but they do what they choose.

We had a little free time for shopping in the afternoon and then walked (oh, how we walked!) mostly uphill to the Swedish Theological Institute in West Jerusalem. What a GORGEOUS place! Swedish hospitality was wonderful.

We began with an hour long presentation by an Orthodox Woman from Machsom Watch, a group of Israeli women (now numbering 400-500) who work in 4 hour shifts observing the goings on at the checkpoints. Her parents emigrated to Israel in 1933 but her grandparents, aunts and uncles perished in the Holocaust. Her perspective was a very helpful one for us to have.

We concluded the evening with dinner in the garden at STI. What a lovely setting! The bouganvilla was blooming abundantly and the air had cooled down significantly. It was an enjoyable way to end the evening. (Well, it was almost the end. We walked back (mostly downhill, thanks be to God) and then dropped into the internet cafe.

Tomorrow will be a tough one.

Stay tuned!

Sue