Friday, February 27th

Sabeel
On a very rainy Friday morning, we made our way to the offices of Sabeel in Jerusalem. Ironically, while we had been invited to visit by Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel, he was in the Detroit area on a book tour while we were in Jerusalem! However, two long-time volunteers stood in and shared with us the work of the organization, its joys and challenges.

Rain, Rain...
The rain put a bit of a damper on our plans for Friday afternoon but we managed to do a little exploring despite the weather. While we were at lunch, Chelsea noted that Mordechai Vanunu was sitting at a nearby table and wondered whether we might like to meet with him after church on Sunday. Most asked, "Who?"

iPhone ever at the ready, Chelsea called up Mordechai's Wikipedia profile and passed it around the table. Eyebrows were raised. Eyes grew wide. Heads nodded. Yes, yes, we want to hear his story... Chelsea stopped by his table and asked whether he would be willing to visit with this group from U of M. Yes, he said, he'd be happy to meet with us after worship. Our visit with Mordechai would prove to be a most unexpected and remarkable part of our visit.

Thursday, February 26th

A Visit with Bishop Younan

We were able to enjoy a bit of a leisurely morning before checking out of the ICB and transferring to Jerusalem. The highlight of the day was the opportunity to visit with our Bishop in Jerusalem, Munib Younan. Bishop Younan is a remarkable man – insightful, prophetic, good-humored. Our partnership is one of the great blessings of being in ministry in the SEMI Synod.

Yad Vashem

Despite having received imperfect directions from not one but TWO official visitor center staffers at Jaffa Gate, we found our way to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, which is open late on Thursdays. I found myself rather taken by two current exhibits, one on the survivors of the Holocaust who have had a significant impact on life in Israel and one on the art produced by people living in the camps. I found the art from Terezin to be most profound.

Ash Wednesday, February 25th

We got a very early start on Wednesday, leaving the International Center in Bethlehem at 6:15AM in order to join folks from Augusta Victoria Hospital on a visit to one of the village clinics. Unfortunately, the Palestinian staffer assigned to lead the group was stopped at a checkpoint,refused entry into the area and forced to turn back. There would be no visit to the village clinic.

However, Scott Thams, who is currently serving with EAPPI and was accompanying us that day, suggested we get a sense of what life is like for those who have to go through the Qalandia checkpoint on a regular basis. While we arrived at mid-morning, people line up in droves before 5AM, hoping to make it through the checkpoint in order to get to work on time. Apparently, there had been a near riot that morning as people scrambled to make it through the arduous process.

We had the opportunity to meet two of the women who work with Machsom Watch, an Israeli women’s group that observes the procedures at the checkpoints, documents abuses by soldiers (and, now, hired guards ala Blackwater). When the process is not going well, the women from Machsom Watch call the commanders who are able to facilitate the flow of people going through the checkpoint. Scott observed that, when the women from Machsom Watch leave, everything seems to slow down.

While there is a “humanitarian gate” designed for use by women, children, the elderly and ill, it is often only slightly more expeditious than the regular channels. Although Qalandia has 8 gates through which to process people, they open 5 at most. The day we were there, only 3 were open.

People are herded through what can only be described as human cattle chutes that lead to turnstyles that are turned on and off for brief periods of time. Sometimes, 6 can get through, at other times only 3. It all depends on who is operating the gates at the time. We, who needed only our US passports to go through (and, in fact, could have simply driven through the checkpoint), chose to go through the process that the Palestinians must endure day after day. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get through the checkpoint. I’m sure many were wondering why we were subjecting ourselves to this experience but we really wanted to know firsthand what it is like. Here's the view from inside one of the chutes.

Augusta Victoria Hospital and the Mount of Olives

Back at Augusta Victoria on the Mount of Olives, we were given a wonderful tour by Ahmed, who has worked his way up from nurse to public health administrator. It was wonderful to see that the renovation of the children’s wing - so desperately in need of it in 2006, has almost been completed. We did visit the dialysis unit when the children were there and handed out all of the stuffed lambs we had with us. We were able to give Ahmed a gift to the hospital which we requested be used in the new pediatric wing. In addition, we were treated to a fine lunch and conversation about the challenges of delivering health care in the West Bank. After lunch, we met Mark Brown, who offered us some history of the facility, a tour of the grounds and some conversation about the Mount of Olives Housing Project.

Shu'fat Refugee Camp
After leaving Augusta Victoria, we took the public bus to Shu'fat Refugee Camp, where we met with Dr. Anati and others who work tirelessly at the camp’s community center. The Center relies heavily upon the efforts of professional volunteers, including a Jewish Israeli woman who has been volunteering in the physiotherapy clinic for several years. Although initially fearful about working in the camp, she quickly came to be at ease in this over-populated community of profound need. While the soldiers at the checkpoint regularly assure her that she’s putting her life at risk by entering the refugee camp, she remains undaunted – among the camp’s most dedicated regular volunteers.

We were able to meet some of the children and volunteers who participate in the after-school program which includes art classes and language lessons. Over the years, the center has regularly taken youth to Italy to participate in peace camps and to receive medical treatment unavailable in the West Bank. In addition, the center hosts a program through which women with very low-incomes and disabilities make attractive and functional items using traditional Palestinian cross-stitch patterns. Naturally, we were eager to support their efforts!
After leaving Shu'fat Camp, Chelsea directed us to the appropriate bus back to Bethlehem. While she had given us excellent directions so that we could return to the ICB without incident, we were a bit disoriented by the curving streets and our inability to see key landmarks, so we wound up taking cabs back to the center rather than walking. Ah, well…

Dinner with the Sa’di Family

While Ash Wednesday is traditionally a day of fasting, that was not meant to be for us in Bethlehem. We were invited on an olive wood shopping adventure and to dinner at the home of Hanna Sa’di, a friend of Marty Zimmann and others from our synod. Early in the week, we had delivered some supplies that we had carried from the good folks at Holy Faith, (LuteEpisc), Saline.

Hanna’s cousin has recently opened a large shop that offers olive wood products, icons, jewelry and a wide variety of Holy Land souvenirs. We were a bit overwhelmed by the size and range of items offered, so took more time than we expected to make our selections. It was nearly 8:00 before we arrived at the Sa’di home, where Hanna’s lovely spouse, Lilly, had prepared a lavish meal. We had a delightful visit with the Sa’dis (Hanna, Lilly, Hanna’s mother and sons Richard and Ramzi) and ate until we were about to burst. Lilly sent us off with leftover homemade rolls and sweets while Hanna gifted each of us with samples of his own olive wood carvings.

Ash Wednesday Devotions

Upon returning from our evening with the Sa’dis, we gathered for Ash Wednesday devotions. The appointed reading from Joel – along with the regular Wednesday compline psalm (34) from a devotional book I often use – took on new meaning as we reflected upon what we had seen, heard and experienced thus far in our Holy Land pilgrimage.