Disturbed...

Last Saturday was perhaps the most difficult day I’ve had here so far. A major takeaway that I hoped to gain from this experience was a better understanding of hate. Up until now, I had questioned the need for peace in this region – mostly because everyday life seems to run normally here, despite the extreme inconveniences of checkpoints, house demolitions, etc. Overall though, I didn’t think many people in this region lived in fear of leaving their homes or felt that their safety was constantly at risk. In essence, there was a need for piece – clear boundaries needing to be set so that Palestinians can carry on with their way of life as can Israelis free from injustice and massive military spending. Unfortunately today, I saw how hate (and perhaps feelings of entitlement) have led people to jeopardize the safety of others and I can say that it is beyond disturbing.

We began the day touring Hebron, a city in the West Bank where Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Jacob and their wives are buried beneath the Ibrahimi Mosque and a conjoined Synagogue. As you can imagine this is a holy site for Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The tombs lie below the Mosque and Synagogue with Jacob, Leah, and Joseph ‘s tombs being in the Synagogue, Abraham and Sarah’s tombs being accessible to both, and Isaac and Rebecca’s tombs on the Mosque side. Christians are granted access to both sides (with the exception of the Mosque on Friday and the Synagogue on Saturday due to the respective Sabbaths), but Jews and Muslims are not allowed in each other’s half except for a few days a year. Muslims and Jews used to be able to move freely through the houses of worship until 1994 when Baruch Goldstein, a Brooklyn-born physician entered the mosque on the Jewish holiday of Purim during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with an M-16 and killed 29 Muslims and injured tens of others as they prayed in the mosque. Bullet holes are still apparent in the mosque and bulletproof glass has since been installed to protect the Muslims. Despite this being an extremely disturbing act of terrorism, in a settlement nearby, there is a memorial tribute to Goldstein and as one woman is quoted in saying on a YouTube video “it’s a shame he didn’t kill more Muslims.” There are theories of him having an accomplice as doors to the mosque were locked, barring anyone from leaving at the time shooting started and after the crime scene was investigated, more bullets were found than Goldstein was said to have had. It still remains a mystery.

After the Mosque, we walked into the Jewish zone of Hebron an area that is only accessible to Jews and Christians, to observe the checkpoint and the ultraorthodox Jewish settlers. Rabbi Moshe Levinger began colonizing the center of town after Israel seized the West Bank in 1967. Though these moves were against Israeli law, they ultimately garnered endorsement, even after a settlement of Kiryat Arba was established nearby to draw the settlers out. As a result, the city is quartered up into zones. Each armed settler in the Old City is protected by as many as four armed soldiers stationed on rooftops and street corners, allowing the 600 Jews there to roam freely in the streets, carrying machine guns and hurling anti-Arab chants. Clashes break out between settlers and soldiers regularly, not to mention repeated violence and terrorist activity towards Muslims. It was a very weird sight, male orthodox Jews looking like they just came from a Gap commercial suit with white shirts and khaki pants, carrying machine guns across their shoulders walking home from Synagogue.

After observing the settlers, we went to the Old City to shop. Like all of the old cities here, they are comprised of stone buildings and streets that are close together. Above the narrow streets was fencing with garbage and other random items caught in it. When I asked our tour guide about the purpose of fencing he said that Jewish settlers often throw things down onto the vendors including garbage, feces, and bleach to destroy their product. After shopping in the Old City, we met with a Palestinian family who lives on the border of the Palestinian zone and the Jewish zones. Though they are not accessible to each other by ground, they are by rooftop.

The Palestinian family has nine children who are now forced to live entirely within one room because it is the only place they can feel secure. They used to have two rooms for the entire family to fit comfortably, but settlers burned it down killing one of their children. The doors are without locks as settlers have repeatedly shot them out. Furthermore, the settlers shot holes into the family’s water tank, making it impossible for them to get water. A new tank costs around $100 (a great sum for this family) but cannot be installed without a building permit from the Israeli government. Palestinians unfortunately, are not allowed to have building permits, so the current water tank they have is there illegally, which if discovered could cost them their house.

The irony of all of this is that in order to provide a secure area for the Jewish settlers, the IDF has stations on rooftops watching over the properties. As we went to the rooftop of the Palestinian family we were visiting, an IDF station was about 20 feet away, in clear view of a soldier. Under laws of occupation, the occupier must protect both the citizens of its country and in the land that they occupy, obviously this isn’t happening.

I thought that this would be the most upsetting part of the day, but unfortunately, I was wrong. We left Hebron for the small village of At-Tuwani, a primitive subsistence village with the great misfortune of being with 200 meters of Ma’on, a settlement full of ideological Jewish settlers. The settlers began moving to the area in the early 1980s and have been terrorizing the community ever since. It started with attacking shepherds with sticks, then settlers began stealing, poisoning, and killing Palestinian livestock. At one point they poisoned a Palestinian barley crop that was planted for a resident’s goats to graze in, they could not drink the milk for months for fear of drinking poison and dying.

Attacks on adults are one thing, but settlers have been targeting children for years. At-Tuwani houses the only school for miles. Children from surrounding villages walk to school in the morning are often met by harassment from adult settlers of Ma’on. Harassment can be as minor as yelling obscenities to throwing stones and stealing money and backpacks, to beatings. The Christian Peacemaker Team was approached to help accompany the children as they walk to school. Within two weeks, three CPT volunteers had been hospitalized as they were met by settlers with bats and chains. Now the IDF accompanies the children to school, yet they are still subject to harassment and terrorism.

The list of attacks truly goes on and doesn’t show any sign stopping (for a more detailed list of attacks you can read here http://www.cpt.org/hebron/documents/Tuwani_media_packet.htm). Although many of these attacks have been caught on tape and turned into the Israeli police and IDF, nothing is done. I question how residents like the settlers benefit the state of Israel. Certainly the mentality of lawlessness would or should be of concern. It’s puzzling.

Obviously after learning this, it brings an entirely different dimension to the notion of peace and piece. I still don’t have all of the answers, but there must be a better solution than the status quo.

Thanks for reading. I love the comments.

Galilee and Peace Talks...

Today was my first day back from a three-day holiday. As a group, we spent Monday – Wednesday at the Galilee enjoying swimming in freshwater and taking in religious sights. I’m reading the Bible with a great deal more interest since I can picture where the stories took place. The Galilee includes many famous stories and places such as Nazareth, Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, and Jericho. Nazareth is the site of the Basilica of the Annunciation where it is believed that the Angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she was pregnant with Jesus. We also visited the Greek Catholic Synagogue Church – a synagogue built on the site of a synagogue said to be where the young Jesus regularly prayed and later preached.

Next we arrived at our accommodations at the Galilee and enjoyed the sea. This is where Jesus walked on water though scientists believe that he skated due to a freak cold spell – the jury’s still out for me. The next day we visited the ancient town of Capernaum, Jesus’s home base during the most influential period of his Galilean ministry. He also recruited his first disciples here: Peter, Andrew, James, John (all fisherman), and Matthew (a tax collector).

Wednesday we spent time at the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3 – 10

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The verses are beautiful as is the view of the Galilee. Now there is a church and gardens on the site. Next we went to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes where Jesus fed 5000.

Lunch was at Pagoda a Chinese/Thai restaurant. I had no idea how much I missed a good Pad Thai and it was nice to feel like I was eating something from home. Our last stop was to Jericho. The city of Jericho is the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth as well as the lowest (1200ft below sea level). So far the terrain of Israel/Palestine has been mountainous, but Jericho is quite different, a valley miles from the Dead Sea and completely flat. Security in Jericho is very high since the second infitada and is often where heads of government meet.

Settlements were at the center of peace talks this week between Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas refuses to engage in peace talks as long as settlements are still under construction. Israel has ignored Obama’s call for a settlement building freeze, though they have now agreed upon “restraining” settlement activity. Ultimately, Obama called for negotiations to be made without preconditions and on Tuesday, Obama, Netanyahu, and Abbas met. Though there were no breakthroughs, both sides did agree to send negotiating teams to Washington net week and there was a general agreement that peace talks should restart quickly.

The notion of settlements is a double-edge sword. While the building of settlements in the West Bank is illegally confiscating Palestinian land, the construction of them (and the wall) employs thousands of Palestinians. A Palestinian friend told us last night that his friend had recently lost his job with a family and two kids. When I asked what he did, he said he worked in the settlements and the slowdown cost him his job. It’s very ironic. Prior to these talks there were currently around 2500 units in production and 500 more planned, I do not know what the current plans are post-peace talks.

The talk of settlements unfortunately is just the tip of the iceberg for peace. Bigger negotiations such borders, Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees will prompt much greater debate. Most people favor a two state solution, but when actually considering the logistics of moving 500,000 Israeli settlers out of the West Bank and negotiating borders as well as figuring out what to do with people who were forced to leave their homes in 1948 or later, it’s a nightmare, not to mention questions of whether Palestinians can maintain an economy without ties to Israel. A one state solution is far and wide easier logistically, but can Arabs and Israelis coexist?

I admire Obama for taking the initiative to restart peace talks, but his power seems limited as, in my mind, the only action the US could take to prompt Israel and Palestine from dragging their feet is end our foreign aid – a budgetary power given to Congress. Israel has the largest foreign lobby in Washington, so it is unlikely this will happen. Below is a breakdown of aid and other forms of trade that we are engaged with in Israel that I found online, it’s amazing to see how much interaction we do with each other. It is also important to note that we also fund a great deal of social projects through USAID for Palestine too, mainly around building hospitals and schools, that could easily be suspended as well, but I do not have the specifics on.

According to the book "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by Walt and Mearsheimer, "Israel receives on average about 3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, an amount that is roughly one-sixth of America's direct foreign assistance budget and equal to about 2 percent of Israel's GDP. In recent years, about 75 percent of U.S. assistance has been military aid, with the remainer broken down into various forms of economic aid. In per capita terms, this level of direct foreign assistance amounts to a direct subsidy of more that $500 per year for each Israeli."Other US help includes:

• US Jewish charities and organizations have remitted grants or bought Israel bonds worth $50 billion to $60 billion. Though private in origin, the money is "a net drain" on the United States economy, says Stauffer.

• The US has already guaranteed $10 billion in commercial loans to Israel, and $600 million in "housing loans." (See editor's note below.) Stauffer expects the US Treasury to cover these.

• The US has given $2.5 billion to support Israel's Lavi fighter and Arrow missile projects.

• Israel buys discounted, serviceable "excess" US military equipment. Stauffer says these discounts amount to "several billion dollars" over recent years.

• Israel uses roughly 40 percent of its $1.8 billion per year in military aid, ostensibly earmarked for purchase of US weapons, to buy Israeli-made hardware. It also has won the right to require the Defense Department or US defense contractors to buy Israeli-made equipment or subsystems, paying 50 to 60 cents on every defense dollar the US gives to Israel.

US help, financial and technical, has enabled Israel to become a major weapons supplier. Weapons make up almost half of Israel's manufactured exports. US defense contractors often resent the buy-Israel requirements and the extra competition subsidized by US taxpayers.

• US policy and trade sanctions reduce US exports to the Middle East about $5 billion a year, costing 70,000 or so American jobs, Stauffer estimates. Not requiring Israel to use its US aid to buy American goods, as is usual in foreign aid, costs another 125,000 jobs.

• Israel has blocked some major US arms sales, such as F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1980s. That cost $40 billion over 10 years, says Stauffer.

Well, it is time for me to go to bed. I hope you’re all well. Thanks for the comments!

Laurie

Eid-il-Fitr

Good evening everyone,

So I'm still have difficulties uploading pictures - hopefully this will be resolved soon. I'm eager to share more about my experiences through pictures.

The focus of this week has been the end of Ramadan (a notion that I am admittedly extremely excited about) and the beginning of Rosh Hashanah - a celebration of the Jewish New Year. It is only by coincidence that both fall during the same time this year, but this dramatically complicates the security issue. During the Muslim Sabbath (Friday) and other designated holy days of prayer, many Muslims go to Jerusalem (provided they can attain a permit which are easier to get during holy periods) to pray at the Dome of the Rock as it is the third most holy site for Islam. On Wednesday, my roommate Bethany and I tried to go to a volleyball fellowship for internationals not realizing that it was an important day for prayer. We waited at the checkpoint for two hours before deciding to turn back - the most frustrating part of this was that we were in a line about ten people deep, but still had at least another hour before we would go through metal detectors ( the final step of the checkpoint process) due to an IDF slow down. We later found out that some 400,000 Muslims had entered Jerusalem on Wednesday to pray and the number was expected to be much greater on Friday. We had our first Arabic lesson on Friday, thankfully we were picked up by our country coordinators - otherwise we would have had to line up around 8am, to ensure that we could get into Jerusalem by 5pm. Literally, people will line up for miles. The end of Ramadan is marked by Eid-il-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking Fast and carries the same weight as Christmas does for Christians. People go to mosque in new clothes and exchange gifs with friends and family.

Rosh Hashanah started yesterday which means that Palestinians are barred from entering Israel, even if they possess a work permit. As I grow more into my role as an American in Palestine, my privilege is more and more apparent. This morning, Bethany and I attended worship in Jerusalem as we were being commissioned by the Bishop of the ELCJHL (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land). A friend of ours was going to be officiating the Arabic speaking congregation at the same church and offered to accompany us through the checkpoints and transportation. We hadn't given a second thought about being able to pass through Kalandia, he on the other was extremely nervous as his work permit may not be able to trump Rosh Hashanah, despite being able to prove being a Christian pastor on a Sunday. Thankfully, there were no problems, but again, I was reminded of how accompanying the Palestinian people in their struggle is difficult simply because I have white face and a blue passport.

Also, over the past weeks I have been learning more about the internal struggles and prejudices of Palestine. I am largely surrounded by Arab Christians, who comprise of about 3% of the Palestinian population. This identity not only subjects them to prejudice from Israelis, but Muslims as well. Particularly with Hamas gaining support in the West Bank, many Christians are scared that it will largely compromise their freedom to worship and abide by their traditions (namely, women not having to cover their head). In 2006, Hamas won a democratic election in Gaza. Since coming to power, women must be covered and are no longer able to work or drive. It's the ultimate paradox of a democratic election with very undemocratic policies. I will be writing more about the advantages and disadvantaes of Hamas and Fatah in posts to come.

Of the Christians I have talked to, they have no problem with Muslims on an individual level, but feel as a religion, their beliefs are too strongly imposed on the population. As a Westerner, I assumed to find a large Christian presence in the Holy Land, but they are leaving at record numbers, partly due to the occupation and partly due to fear of losing religious freedom. Many Muslims believe that Christians side with the West, a largely untrue assumption and see them as a threat to Islam. Unfortunately, the peace process with have to extend further than Israel and Palestine, but Christians and Muslims.

I hope you're well. Again, I sincerely appreciate your comments. I head to the Sea of Galilee in a few hours (it's 3am West Bank time at the moment) for Eid-il-Fitr since it's also a school holiday. My main objective is to walk on water - stay tuned...

Peace,

Laurie

Checkpoints...

Happy Sunday,

I’ve just come back from a grocery run with my roommate, Bethany. We typically buy our groceries at a store up the hill and our produce at the market. A few days ago we got a kilo (about 2.2 pounds) of avocados for 5 shekel or $1.10, so I’m happy to announce that guacamole will continue to be a staple in my diet. Usually we pay for avocados, but because we don’t need a kilo of chilies, onions, garlic or limes, we get them for free. Because families are big here (most have between 4 and 6 children) food is sold in large quantities. Since we’re shopping for the two of us, we’ve gotten a lot of produce for free.

This weekend has been filled with activities. Yesterday was spent in Tel-Aviv at the beach. Suzanne, one of our country coordinators and all 6 YAGMS spent Friday night in Beit Jala following a mepeace meeting there. Mepeace (pronounced “me peace”) is an organization of Israelis, Palestinians, and Internationals that meet periodically to discuss peace issues and make contacts. There we learned about both Ramadan and Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), more information about both is below. I found it to be very educational and I met some wonderful people from all over the world.

The ironic thing about going to the mepeace meeting was that the journey there was a clear indicator of how far away peace for this region really is. In all, a journey that typically takes about 30 minutes took us over 3 hours. We first took a shared taxi from the Manarha (Ramallah’s city center) to Kilandia (the West Bank’s busiest checkpoint). We were dropped off a mile away because traffic was bumper to bumper. Once I arrived at the checkpoint, we realized the backed up traffic was because vehicles were prohibited from entering Israel due to it being the Muslim holy day and during their holiest month – Ramadan.

After getting to the walk-through portion of the checkpoint, we were met by a huge crowd. About 200 people were trying to fit through three narrow lanes that look similar to cages – I can now say I know what it’s like to be a cow being herded. It was very dehumanizing. The lanes were narrow, designed to create a single file line, however, because many people are denied at the checkpoint for not having proper permits, the rejected have to try to get back through the narrow lanes, causing people to have to climb up the fencing to let others through. Needless to say there was a lot of pushing and confusion along with mothers frantically trying to find their lost children. Once my line was permitted to enter the screening point, I was surprised to see that only one metal detector was being utilized (despite having 10 available) on one of the biggest traffic days of the year. Going through this once was hard enough – but thousands do this everyday.

After waiting another 20 minutes to enter security, I made it through the checkpoint with little questioning. Because I carry an American passport, I am not questioned besides a request to see my entrance stamp. Despite massively disagreeing with checkpoints being built within Palestinian territory, I am pleasant to the IDF soldiers – I don’t think any of them enjoy monitoring checkpoints, let alone having to turn away people from wanting to pray at their holy site. Three years of military service is mandatory for all Israelis and typically poor Israelis get the worst positions – working checkpoints and executing evictions. The IDF is notorious for being one of the least disciplined militaries. It is not uncommon to see soldiers on their cell phones running a checkpoint or smoking a cigarette. The women wear their uniform with flip-flops and massive sunglasses. Also soldiers are not allowed to leave their arms anywhere, so at all times they’re carrying a machine gun – it was startling at first, but I’m getting used to it now.

Checkpoints are essentially a border crossing. When you go through a checkpoint, you are entering into a different country – Israel. I don’t have a problem with a country wanting to protect its borders – virtually every country does this and has the right to. The problem with checkpoints in Israel/Palestine is that they were built entirely within Palestinian territory that was agreed upon in 1967. This means that Israel has created new borders for the West Bank that are strategically placed around their illegal settlements and water resources.

Imagine if Canada came to North Dakota, put up a huge wall that split the state in half. In order to get to Fargo, your place of work, you had to get a permit to cross through a checkpoint. Also, if you had land on the other side of wall, you would need a permit to access it, except when you got there, the Canadians built homes there and people were living in them, despite you being able to provide proof of ownership of the land. This is very much what happened in Palestine.

Now imagine that you are willing to accept your new country borders, but Canada confiscated your land within those borders saying it was now government property and you cannot show proper ownership so now they build settlements for more Canadians. This is what is currently happening in Palestine.

Sometimes to me, the idea of settlements could seem understandable if there was a housing shortage in Israel, but there is a huge surplus. Many settlement units remain empty in addition to thousands of apartments in Jerusalem. Settlements are also strategically placed on top of hills and cut Palestinian territory off from one another, so Palestine’s borders are referred to as “Swiss Cheese” as it’s basically a bunch of little pockets of unoccupied territory that they now have. Whenever a new settlement is created, multiple checkpoints are built to create new country borders. It is these acts that have gotten Israel in big trouble with the UN, but the reprimands have done little to stop the development of settlements as more are currently being built.

If you’re interested in how the Israel/Palestine conflict is portrayed in the American media, I would strongly recommend checking out “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised land.” It’s a documentary you can watch for free if you Google it. It gives a great background to the conflict that isn’t reported in America in about an hour and twenty minutes. Watch it and let me know what you think.

Sorry I don’t have pictures yet. I have a weak computer signal that can’t handle the amount of data transfer required by pictures. I’ll try again next week.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Read below for more information about Shabbat and Ramadan. I love comments!!

RAMADAN

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Islam uses a lunar calendar – that is, each month begins with the sighting of the new moon. Because the lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than the solar calendar used elsewhere, Islamic holidays “move” each year. In 2009 Ramadan begins at sundown on August 22.

For more than a billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of blessing marked by prayer, fasting and charity. Ramadan retains its focus on self-sacrifice and devotion to Allah (God).

Why this month? Muslims believe that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Around 610 A.D., the prophet Muhammad took to wandering the desert near Mecca while thinking about his faith. One nigh a voice called to him from the night sky. It was the angel, Gabriel who told Muhammad he had been chosen to receive the word of Allah. In the days that followed Muhammad found himself speaking verses that would be transcribed as the Qur’an. At many mosques during Ramadan, about one thirtieth of the Qur’an is recited each not in prayers known as Tarawih. In this way, by the end of the month the complete scripture is recited.

Fasting: Muslims practice Sawm, or fasting, for an entire month of Ramadan. This means that they may eat or drink nothing, including water while the sun shines. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars (duties) of Islam. As with other Islamic duties, all able Muslims take part in sawm from about age 12. During Ramadan in the Muslim world, most restaurants are closed during the daylight hours. Families get up early for Suhoor, a meal eaten before the sun rises. After the sun set, fast is broken with a meal known as iftar. Iftar usually begins with dates and sweet drinks that provide a quick energy boost.

Fasting serves many purposes. While they are hungry and thirsty, Muslims are reminded of the suffering of the poor. Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body and mind. And in this most sacred month, fasting helps Muslims feel the peace that comes from spiritual devotion as well as kinship with fellow believers.

SHABBAT

Shabbat symbolizes the seventh day in Genesis, after the six days of creation. By religious Jews, it is observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact time therefore differs from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of the sunset.

Shabbat is observed both by positive observances, such as three festive meals and restrictions. Work and other activities (such as lighting fire, using electricity, driving) are forbidden for religious Jews. Shabbat is considered the day of rest not only for religious reasons, it has social elements as well: the belief that people deserve a day of rest from work to prepare for a new week and spend time with their family. Some of the customs of Shabbat are: Recitation of Kiddush, or “sanctification,” over a cup of wine at the beginning of Shabbat before a meal, eating a festive meal, blessing over a Challa (special bread), enjoying Shabbat (Oneg Shabbat), honor Shabbat by beautifying self and home, and Havdala, or “separation,” at the conclusion on Saturday night.

Back to school

Marhabba!

I’m halfway through my first week at the School of Hope in Ramallah, Palestine. My time here so far has been a mixture of both fun and frustration, but I’m eager to become more adjusted to how the school functions. Also, Arabic lessons start next week, which will be extremely helpful.

School of Hope is a private, Christian school that caters to kindergarten through 12^th grade. Currently there are 472 students enrolled with 70% of them being Muslim. Working in the school has had its share of ups and downs. The ups usually have to do with helping students practice their English and getting to know them on a more personal level. This week I led conversation groups of 10^th and 8^th grade students. I find that they are very willing to share their culture with me (I’ve already been invited to coffee by my 10^th graders after Ramadan and they’ve been introducing me to Arab music) and give an honest commentary on it.

Particularly when talking about dating, many are frustrated with the strict tradition AND the gossip in the community. The idea of a boyfriend or girlfriend implies that there is a sexual relationship and therefore brings shame to not only the people involved but their families as well. Many dating situations are very secret and typically two people will become friends and then announce an engagement. If two people are dating, they refer to each other as “best friends” as the phrasing is more socially acceptable. I am very curious to find out how a shame culture plays a further role into Arab culture.

The downs of working at the School of Hope is questioning whether I feel useful. Simple tasks like filing paperwork are impossible because I don’t read Arab script. Also, my presence sometimes serves as a distraction rather than an assistance. I’m sure the allure of a foreigner will wear off in the coming weeks, but I don’t like feeling like a burden.

Overall, my experience has been good. Today I followed the music teacher and taught elementary students American songs like the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I’m adjusting to reading music from right to left. Arabic is written from right to left and so is their music. Also, I met with the technology coordinator and they are hoping to launch an online schooling program where students can submit homework and quizzes online. I’ll be in charge of finding programs that have these capabilities (similar to Blackboard, Moodle, or WebCT) and making it so that teachers and students can access it. Hello, transferable skills.

Saturday we are planning a trip to the beach in Tel-Aviv – I hope the bikini my mom sent in the mail gets here on time!

Thanks for reading. I love the comments! Pictures to follow...

All moved in!

Hello everyone,

I am writing to you from an internet cafe in my new home - Ramallah. My roommate Bethany and I moved into a flat across the street from the school we're working in last night. So far we've been managing. We're still in need of a few important items (like internet), but it'll all come together after these next few days. We were hoping to pick up a few things today to complete our kitchen, but because it is Friday (the Muslim sabbath) almost nothing is open. In conjunction with Ramadan, it's been difficult know when stores and restaurants are going to be open. Typically on weekdays (everyday but Friday), stores are open until about 6pm and after 7:15 (the official time that fasting ends) the town is dead. Things begin to pick up around 9pm again and the city shuts down at 12am. Many bars and resturants do not serve alcohol out of respect for the holiday.
Ramallah is known to be a very cosmopolitan city or "Palestine's bride" as my guidebook so affectionately calls it. The population is younger and it is the epicenter for social change as the Palestinian Authroity is beginning to implement more social services in an attempt to develop itself. I am eager to watch as those changes as they occur. I still have a great deal of exploring to do, however it's difficult to navigate around the city due to the hills and curvy roads. Street signs are a luxury here.
These last few days of orientation have been filled with sight seeing, including an all-important visit to Yad Vashem, the holocaust museum in Jerusalem. The museum was very well done - I wish I could compare it to the one in Washington DC, but I was too young to understand it at the time. It went through a timeline beginning with the rise of Hitler and the Nuremberg laws all the way to the establishment of Israel. Certainly this was a reminder of why having a Jewish state is very important to Jews and quite frankly, I don't blame them. They've been subject to persecution for centuries and after the horrors of the Holocaust, it's important to their survival that they have a homeland, but the phrase "promised land" as is so typically used to describe this region is distrubing.
To me, the biggest question is not whether Jews should have their own country, but at what expense. Presently, I have no alternative solutions to offer, but it's clear that the current situation is not working for either country - Palestinians are seeing their rights vanish before their eyes and Israelis pour billions of dollars into defense and security in order to feel safe in their own country.
At this point I don't sympathize with Israel, but as a believer in rationality (thank you, economics major), I am curious to find out more about Israel's rationale to beefing up security and why they haven't made greater strides at peace.
Beaches in Tel-Aviv in two weeks!
Thanks for reading.