Jordan

A few weeks ago, during Eid il Adha (a Muslim holiday that commemorates God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael), our volunteer group traveled to Jordan. After waiting to get through the multiple checkpoints, we finally arrived in Amman, the capital of Jordan. I was amazed by the city…there were skyscrapers, new cars (something we don’t see here), fast food restaurants, and policemen stopping people for speeding (something we also don’t see here). As one of the other volunteers pointed out, it was so refreshing to see an Arab city that is thriving and, more importantly, not occupied. We got a whirlwind tour of the city, which included seeing Roman ruins and the Dead Sea Scrolls (so exciting!). After the tour we attended Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, one of the ELCJHL (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land). We were warmly welcomed into the congregation, and afterwards one of the members asked us why we didn’t send any volunteers to Jordan. “We need hope here,” he said. I didn’t know how to respond to his statement, but it made me think.
After Amman, we traveled to Petra, which is one of the sites to see when you are in Jordan. Unfortunately I was sick and spent the day in my hotel room, but luckily I have another opportunity to go there soon. From what I hear, it is amazing.After Petra, the 5 of us YAGMs embarked on a journey to Wadi Rum, a beautiful desert in Jordan. We spent 2 days and nights in the desert, alternating between walking and riding on camels and jeeps. We spent this time with Difallah, our Bedouin guide, and his family. Although this was a “tourist” trip, I felt like more of a guest than a customer. At night we sat around the fire and were serenaded by sounds of singing and the oud (an Arab instrument similar to a guitar). In fact, we were lucky enough to be in the presence of one of the best oud players in the Middle East. He is usually traveling but because of the holiday he had returned to Wadi Rum to visit. The whole trip was so serene and just what I needed. It was a necessary break from the stresses and challenges of living in the West Bank. To just be able to see God in the sunsets, in the beautiful surroundings, in the vast expanse of desert, and in the simplicity of life was so wonderful

Food

So I got a request from a friend to write a little about the food here, so here it is :) Pita bread ("hobez", in Arabic) is one of the main components of every meal. Almost every day we buy a fresh bag of pita from the bakery down the street. The smells emanating from this bakery are unreal, and the pita is fresh and warm. Unlike in the US, fresh vegetables and fruits are abundant and cheap here (a week's supply of fruits and veggies for 3 people is about NIS 50, or about $18), so a lot of the cooking we do here is based around vegetables. Salads are popular here; the most common is Arabic salad, which is a combination of cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions with a vinegar sauce. Baba gonoush is also a common salad and is made from eggplants and tahini sauche. Rice is also a key component of Palestinian food. A traditional Palestinian dish is called Maklouba, which is an upside down meat dish. It contains rice, lamb, pine nuts, and other spices and is delicious. The recipe is listed below.
Another common dish is rice wrapped up in grape leaves, and rice and meat wrapped up in cabbage leaves.
Other common (and delicious!) foods include:
Falafel (fried chick peas)
Shawerma (meat sandwiches)
Hummous
Lentils

There are no grocery stores here, so everything that we buy comes from little shops and markets. Sometimes we do our shopping in the central market in Bethlehem, other times we walk up the hill from our apartment and grab what we need from Shaddy's, the local fruit and vegetable store. Shopping here is always an interesting experience. I have learned the word for "cilantro" in Arabic, which has been quite helpful when I get the craving to make pico de gallo or guacamole! The store owners are now familiar with us, so I think we are beginning to be charged the "local" prices as opposed to the "tourist" prices.

Meats Recipes - Maklouba (Middle Eastern Upside-down Pudding)
Ingredients
450 g/1lb/2 cups risotto or long-grain rice
900 g/2 lb boned shoulder of lamb, diced
100 g/4 oz/1/2 cup butter
60 ml/4 tbsp corn oil
900 g/2 lb cauliflower, cut into florets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Ground cinnamon
50 g/2 oz/1/2 cup pine nuts
Plain yoghurt
Method:
Boil the rice in water for 10 minutes. Drain. Put the lamb in a large saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt half the butter with the oil in a large frying pan (skillet). Fry (sauté) the cauliflower until golden brown.
Drain the lamb, reserving the cooking liquid. Wash the saucepan and return the meat to the pan. Season well with salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste.
Put the cauliflower in a thick layer on top and season again. Put the drained rice on top and spread in an even layer.
Pour the lamb cooking water over to 5 mm/1/4 in above the rice, topping up with water if necessary. Do not stir. Season again with salt, pepper and a little more cinnamon.
Cover and cook fairly gently over a moderate heat until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and leave undisturbed for a further 20 minutes.
Invert over a warm serving dish and leave the saucepan in place for a further 15 minutes. Meanwhile fry (sauté) the pine nuts in the remaining butter.
Lift off the saucepan, spoon the pine nuts and their butter over and serve warm with yoghurt.
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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago, but I wanted to write about it nevertheless because it was a very important experience for me. As we all know, it is difficult to be away from home, especially during the holiday seasons. Holidays are a time for traditions and for sharing them with the people you know and love. This was the second Thanksgiving that I have spent abroad, and I am so blessed to have celebrated such an important holiday here in such a unique place. I attend a small church in Beit Sahour, which is connected to the school that Marta and I volunteer at. The Pastor of this church kindly and enthusiastically invited us to his home on Thanksgiving. While Palestinians obviously don't celebrate the American Thanksgiving, he had spent some time studying in the US and therefore knew the significance of this holiday for us. So the 5 of us volunteers and our director and his wife all prepared a Thansgiving dish to share, and we gathered around the table, Americans and Palestinians alike, to celebrate this holiday of thankfulness. This year has given me much to be thankful for. I am so thankful for the Palestinians who have welcomed us with open arms, open hearts, and open homes. I am also thankful for the privileges I have that come from being born in the US (the ability to freely travel, for one) . I am thankful for the extremely supportive international community I have found here, as I am for the supportive family and friends at home. I am thankful to have a place to call home, as many Palestinians have been away from their homes for years and some don't even know what home is anymore.
The list could go on forever, but basically I am thankful to be in this place now and to experience and learn and grow throughout this year. Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

Gaza

It has been almost a month since my last post, so in the next few posts I will attempt to catch you up with what has been happening in my life and in Palestine. As many of you know, there is a crisis in Gaza right now. On November 4, when the eyes of the world were turned to the US Presidential elections, Israel found an opportunity to close Gaza off from the rest of the world. This means that nothing has been able to pass through Gaza, including food, water, and fuel. Today, the Israeli adminstration has once again announced that Gaza is under complete closure. Because no fuel can pass through Gaza, it's final power plant had to shut down last night. On the news a few weeks ago was a story about Gaza and the effects that closure has on its people. Especially pertinent is the effect that the electricity shortage has on hospitals. All appliances in the hospitals are electrically attached, so when there is a shortage of fuel (as there has been), the hospital has to run on a generator. However, generators only last so long, so doctors were forced to take extreme but necessary measures of manually pumping oxygen to the patients. As if this were not enough, many drugs have reached 0 stock levels.
The people of Gaza are in the midst of a "humanitarian crisis", and all for what reason? The closure supposedly happened in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militans, and this rocket attack was a response to an IDF raid that killed six gunmen on November 4 (according to Haaretz News). I certainly do not condone the rocket attacks or raids, but is it fair to punish the 1.5 civilians of Gaza in such an extreme way? In reading a little more about the situation, I came across an article written by a public speaker on Middle Eastern affairs, and he raised an interesting point about the Gaza situation:

"What, after all, can one expect from a child who endures, with his family and whole community, slow death and daily humiliation; degradation, denial of food and basic medical care? For sure, he or she will never forget or forgive. Are we aware of the future price we will all pay for this suffering? Do we recognise that our kids shall face the Gaza’s kids, at some point in the future; can we imagine the contours of this dialogue? "

It is true that people in Gaza are suffering on a daily basis...what does this mean for the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and hope for future peace? What will happen to the current generation of children (the future leaders) if all they are taught is to fear and hate the "other"? Vounteering in the kindergarten has given me a uniqe perspective on the situation here. Sure, I see hope and love in the eyes of these children. But I also see anger and fear, especially when the first thing they construct with blocks is usually a gun. While it is frightening for me to see armed soldiers walking down the streets and standing at intersections, it is part of the every day schema for them. To see something other than that would be peculiar to them.
I don't know what will happen with the situation in Gaza, but I ask that you keep the Gazans in your prayers. And I also ask that you pray for Israel and for wisdom for its leaders that they can make good decisions.

Last Friday morning started out just fine. Excited about our upcoming weekend trip to Tiberias and Nazareth, my roommates and I woke up full of excitement and expectations of the weekend to come. Selfishly, I was excited for the sense of escape the weekend would bring...I love Palestine and it is wonderful to be here, but I also wanted a weekend where I would not have to constantly be aware of so much pain and suffering. So we headed out at 9:15 and made our way to the Gilo walking checkpoint in Bethlehem. Usually this checkpoint is not very busy, but on this day, there were people lined up outside, waiting to get through security. Some people were shoving and shouting and pushing their way through the line, but the majority of people were just laughing it off nonchalantly, like this was something to be expected. We waited in this line for 30 minutes, listening to soldiers shouting, "One by one!" in Arabic. Once we made it through this line, we thought we were in the clear, only to find crowds of people waiting in the next line to pass through security and the metal detector. It was chaotic and there were soldiers parading the catwalks above, shouting and pointing their guns at the people below. A fellow foreigner came up to us and asked if we would like to share a taxi to go through a different checkpoint. She had lived here for 3 years before as a tour guide, so we followed her, only to find out that the soldiers were not too keen about letting us through that checkpoint, meaning we would have to travel unnecessarily to a checkpoint in a different city. So we went back to see if the lines had died down at all. Unfortunately, they had not.
The 3 of us stood there in disbelief, watching the Palestinians being herded, pushed, and shoved. The soldiers had shut down 2 of the gates, leaving only 2 open for hundreds of people. When I asked one of the Palestinians why it was so busy, he explained that most of the people waiting were going to pray at the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Friday is the holy day for Muslims, and many Muslims are onlyallowed into Jerusalem on Fridays to pray. It made me furious that the soldiers were making people wait hours upon hours in the first place, and even more furious that they were preventing them from praying. Someone had once described the process of the checkpoints as similar to herding cattle. This image is strikingly accurate. Standing to the side and watching the Palestinians contained in such a small place, fighting to move forward, brought tears to my eyes. I felt almost guilty crying, especially since I am a tourist and am given so many privileges compared to them. They are the ones who have to experience all of this, while I merely stand to the side, carrying my American passport. A few people asked why we didn't just leave and go to the other checkpoint. The answer we gave them was essentially if they couldn't pass through the checkpoint, why should we be able to? I think they were shocked by this answer, because none of them said a word after that. This was an experience of true accompaniment. It was a peaceful way for us to publicly announce our solidarity with the Palestinians and to "walk a mile in their shoes," as much as we could.
I think one of the most memorable experiences of the morning for me was a conversation I had with a Palestinian woman. As I was standing off to the side, fighting back tears, she came over to me and greeted me. We spoke in Arabic, and I exhausted pretty much all of the vocabulary I had. When I asked her how she was doing, she said, "Ilhamdullalah." "Thank God." I am still amazed at the use of this phrase...even when it seems like there is nothing to thank God for in a situation, people still emphatically use this phrase...and they mean it too. There is nothing fake or sarcastic about it, it is genuine. We saw eachother again in the line to get through security, and everyone time our gaze met, we both smiled. From then on it was an unspoken bond.
3 hours later, we boarded the bus to our destination, feeling drained, frustrated, and helpless. Having hoped to escape the situation for the weekend, I realized that my desire was impossible. I can't escape from this...from this point on in my life, I will never be able to forget Palestine or put it on the back burner in my mind. Nor do I want to. It is my responsibility to remember these people and this country, and it is my privilege to be able to tell their stories.

Hebron

Last Sunday, Marta and I were invited by a friend to visit Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, which is located 30 Kilometers south of Jerusalem. It is the second biggest commerical center of Palestine and has religious significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Abraham's Mosque is located here, which included the tombs of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebeccah, and Jacob and Leah. Some also believe that Adam and Eve are buried here. Therefore, the religious signifiance to these 3 faiths is undeniable. Unfortunately, this has created problems between Palestinians and Israeli settlers living in Hebron, both of whom think they have rights to this holy place. Hebron is divided into 2 sectors, H1 and H2. H1 is under full Palestinian control, while H2 remains under Israeli control to protect the Jewish settlers living there. In the H2 sector, there are 4 Israeli soldiers for every one Jewish settler living there. In addition, the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) has armed each settler with weapons to "protect" themselves against the Palestinians. Hebron is a place where much violence has occurred and it continues to be a conflicted area. This was apparent, as we walked through the streets of the Soukh (the market). A once bustling area, the market is now nearly desolate, with only a handful of stores still open. As I looked above, I was disgusted to see that the storeowners were forced to put a net above their stores to protect themselves from the trash and junk the Jewish Settlers throw down at them. I have even heard stories of settlers throwing hot water down onto the vendors. This type of nonsensical violence is so frustrating and so impossible to understand.
Khalil, our friend, was excited to give us a tour of Hebron and to show us Abraham's Mosque, mentioned above. Unfortunately, this required going through a checkpoint, which was time consuming and unfair. Why should Palestinians have to go through a checkpoint to visit a holy site which is on their own land? Why should anyone, for that matter, have to do that? The first time we tried getting through, the soldiers refused us because it was the time of prayer for Muslims. This was very frustrating for Khalil, as he only wanted to show us around his city, and the soldiers were making it complicated. Luckily, we were able to come back later and see the Mosque, which was beautiful. While there, we started talking with a man who was present during the 1994 Massacre in Abraham's Mosque. On February 25, 1994, when over 800 Muslims were present at the Mosque for their Dawn prayer, the first of their 5 prayers during the day, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish American Zionist, entered at the back of the Mosque and threw a hand grenade into the crowd of worshippers. He then opened fire, killing more than 29 people and injuring more than 125. The man who we were talking to had not only been present at the Mosque this day...he was also shot in the arm, and his son, who came to the scene to see if his father was ok, was shot and killed. When he was telling this story, he kept saying "hamdullalah" ("Thanks be to God") and I was amazed at how he could say this. Even though he had experienced this tragedy, he was able to keep praising God. Throughout this story I was fighting back tears...I just could not believe how cruel and inhumane Goldstein was, and the scary thing is that some people commemmorate this day and go to his tombstone on each anniversary of the massacre to celebrate what Goldstein did. How could anyone celebrate something so tragic? How could anyone believe that killing Muslims, whose only crime was being in the Mosque at that time, was worthy of celebration?
Needless to say, my time in Hebron was full of ups and downs. It is a fascinating city, both for religous and commercial purposes. However, it is also a city fraught with conflict and violence. The landscape is beautiful, but it is also laden with Israeli checkpoints and soldiers with guns. The people are warm and friendly, but there is an unmistakable sense of anger and frustration with the situation.
The day ended well, with a trip to Khalil's village, 30 minutes outside of Hebron. His family showed us Palestinian hospitality and welcomed us with open arms into their house and into their lives. These people put a face to the "conflict" that we hear about. I will never be able to look at the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in the same way as I was before living here...I have learned so much from the people I have met, and I am so grateful for each of those experiences. Seeing and experiencing all of this is really hard sometimes, but it is a necessary part of learning and living here.

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

Last Thursday, as the Lutheran Church here and around the world was preparing for Reformation celebrations, and as people at home were preparing for the exciting holiday of Halloween, I attended a candlelight peace march to the Wall in Bethlehem. Preceding the march was a 2 hour long service, mostly in Arabic and German, commemmorating the 125th Anniversary of Reformation Lutheran Church in Beit Jala. This service was attended by many, including the first woman bishop of Germany, the President of the ELCJHL (Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Jordan and the Holy Land), a Jewish Rabbi, and pastors and priests of many different Christian churches around the area. Although I could not understand much of what was said, the overall atmosphere of the room was exciting. Everyone was wearing their Palestine scarves and everyone was there for the same purpose...to celebrate the work of this church and to celebrate Palestine and come together to pray for peace. One of the speakers mentioned the Be-Attitudes in Matthew, and the part that particularly struck me was the one that I used for the title of this post. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God." Peace is a word that is used often here, usually in a longing manner. What does peace in this area of the world look like? I imagine that the majority of people living here would not be able to answer that question. But services like this, where Christians and Jews alike felt free to voice their hopes for peace, give me hope for a better future for Palestine and Israel.
The church service was followed by a candlelight march to the wall, a nonviolent means of resistance and a way to show our accompaniment with the Palestinians. It was an emotional experience for me, to see thousands of people walking together peacefully, all hoping for a new day to come. It reminded me of Psalm 18:29, which had been mentioned in the service: "...with my God I can scale a wall."As I watched three young boys climb onto eachother's shoulders and place the Palestinian flag in the crevices of the Wall, I was reminded of the fact that God is way bigger than this will.
Unfortunately, after I returned home, I received a call from a friend asking me if I had gotten home safely, as Israeli soldiers had come to the area and started shooting. This definitely put an ironic twist to the peace march. I would have liked to end this blog on a completely positive and hopeful note, but the truth is that many nonviolent forms of resistance end in a violent reaction by the Israeli soldiers. It is unfair and doesn't make any sense, but this gives us more reason to pray for peace, in this area and also in other parts of the world that need hope.