Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pics #7







Capernaum & the Druze

Today started off with a visit just down the road to some sites from the New Testament.

First we visited Peter's Primacy, so called because it was the place where Peter is said to have come up to the water after Jesus was resurrected and had breakfast on the beach with Jesus.  There is a lovely chapel and a place to dip into the Sea of Galilee.  It was really neat to be able, as a Christian, to be walking where Jesus walked and taught, since this is the area of his public ministry.  Very inspiring - it certainly makes the Bible stories come alive!

Next we headed to the ruins of Capernaum.  Jesus is in and out of Capernaum in the gospels.  Chiefly Capernaum is known for being Peter's hometown.  There are some ruins of a synogogue there, as well as a chapel over Peter's house.  Then it was onto the Church of the Beatitudes, which is on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  This is where Jesus gave his famous Sermon on the Mount, which include the beatitudes - i.e. "blessed are the poor in spirit...", etc.  A beautiful chapel there and a great view of the Sea of Galilee.

Then it was onto the village of Ossifia, where we learned a bit about the Druze religion.  Druze are a small religion that emphasizes equality between men and women, reincarnation, and living in harmony with others.  Druze are Palestinian Israeli citizens who can serve in the army, so that makes them sort of a priviledged minority.  In this village of Ossifia, these Druze are living together with Christians, Muslims, and Jews in a great example of tolerance and respect.

Then it was onto to Farahia's house, near Ossifia.  Farahia is one of our guides, and is a Palestinian Christian.  Her family received our whole group into her house - all 55 of us!  We had a wonderful time of singing, sharing food, and enjoying her family's hospitality.

Took a swim in the pool, and I am now sitting on my balcony overlooking the Sea of Galilee, listening to Gabriel Meyer Halevy, an Israeli musician/peacebuilder, give a concert.  Beautiful.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Pics #6




Sea of Galilee

As I write this, I am sitting on a balcony overlooking the Sea of Galilee with my laptop.  It is absolutely silent except for the party barge floating by pumping music.  Did Jesus have to deal with this when he crossed the Sea of Galilee?   Today we started off with a lot of good information in our class...

  • We heard the story, maybe familiar to some of you, of Le Chambon, a village in France, that hid 3,000 Jews in a village of 2,500 during WWII.  Andre Trocme, the leader of the village,  is honored with a tree at Yad Vashem.  This story is told in the book "Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed."
  • Positive visioning is so much more energy-giving than recriminations in peace-building.
  • True peace-building must include a deep embrace of the Jews as well as advocating for Palestinian rights.
  • Equality and respect is what we are ultimately seeking for, not peace.  Peace is for people who have what they want.
We heard today from Dror Morag, Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party, which controls 3% of parliament.  The parliament breakdown, from most left to most right,  is:

  • 10% - Arab 
  • 3% - Social Democrat
  • 7% - Labor
  • 25% - Kadima (Center-Left)
  • 25% - Likud (Right)
  • 11% - Israel Betenyu - cf. Lieberman
  • 3% -  Extreme Right
  • 12% - Ultra Orthodox
Right now Likud is firmly in control with Netanyahu.  Israel sees the world as against them, and needs to be heard.  The movement of "de-legitimizing" Israel through things like Durban III, the UN sponsored event in New York this fall, has had the effect of Israel defending itself vociferously.  Israel does have a right to exist.  Morag argued that when people feel fearful, they tend to vote right; when people feel hopeful, they tend to vote left.  Morag aligns himself with J Street, the new moderate political voice for Jews in America.

Then we said our goodbyes to Jerusalem.  What an amazing place - full of history, pathos, alleyways, falafels, hopes, discrimination, vitality, and sadness.

It was off to Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam, an intentional community of Israelis and Palestinians living together for 40 years.  It is home to 60 families, with another 30 coming soon.  It is a powerful voice for sharing space peacefully.  We heard from Dafina Schwartz of the Sulha Peace Project, who argued that Jewish society is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the effects of the Holocaust.

Then after a 2 1/2 hour drive through the beautiful Israeli countryside, we arrived at Tiberious, on the Sea of Galilee.  This will be our home for the next few days, as we explore some significant sites for Christianity.  We are staying at a lovely hotel right on the water.  It is absolutely beautiful here!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Pics #5




Ramallah & Palestinian Leadership

I started off the day with a meeting with Naomi Schacter, Associate Director of Shatil, New Israel Fund's (NIF) grant-making, and capacity building organization here.  Shatil works with over 1000 organizations and is Israel's premier human rights organization.  They work mostly with the Israeli population on civil rights, social justice, etc.  NIF's executive director, Daniel Sokatch, has been on NVP's advisory board.  NIF does not believe in "de-legitimizing" Israel, which is a hot topic these days.  NIF does not question Israel's right to exist, and is pro-Israel.  NIF is working on social issues within Israel, and not on peace issues.  She highlighted a few programs for us to consider at NVP:

  • Kids for Peace - brings Jewish, Christian, and Muslim kids to a summer camp in the states to help them learn from each other.
  • Seeds for Peace - another camp for interfaith youth, but is more political, and less religious.
  • Interfaith youth coming together to serve after hurricane Katrina and other disasters.
These are all goods leads for me to pursue for NVP.

In class today, we talked a little about religious extremism.  Charles Kimball's new book was recommended, "When Religion Becomes Lethal."  We also discussed not hating the people who are caught in a narrative that is different than yours - cf. Martin Luther King said to blacks in regard to white racism, don't hate the white person, hate the thing that has them in their grip.  Sage words of advice.

Then we headed to Ramallah, which is right next to Jerusalem, but is ostensibly the capital of the Palestinian Authority.  It is a large city with tall buildings everywhere.  We visited Yassar Arafat's grave and met with the Palestinian Authority's chief foreign diplomat (kind of like their Secretary of State), Dr. Nabeel Shaath.  We were very lucky to meet with him, as he is the one meeting with presidents and foreign secretaries on behalf of the Palestinians.  Anyway, he argued for a peace settlement.  Some of his points:

  • Why should the Palestinians pay for European persecution of the Jews?
  • The U.S. has helped Israel become what it is today, yet refuses to get involved in the peace process to help Palestine.
  • Yitzahk Rabin's assasination in 1995 killed the chances for peace in the last 20 years.  They were very close to working out a deal until Rabin was killed by a Jewish settler.
  • Settlers live on 1.2% of the land in the Palestinian Territories.  The Israeli government uses 40% of   Palestinian Territory land to protect that 1.2%.
  • Palestinians are ready to accept a deal where they get 22% of original Palestinian land, but Israel doesn't want to make peace.
  • He wants a 2 state solution with borders from 1967, where Jerusalem will be the capitol for both countries.
  • Palestinian refugees can either:  Come back to Palestine; Come back to original lands and become Israeli citizens; stay living where they are; or get compensation.
  • Palestinians have abandoned armed struggle, and have decided on nonviolence as the way forward.
Then we met with Ayed Morar, the hero of the movie Budrus, and Rula Salameh, the Executive Producer of the Film.  It is a wonderful movie!  Check in out on Netflix.  The story from this movie is that this little village got the separation wall moved so that it didn't bifurcate their village through nonviolent action.  Daily they protested against the army.  Women were involved in protesting, as were Israeli's.  Hundreds were injured and one was killed.  At one point, the Israeli army used 100 soldiers to guard 3 or 4 bulldozers.  Ayed led the village in this, and they recovered large sections of land for their village.  In a very interesting point, Ayed noted that Palestine does not have a national hero or a figure they can follow, unlike Ghandi, and so they had to make up this nonviolent narrative themselves.

Speaking of the wall, you should see this thing.  It is a monstrosity - 25 feet high, with barbed wire on top.  It looms over everything near it like some big vulture.  The Israelis will point to the fact that it has all but eliminated suicide bombers, and that security has never been greater.  The Palestinians will protest that it cuts neighborhoods in half, makes life much more difficult, and is another example of oppression.

Then we met with Naimm Ateek of Sabeel.  Naim is a Palestinian Christian working for peace.  He is also an Episcopal priest and has spoken at All Saints Church, where he generated a little bit of controversy.

After all this I was feeling a bit wrung out from these issues, so I looked at my itinerary and tried to figure out where I wasn't going on this trip that I would be sad to miss.  My answer was Tel Aviv!  So I took a bus to Tel Aviv for dinner on the beach!  It is one hour away by car.  How beautiful!  Tel Aviv is a modern, sleek city, with skyscrapers everywhere.  It is kind of like Honolulu in its development by the beach.  As I sipped my Corona with my feet in the sand and watched the surfers, I was keenly aware that some people in the region have never seen this view.  It is also for me a continuation of the Israeli narrative, which says, "look at the cities, the economy, the country that we have created.  Israel is efficient and powerful - we don't want to endanger or destroy all that we have worked for in the past 60 years or so.  We have built a first-world society."

Back home on the bus.  Blogging to you...:)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Pictures (x4)





Hebron & the Settler Issue

Since today was Sunday, I thought I'd mark my visit to Jerusalem by going to church, so I went to St. George's Cathedral, an Anglican church close to my hotel.  Very nice service in a beautiful church!

Then it was on to class.  From Professor Marc Gopin:

  • There were 10 million Jews in year one, and only 18 million by the 20th century.  There should be 500 million Jews by now.  Why not?  Christian persecution.
  • Regarding the anti-Semitism that is a part of Christianity:  Perhaps some Jewish leaders were against Jesus, but many Jewish people were for him.  Christians ended up moving on outside of Judaism, and this has resulted for many in the history of the church in a kind of encrusted anti-semitism - i.e. that Jews are destined forever to be a small band of pilgrims wandering the earth.  Instead of blaming Jews for what has happened to them, we should be looking at Christian kings and bishops.
  • In rabbinical teaching one strand has said that you should love your neighbor, because he is literally you (i.e. love your neighbor as your self).  Another strand suggests that you should treat your neighbor well because he/she is a human being made in the image of God.  This latter tradition is a better one to base human right on, because it is not dependent on good relations with your neighbor.  Better to base things on the unshakable notion of every human being in the image of God.
Then we headed to Hebron, flashpoint for the settler issue.  We met first with Barya Schachter, son of famous Jewish Renewal Rabbi, who heads an American football team made up of Israelis and Palestinians.  He is making the case for unifying people through violent sports!  There team won the championship with the colors orange and green - orange is the settler color, and green represents Palestine!

Then it was on to the tombs of the Patriarchs - where we saw the graves of Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Leah, Isaac & Rebekah, & Ishmael.  This is an incredibly important spot for both Muslims and Christians.  There are caves below this monument (build originally by King Herod - so yes, the building is @ 2000 years old), where the bones are said to lie, even those of Adam and Eve.  This is the spot that Abraham bought as a place to bury his descendants in the Bible, so this place has big significance for Jews in terms of the land.  If you are a Palestinian you cannot go in the Jewish side, and can only visit Isaac and Rebekah's cenotaphs (symbolic tomb markers).  If you are Jewish, you cannot visit the Muslim side and can only see Abraham & Sarah, Jacob & Leah, and Ishmael's cenotaphs.  Its an amazingly complicated situation!  Half of our group went to one side and half of our group went to the other side and we said a united prayer for peace shouting through the walls at one spot where you can actually see the other side.

Then it was on to Hebron.  The Tomb of the Patriarchs is close to the old city of Hebron, which is now under Israeli control.  It used to be a Palestinian area, but the streets are now deserted, save for one Jewish settlement.  This settlement has been the scene of much violence and reprisals.  The settlers are protected by the Israeli army in a kind of ghost town.  It is surreal to walk through the area that is full of tense soldiers protecting one settlement.  Then as you keep walking you pass through another checkpoint to the Palestinian-controlled area of Hebron.  It is a vibrant area with cars, peoples, taxis, and skyscrapers.  What an amazing difference!  The settlers are obviously thumbing their nose at the Palestinian control by having their settlers there (there is a dispute over a massacre that happened in 1929 that attempts to explain the Jewish claim on the area).

We then met with the mayor of Hebron, a bustling industrious town of 250,000.  He answered some questions and gave us some cool gifts.  He just wants the people to be able to live their lives.

We were joined on this trip by Eliyahu Mclain a Jewish leader who coordinates interfaith leaders working for peace.  I had some good introductory discussions with him and hope to connect with him about our work at NVP.  He had a magnificent quote:  "Everything requires faith in the Middle East."

Then it was on to the Gush Etzion Settlements to meet with Myron and his "Settlers for Peace" group, which was very interesting!  In this settlement, these people are reaching out to a neighboring Palestinian village with help and relationship-building.  This village - Zachariaz - hosted us and we watched a fascinating debate between some conservative settlers and some Palestinian village leaders.  The settlers sounded like crusty old people - i.e. we should probably care about the "other" but our primary job is to settle Israel for the Jews.  It was good to hear that voice because it represents the majority view of Jews here in Israel and probably half the viewpoint in the U.S.

Home to Jerusalem, after dropping various people off to avoid certain checkpoints.  Pizza at a little restaurant.  Now off to bed!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

More pics!






Jericho, Qumran, and the Dead Sea

Today was yet another full and fascinating day!  I started out the day by visiting the Garden Tomb here outside of the Old City.  This site is another site that purports to be the place of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  It was very peaceful and beautiful in a garden setting, which is an utter contrast to the cacophany of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This place seems to be a Protestant/Evangelical counter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  But check out the pictures of the rock quarry and a tomb, and see if you think it might fit better with Golgotha, the place where Jesus was supposed to have been crucified.

Then it was on to the Old City to do some souvenir shopping.  Got some cool presents for the family!  Visited as well the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer - absolutely beautiful cathedral in the old City.  Very peaceful.  Went back for another visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - it was much less busy than before, so that felt more meaningful.  I wanted to visit these sites again, because for me as a Christian, this trip is not only about the Israeli/Palestinian narrative, its a chance to visit sites that are important for my faith, and I would like the trip to be impactful in those terms.  Today without the crowds, and on my own, I was able to connect more to the significance of these places for my religion and my beliefs.

In class today, we met with Salim Manayer, a Palestinian peace-maker and academic from Bethlehem Bible College.  He is a Palestinian Christian, and this group used to make up as much as 25% of the area - now they make up 2%.  Why?  Most Palestinian Christians are a little wealthier Palestinians in general, and because of the occupation have chosen to leave the country.  They are an important minority to figure into the equation here.  Interestingly Palestinian Christians are most connected to Eastern Christianity, rather than the Western Christianity which we in the States are more used to.  This means they are closer theologically to Eastern, Greece, and Russian Orthodoxy than to the Catholic Church and Protestantism.

After lunch we headed to Jericho, which is in mainly Palestinian controlled lands.  Jericho overlooks the Dead Sea, and is hundreds of feet below sea level and very hot!   Our guide showed us:

  • The Mount of Temptation - where Jesus is reported to have been tempted.
  • The Spring of Jericho, which for 10,000 years has supplied Jericho with its water.
  • A fancy Coptic Church, whose name I can't remember - though it did have icons painted with pure gold!
Then we visited Qumran, the site of the discovery of all of those fragments from Isaiah and other books of the Bible.  Its a fascinating archeological site, though I had seen the actual scrolls when they had come to San Diego on an exhibit a few years ago.

Finally, it was on to the Dead Sea.  We changed into our swimsuits and lounged in the water - of course we could only float and cover ourselves with mud!  But it was a fun and relaxing time - a nice break from the very serious issues we are discussing.  On the way back a bunch of the students were dancing in the aisles of the bus - kind of like Seminarians Gone Wild!  Good times...

Friday, June 24, 2011

A couple of things I forgot that were cool!

Where we met today at the refugee camp was a community center that does programs for children and youth.  This guy we heard from does the exact same thing I do at the Coral Center!  We exchanged cards and promised to stay in touch.

The other thing that was interesting to me as a church historian was in another grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity is the place where Jerome translated from the original Greek and Hebrew the Latin Bible known as the Vulgate.  This Bible was basically the only bible there was in the church from around 350 ad to 1500 ad, when Martin Luther and others started reworking the text.  Jerome's bible had enormous impact on the church for 1200 years!  He worked on the bible alone in the cave for years.  Interesting dude, to say the least...

Pictures!




Off to Bethlehem!

Another full day!
Started off the day with Glen Stassen teaching about just peacemaking.  You've probably heard of just war theory  - well he advocates for just peacemaking, which can be summarized in the following 10 points:

  1. Nonviolent direct action
  2. Independent initiatives
  3. Cooperative conflict resolution
  4. Acknowledge responsibility for conflict and injustice
  5. Human rights, religious liberty, and democracy
  6. Economic development that is sustainable and just
  7. Networks in the international system
  8. United Nations and international organizations
  9. Reduce offensive weapons and weapons trade
  10. Grassrooots peacemaking groups and voluntary associations
Stassen noted that in Obama''s famous Nobel Prize speech, which was memorable for its defense of Just War Theory, there were 3 tenets of Just War theory mentioned, but he also mentioned 4 tenets from just peacemaking!

We then started looking into settlements, and got a wonderful map that shows the extent of the settlements, which are basically Israeli Jews moving into a Palestinian area in a group and starting to take over land.  They are protected by the Israeli military, and they figure that possession is three-fourths of the law, and think if they are there, it will be harder for the Israeli government to give the land away.  The settler issue is one of the biggest threats to the peace process.  For a map of the settlements, go to http://peacenow.org/map.php.  Very interesting stuff.

Then we headed out to Bethlehem through the checkpoints which divide Israel and Palestinian territories.  The checkpoints are flashpoints of conflict in that they are humiliating and difficult for the Palestinians who view them as unfair and intrusive.  Later in the week, we'll probably try to walk through one so we can experience what its like.

 The Palestinian territories are ostensibly self-ruled, but in point of fact are control by the Israeli's who can come in whenever they want and take away whoever they want on the flimsiest of suspicions.  Then they are able to keep someone detained for up to 7 years without charging them.  It is a very difficult situation.  We visited the UNRWA-sponsored Dheisheh Refugee Camp and spoke with its director.  This camp is not what you would picture for a refugee camp.  It looks like a garden-variety lower to middle class neighborhood in a developing country.  It has 3-4 story buildings.  Why is this?  Because this refugee camp has been in existence since 1948 (well, actually since 1952, when it was bombed by the Israelis), and these homes have just been built up and added onto as the families have grown.  This was surprising to me, but it shows the permanence that has infused what was a temporary situation.  Our Palestinian guides shared stories of how they are unable to cross over into Israeli-controlled territory, how one lost his father and at one point had 6 of his brothers in jail.  He is opting for hope every day he wakes up and feels the awful grind of a lid placed on his life.  He noted dryly that Palestinians are the most educated Arabs in the world, but have very little vocational opportunity.  One of our guides suggested that the Palestinians do not have a humanitarian crisis, but rather a political one.

We then went to the Church of the Nativity, built in the 4th century by Constantine after Christianity became the official religion of the empire.  There we saw the traditional place for the birthplace of Jesus. The building is divided between the Roman Orthodox and the Catholics in a weird power-sharing thing. The church itself is not much to look at, but it has quite a history!  We also happened upon a wedding, and got to sing songs and clap for the new couple!

I have to say that Bethlehem certainly feels a long way away from a stable and hay, with its high rises, tourist traffic, settlements, and refugee camps.  I doubt I'll be able to sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see they lie" in the same way I did before this trip.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Busy Day in Jerusalem

Started the day with class with Marc Gopin of George Mason University.  Today was our Jewish Narrative  day.  A few interesting points from Marc:

  • in his growing up violence had only been associated with Gentiles.  Now Jews are in the unprecedented place of being the ones inflicting violence. 
  • In all of his peacemaking work, nearly everyone who is being persecuted, is also persecuting someone else below them.
  • Part of the intractibility of the problem in Israel is the "thickness" of the web that it has created - people can't get out of the problem because of the longterm occupation - not only of Israel and Palestinians, but of Russian, British, American, Jordan, and other involvement in the region long before the state of Israel.  There are so many competing interests, which makes it difficult to resolve.
  • An example of this is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which has a Russian Orthodox memorial to Jesus' tomb, has Ethiopian monks living on the roof, two Moslem families which open the door, etc.  A very complicated, painful marking out of who has what and who does what in the church - a compromise that has been worked out over decades.
Then I had a great meeting with Arik Eischelman (sp?), head of Rabbis for Human Rights, to see how NVP could learn from and interface with RHR.  Arik squeezed me in before he had to go to court to defend himself since he was being charged with trespassing for protesting over the demolition of Palestinian homes.  RHR does such wonderful and varied work, but a few of their projects caught my eye.  One was their "Diologues of Olive Groves" where they bring together Palestinians and Israelis to pick olives in a grove.  A great example of getting different people together to do something!  Change happens when people are focused on a task in front of them.  They also have worked on interfaith publications, and sponsor youth trips as well.  He might be out in LA around September 11.  Maybe we should get him to speak at All Saints or at AFPI??  He invited me to protest with him tomorrow afternoon at 4 - the demolition of Palestinian houses.  But I think I'll be in Bethlehem.


For lunch, I met with Irene Nassar, of Just Vision.  They are the folks that put together two movies, Encounter Point, and Budrus.  The latter film is about a community that organized to change the direction of the wall that divides Israeli and Palestinian land, through nonviolent protest that was constant, involved women and Israelies, and brought together different factions of the Palestinian world. Both movies are on netflix.  They also provide online videos to be used in sermons, classrooms, etc.  Two interesting program ideas:  Peace It Together - Palestinian and Israeli youth are brought to Canada to make movies together (hmm... sounds like the Coral Summer Institute!), and we discussed the idea of bringing youths of differing faiths from the US to Palestine to help rebuild demolished Palestinian houses.  Very interesting idea!  Irene likes the idea of direct action, not just dialogue.  Sounds like us!

Later in the afternoon it was on to Givat Hatamoshet, a big hill in Jerusalem that is significant for the Israeli army.  Then we visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, a sprawling 45 acre museum and collection of monuments to the Holocaust.  Of course it was very moving.  The grounds are so peaceful and beautiful.  Lots of trees for "righteous persons", those that helped the Jews like Corrie Ten Boom and Oscar Shindler.  We had a long discussion afterwards on the power of the pain and murder of the Jews on the Israeli psyche.  The question follows up, "why are Israelis treating the Palestinians similarly to the way they were treated in WWII"?  Our guides answered that Israelis are conflicted - they want a safe place where something that happened in the past will never be able to happen again (thus you need Jewish state), and yet they cannot have that if they go for a 1-state secular society, a la America.  Very interesting discussions....

Later it was dinner on ben Yehuda street, where there are literally thousands of young people out enjoying the evening.  What a scene!  I didn't think I would see that kind of thing in Jerusalem.  I thought things would be more tense and scary.  It felt like any other big city in Europe.

Enough for one day - off to bed!

Some pictures!






Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Old City!

Today was a busy day!  In the morning we toured Haram al Sharif or the Temple Mount, and saw the two great mosques, Al Auqsa, and the Dome of the Rock.   What a beautiful place, but was called by our guide, the "most complex place in Israel"!  Of course the Dome of the Rock dominates the skyline of Jerusalem.  We learned that Israelis control the entrance to the mosque area, even though it is a Muslim area.  A small example of the layers of complexity we see everywhere here!  We learned of Ariel Sharon's visit in 2000 which provoked the 2nd intifada. We also visited the Western Wall,  the main part of the original temple wall which the Jews consider a sacred place.  It was captured in the 1967 war.  I prayed there and put my request on a little piece of paper in the wall.   Next up was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, reputed place of Jesus' burial.  Crowded beyond belief, it is nevertheless quite beautiful inside, and as a former pastor, led my small group in prayer in the structure that marks the spot where Jesus was buried, according to the Russian Orthodox Church.  Walking through all the quarters of the old city, the Jewish quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, it is easy to get lost, but it is incredibly evocative - lots of places to shop and eat, and enjoy the space.
In the afternoon, we had class with Marc Gopin, of George Mason University, author of a number of books on Middle East peacemaking.  Marc argues that we need to get to the personal and psychological aspects if we are to make any progress in peacemaking, so each day we hear moving stories from our guides and other experts in the area.  Our Jewish guide uses the word "fence" for the massive wall that has been constructed to divide Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian West Bank.  Our Palestinian calls it a "wall".  Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are not citizens of Israel, but rather "residents", and cannot vote for the overall government.  Residents of the West Bank cannot come into Jerusalem at all.  It is such a very complicated situation!!
In the afternoon I had to go back to the airport to get my passport, which I inexplicably left there the day before!  What a knucklehead!  I've never done that before!  That's the worst thing you can do as a traveler - lose your passport!
In the evening our group was divided into smaller groups and we shared.  Our group is mostly Christian, but many of them are real experts on peacemaking, while others are novices to the area.  For dinner, a smaller group of us met with the professors - a nice, intimate conversation about our work.  I'm talking a lot about NVP, and am very excited about our new connections!
After dinner, a few of my compatriots and I walked around the Old City until@ 11:00 PM.  It's the festival of lights here in Jerusalem, which means there are creative and interesting light displays all over the place.  It was fun to see the people of Jerusalem out and enjoying the beautiful evening.
In terms of big picture observations, I can't help but notice the systematic relegation of Palestinians to second class status.  In education, voting, economic opportunity, travel restrictions - they are not truly free, and this jumps out at you immediately, and is the undercurrent of the entire country.  Obviously, there is much to say on that subject, and I'll get into it further as we go along.
I think that's all for now!  See you tomorrow!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Finally made it!

3 hours at LAX
5 hours to NYC
3 hours at JFK
11 hours to Tel Aviv
2 hours at airport
1 hour to hotel
and yes, finally, I've made it to Jerusalem!!  Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city of so many dreams and heartaches.  I knew I wasn't in the US when the pilot on the Delta flight warned us sternly, "everyone on the plane must be in their seat or this plane cannot enter Israeli airspace."  We are staying in East Jerusalem, where some cab drivers won't come because its too Arab.  But it's a lively, fun place, and I feel privileged to be here.  I met up with the other members of our group, which includes one of my employees from the Coral Center (Ronnie) and Donald Thomas!  We all had dinner together and were given an orientation by our leaders Marc Gopin and Glen Stassen.  Already sensing a lot of potential synergy with NVP!  Very tired from the trip - will go to be early soon.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! 
Hopefully this will allow you to come along with me on my journey to Israel/Palestine.  My trip is being sponsored by Fuller Seminary, and we are being led by Marc Gopin of George Mason University, Glen Stassen of Fuller Seminary, David Gushee of Mercer University, Paul Alexender of Palmer Theological Seminary, and Aziz Abu Sarah.  The trip is a "Dual Narrative" tour where we will focus on conflict resolution and peacemaking in the region. 

Already the reading list is inspiring and thought-provoking:
Abu-Nimer.  Mohammed.  Nonviolence and Peace Building in Islam:  Theory & Practice.
Abu-Nimer.  Mohammed.  Unity in Diversity:  Interfaith Dialogue in the Middle East.
Eisen, Rob.  The Peace and Violence of Judaism:  From the Bible to Modern Zionism.
Friedman, Thomas.  From Beirut to Jerusalem.
Gopin, Marc.  Between Eden and Armaggedon:  The Future of World Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking.
Gopin, Marc.  Holy War, Holy Peace:  How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East.
Lederach, John Paul.  The Moral Imagination:  The Art and Soul of Building Peace.
Sizer, Stephen.  Christian Zionism:  Road-Map to Armageddon.
Stassen, Glen Harold.  Just Peacemaking:  Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace.

I'm excited to share this trip with you!
Steve Wiebe