Friday, July 1, 2011

Pics #8







Last Day, Nazareth, & Security

My last day actually started the night before with some hoops by the Sea of Galilee.  Had to take advantage of the court at the hotel!

In the morning we went to Nazareth, a predominantly Christian and Muslim city, and met first with representatives from the Mossawa Center, an advocacy group for Arab Citizens of Israel.  Yes, there are Arab Citizens of Israel, but they are a minority, deeply discriminated against.  A little information:

  • 20% of all citizens of Israel are Arab.
  • Arabs receive 1.4% of the Development budget of the state of Israel.
  • 26% of students in Israel are Arab.
  • Arabs and Jews have separate education systems where the average expenditure per student is 8000 shekels/year for Jewish students ($2352), but only 1000 shekels/year for Arab students ($294).  So obviously there is a great disparity in per pupil spending, as well as student achievement outcomes.
  • These Arab students are in Israel, not in the Palestinian territories, and their families pay taxes at the same rate as Jewish Israeli citizens.
  • Arab NGO's cannot celebrate the "Nachba", the event commemorating losing their homes in 1948, without losing government funding.

Then it was off to some holy sites for Christianity.  We began by going to the St. Gabriel Greek Orthodox Church, which, according to Orthodox tradition, is the place where the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to God's son.  We heard from the priest in this beautiful Orthodox church.  There is a spring in the church that has run for thousands of years and is said to help women get pregnant!

Then it was off through the narrow streets of Old Nazareth, where we came to the White Mosque.  We met with the headmaster of the mosque, Alef Yousef Fahom, and the retired former Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East for the Anglican Church, Riah Abo El-Assal.  They discussed with us the need for people of all faiths to work together, and cited their work in Nazareth as proof it can happen, and that many good works can come of such a union.  Their contention is that Nazareth avoided the violence of 1948 by presenting a united front of nonviolence to Israel's military.  This was our first meeting in a mosque.

We then walked a few more hundred feet through the old city of Nazareth to the Church of the Annunciation, which is where Catholics think the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would give birth to the Christ.  This church is absolutely stunning!  Perhaps the most striking I've seen here in Israel.

Then we headed to the airport near Tel Aviv, and spent a few hours reflecting as a group in a restaurant. I think overall the trip has been fantastic, the students are a wonderful group, and we have met so many outstanding people and activists for peace.  I think I would have liked the class time to dig a little deeper into the details of peacemaking, and overall, I don't think we heard enough of the Israeli narrative for the region.  I hope Fuller Seminary stays involved in the region, and expands the trip outside of its network - I think a lot of people would be interested in this dual narrative type of trip.  But, in the main, I am so grateful to be able to experience this complicated, beautiful, and tragic part of the world.

The last thing to mention is the security at the airport.  If any of you ever head to Israel, you simply have to anticipate the most intense security screening you may ever have.  Picture the typical airport screening process you go through in the states - at the airport in Tel Aviv, you do that at least 3 times, with far more invasive searching.  First you are interviewed about your trip in Israel - if you mention anything having to do with the West Bank or Palestinians, you are automatically bumped up to another level of screening.  Then they check all your bags with one of those x-ray machines.  Since I was flagged, I got the joy of having my luggage opened and each piece of clothing inspected.  I was very afraid of a scarf I had received in Hebron from the Palestinian officials being discovered in my luggage because that would have set off another round of alarm.  But they didn't find it!  They asked me many questions about my trip.  We had talked about this process as a group and had decided simply to talk about our trip as a "Christian Holy Land" trip, so as not to raise undue suspicion.  But they found my books for the course, and were very interested in why I was studying the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  So we had a discussion about that, with me trying not to say the wrong thing.  Anyway, after that, the airport security followed us to another checkpoint, where they went through our passports again; then it was on to another piece by piece search of our carryons.  Two more checks of our ID and we were able to board the plane.  It certainly makes me appreciate the relative ease of American airport security!

On the 11 hour plane ride to New York City, I sat next to a lovely young modern orthodox woman from Israel.  After easing into the conversation by talking about music, family, Christian theology - was there a real Adam and Eve, she wanted to know, once she found out I taught theology - culture, and religion - we headed to dicier territory - politics.  She's a staunch supporter of Netanyahu, and wants the "Arabs" to have their own country.  She doesn't want to mix the two and doesn't even recognize the term "Palestinian".  The territory Israel gained in the 1967 should stay theirs on the "to the victor belong the spoils" theme.  For the second time in a few hours, I found myself unable to discuss the Palestinian narrative with an Israeli supporter.  It was simply too jarring to bring up another side of the story.  I hope that isn't a portend for my future involvement with this issue.

I am now on the plane heading west, towards the setting sun.  Salam, Shalom, and Peace be to all of you, and especially to the Middle East.