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!