Israelis are entitled to enter the closed zone between the Wall and the Green Line without permits while Palestinians require permits to enter the closed zone; house demolitions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are carried out in a manner that discriminates against Palestinians; throughout the West Bank, and particularly in Hebron, settlers are given preferential treatment over Palestinians in respect of movement (major roads are reserved exclusively for settlers), building rights and army protection; and the laws governing family
reunification unashamedly discriminate against Palestinians. It is less certain that the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid is violated. The IDF inflicts serious bodily and mental harm on Palestinians, both in Gaza and the West Bank; over 700 Palestinians are held without trial; prisoners are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment; and Palestinians throughout the OPT are denied freedom of movement.

Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish
and maintain domination by one racial group (Jews) over another racial group (Palestinians) and systematically oppressing them? Israel denies that this is its intention or purpose. But such an intention or purpose may be inferred from the actions described in this report.

From the United Nations "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard" You'll want to read it.

Occupation Arabic 101

A Visual Poem

The first words I learned in Arabic were:

Marhaba
Hello

Yalla!

Let's go!

Habbibi

Dear one

Halas!

Enough!

Then I learned:

Ween jesh?Where's the army?

Il Jedar

The Wall

Gaaz

Tear Gas

Haajez
Checkpoint

Ana mein Amerika
I am from America

It was a long time before I learned to say:

Keef halek?

How are you?

Biddi shay, iza mumkin

I'd like tea, please

Aradak Jamel

Your land is beautiful

AsefaI am sorry

UN Report Compares Israel's Actions to Apartheid South Africa
A new United Nations report has compared Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza to apartheid South Africa. A South African attorney named john Dugard wrote the report for the UN Human Rights Council. The 24-page report criticizes Israel for demolishing the homes of Palestinians; for restricting the movement of Palestinians; and for giving preferential treatment to Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Dugard said "Israel's laws and practices in the Occupied Palestinian territories certainly resemble aspects of apartheid." The Guardian newspaper reports Dugard's comments represents some of the most forceful criticism from the UN of Israel's 40-year occupation.

Baladkum Jameel: Your Country is Beautiful

A Visual Introduction to Palestine
(with added pictures!)

Like all travelers, my friends and family are forever asking me, "So, how was your trip?" I think they expect me to say that traveling in Palestine is difficult, frustrating, or sad. Certainly, the occupation is depressing, but mainly because it is destroying a beautiful country. So, without fail, I always answer, "I love Palestine. It's beautiful." I've wanted to compile photo-essay of all of the wonderful, miraculous sights that have made me fall in love with Palestine.

Farmers

Activists

Olives

Hummus

Donkeys

The Dome of the Rock

Coffee
Tea

Kids

Schools

Tomatoes

AT-TUWANI: Israeli military demolishes seven Palestinian homes in south
Hebron district
CPTnet

Israeli soldiers demolished homes in three Palestinian villages near bypass road 317 on 14 February 2007. Starting in Imneizil at around 9:00 a.m., about forty Israeli soldiers with two bulldozers demolished one home, an animal pen and a stone bake-oven. At noon, the soldiers moved to Qawawis
where they demolished the homes of five families and one bake-oven, then on to Um Al-Kher where they demolished one home and damaged a wall of another home.

At Imneizil, several young children were in their home eating when the Israeli military arrived. The soldiers gave the family time to get out, but did not give them time to remove their personal belongings. The animal pen was demolished with a few animals inside; two lambs were injured. The Palestinian family began immediately to build a makeshift pen for the animals as the majority of the sheep were just returning from grazing in the fields.

In the village of Qawawis one of the demolished homes was over sixty-five years old, and sheltered two families. Photos of the families amid the rubble are in the CPT photo gallery

The Israeli military, in concert with Israeli settlers, has been trying to force the Palestinian residents of the south Hebron hills to leave their homes for years. Due to harassment from the nearby Israeli outposts several of the young families of Qawawis moved to a nearby town. When the Israeli army then forcibly evacuated the remaining families, a court ordered that the families could return to their homes. According to a lawyer representing the families, the Israeli army now claims that this court
ruling allows only the last inhabitants of Qawawis to return, not their children who earlier fled the assaults of the Israeli settlers.

"Our children need homes," said one villager. "What do they want us to do?"

The Israeli army reported, "Twenty illegal structures were destroyed after demolition orders were issued, and offers were made to the owners to pursue the available options before the planning organizations. The supervisory unit of the civil administration will continue to operate against illegal
building activity in the area, and to implement the steps mandated by law against this illegal activity." The Israeli military made no provisions for shelter for the families whose homes they demolished. The families asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide them with tents.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions commented, "A building permit is unavailable there [in the south Hebron hills.]"

The preceding day three Israeli peace activists and two internationals, including CPTer Sally Hunsberger, joined approximately fifty Palestinians in working on their land near Imneizil. The Palestinian men, women and children planted 600 olive trees in fields that they had been afraid to walk
on for the past four years due to threats of settler violence. During the action, soldiers and settlers watched from a distance, but did not interfere with the tree planting.

HEBRON DISTRICT URGENT ACTION: Five families facing loss of homes. Contact embassies in Tel Aviv

The Israeli military has issued stop building orders to five Palestinian families living in the Khirbtkasah area of Hebron district. In the past, such orders have often been followed by demolition orders. Five extended families live in seventeen dwellings in Khirbtkasah, near the village of Idhna. The families, consisting of 235 people, already face severe hardship because their homes and land lie in a 'closed area' between Israel's Separation Wall and the Green Line.

Since Israel began construction of the Wall in 2002, observers have feared that the Israeli government would eventually forcibly remove thousands of Palestinians living near the wall from their homes. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that the wall adversely affects 250,000 Palestinians. Of those, 17,000 live in 'closed areas.' They cannot legally travel to Israel, or access any services there. The Israeli army also controls their access to markets, schools and hospitals in the occupied Palestinian West Bank through a gate in the wall. They are thus enclosed by a physical wall on one side and by an administrative one on the other.

The families in Khirbtkasah, who have legal documentation of ownership of the land dating from the time of the Ottoman rule, will appeal the stop building orders in an Israeli military court on 22 February 2007.

ACTION:
Please, e-mail or write to your embassy in Tel Aviv. Copy your Members of Parliament or Representatives and Senators. Urge them to send a clear message to the Israeli government that driving Palestinians from their land is a violation of international law and must stop.

SAMPLE TEXT FOR MESSAGE
"Please protest Israeli Military harassment Palestinians trapped between the Separation Wall and the Green Line.

Five families living in the Khirbtkasah area of Hebron district, near Idhna, will present an appeal petition in the Military Court on 22 February 2007. The families of Ahmad Shehdeh Hamed Natah, Isat Muhama Abu Sa'adum, Saley Ahmad Natah, Yosef Abdelkader Natah and Aref Muhamad Ahmad Abu-Sa'adin have legal documentation proving ownership of this land. Threats to displace these families are a violation of international law.

At present, the families farm their land, raising goats and sheep and growing wheat. The Israeli army controls the families' access to markets and other services because the area is between the Green Line and the Israeli Separation Wall. These restrictions of movement have already threatened their livelihoods.

I urge you to investigate these cases and send a clear message to the Israeli government that driving Palestinians from their homes is wrong and must stop.
Sincerely

[Your name and full address]


ADDRESSES

USA: Embassy in Tel Aviv -- US Embassy, 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63903,
Israel. Email: Mary Glantz, Human Rights, glantzme@state.gov
Or Michelle Schohn, schohnjm@state.gov

President George W Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC20500

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

To contact your Senator go to
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm


To contact your Representative go to http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

For more information on land issues
in the Hebron district contact Abdul Hadi Hantash of the Palestinian Land
Defense Committee, phone 972 599 838 180; or Christian Peacemaker Teams in
Hebron, phone 97-22-222-8485

Bulldozing Peace

"Bulldozing Peace" Video from Alternative Focus

Portland Catholic Worker Dorothy Day House is beginning a dialog with our local CAT distribution point about CAT's involvement in demolishing Palestinian homes. This video is a look at the campaign we will be a part of. Check it out!

Announcing the publication of 100 Chemis Pour La Paix en Palestine, 100 Doves for Peace in Palestine by Samih Abu Zakieh!

Congratulations, Samih!

Today I learned that that the words and art work of my friend Samih Abu Zakieh has finally made it to the world stage. 100 Doves for Peace in Palestine has been published in Canada! Those of you paying careful, and undue, attention to this blog may remember that I was involved in editing this lovely book while I was in Bethlehem this summer. I'm so excited that the world now has access to this wonderful story of determination, cooperation, hope, and peace.

100 Doves for Peace in Palestine includes all 100 of Samih's intricate drawings as well as the remarkable story behind. Samih Abu Zakieh is an artist living in Hebron who drew these doves while living under curfew. In this book, Samih shares his own hopes for a world in which children smile and the peace of Jerusalem is restored. Although Samih's doves were drawn under terrible circumstances - Samih and his fellow Hebronites spent most of the year trapped in their own houses under Israeli military curfew - Samih's book rings with hope.

I'm not sure if this addition is trilingual - Arabic, French, and English - or published just in French, but Samhi's drawings transcend language. Pick up a copy for yourself or request that your local library purchases one!

Image above copyright of Samhi Abu Zakieh. Kindly respect his ownership.

How Still We See Thee Lie:
Bethlehem, 2006





Oh, little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by

If Mary were bedding down in Bethlehem today, I think that she would complain that the city isn’t what the song said it would be. I doubt she would find Bethlehem itself particularly little or describe its nights as still. In fact, Mary might find it difficult to get a “deep and dreamless sleep” since life in Bethlehem continues well after nightfall. Perhaps she and Joseph would try to fall asleep amidst the sounds of wedding celebrations, fireworks, World Cup victory parties, and family dinners. But my guess is that Joseph’s family would never leave Mary alone. Mary and Joseph would probably be kept up late by relatives insisting on stuffing them with mountains of food and tiny cups of Arabic coffee.

But if Mary and Joseph weren’t staying with family, I am certain that they would find plenty of room in whatever inn they might choose. The holy family could have its choice of many lodgings: they could check into the Bethlehem Hotel, a spacious, western-style establishment. Or perhaps the Intercontinental, a five-star palace that would put the most spacious stable to shame. Mary could lay down on a soft bed and drift off to a strange sound: silence. Joseph would find that the flood of pilgrims and tourists who once came to Bethlehem has all but disappeared. If Bethlehem lies still today, it’s because its economy is slowly dying.

If Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem today, they wouldn’t find it to be the thriving, historic, multi-faith community it once was. Bethlehem lies only five miles south of Jerusalem, but at the end of those five miles stands a 25ft high cement wall marking the beginning the West Bank and the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. This wall and occupation form the nightmare that is destroying Bethlehem’s economy and disturbing this little town’s deep sleep.

Bethlehem suffers quietly under unjust structures imposed by the Israeli military occupation. Bethlehemites face land confiscation, the destruction of their olive groves, home demolitions and movement restrictions which make normal economic development impossible. The wall surrounding Bethlehem prevents goods from entering and leaving, cuts farmers off from their land and even surrounds important religious monuments. It also deters pilgrims from visiting one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.

Today pilgrims on their way to the many religious sites in Bethlehem, including Rachel’s Tomb, Ruth and Naomi’s Field, Shepard’s Field, and of course the Church of the Nativity, must become intimately familiar with the wall. Visitors have to pass through an Israeli military checkpoint. They must wait in line, show their passports, and consent to any searches the Israeli army requires. This ordeal would turn many tourists away, but most give up before getting this close. Potential visitors are deluged with rumors of violence and high prices in Bethlehem. Most organized tours wiz tourists into Bethlehem on buses for a quick stop at the Church of the Nativity and than back to Israel, all in the course of about an hour. Many tours leave Bethlehem out of their itinerary all together. As a result, thousands of Christians visit the Holy Land each year without seeing the site of Jesus’ birth.

Bethlehem’s survival would still be in jeopardy if its tourist sector were still thriving. But without the visitors who used to drive Bethlehem’s economy, residents have very little hope. The Christian community in Bethlehem is rapidly emigrating, not because of religious discrimination but because of the economic conditions imposed by the Israeli occupation. Not long ago, Christians formed a majority in Bethlehem. If emigration rates remain constant, some say in 20 years Bethlehem will have no Christians left.

The truth before the world is stark: the location venerated as Christ’s birth place is being destroyed. One of the oldest Christian communities is slowly being driven out by a brutal military occupation that strikes at all Palestinians, regardless of faith. Nothing is safe under occupation, even Jesus’ birthplace. In the year 2002, the Israeli army invaded Bethlehem and lay siege to the Church of the Nativity. The church remains riddled with bullet holes today. Even for a person like myself, a Quaker who places no special emphasis on “holy places”, these bullet holes are like holes in my heart. I hope that they are holes in a veil through which God’s presence can come more readily into our beautiful, mundane world. I want to believe that’s what they are, but I worry that they are just another hole in the fabric of Palestinian society.

Bullet holes in the Church of the Nativity

My only hope is that the broken hearts of Christians and other good people who learn of Bethlehem’s plight will be the holes through which God’s love can work in our lives. The Christmas story can’t end in Bethlehem; it needs to find new life in the hearts of people all over the world who are ready to take action to stop the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.

The prince of peace, a child who grew up to disrupt the status quo with his message of love and justice, was born in Bethlehem. May he be born in our hearts again today.

For more information on the ongoing situation in Bethlehem and ways to help, visit Open Bethlehem at www.openbethlehem.org

Beit Hanoun

Apologies for a very short (and belated) update, but if you are now aware of the unfolding situation in Gaza, here's the short version. Israeli artillery fire in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun killed 19 people and wounded 40. All were civilians.

For more information and to make your voice heard, visit Jewish Voice for Peace and their action alert

Occupied Voices: Palestinian Poet Mahmud Darwish

This poem came my way via the blog "Raising Yosef" Enjoy.

The siege is lying in wait.
It is lying in wait on a tilted stairway
in the midst of a storm.

We are alone. We are alone to the point
of drunkenness with our own aloneness,
with the occasional rainbow visiting.

We have brothers and sisters overseas..
kind sisters, who love us
who look our way and weep.
And secretly they say
"I wish that siege was here, so that I could..."
But they cannot finish the sentence.
Do not leave us alone. No.
Do not leave us alone.

Our losses are between two and eight a day.
And ten are wounded.
Twenty homes are gone.
Forty olive groves destroyed,
in addition to the structural damage
afflicting the veins of the poem, the play,
and the unfinished painting.

(Mahmud Darwish, A State of Siege, 2002, translated by Ramsis Amun)

Announcing....
"Breaking the Silence" Israeli Soldiers Speak Out

Breaking the Silence is one of the most interesting and important Israeli organizations working to educate the world about the situation in the Occupied West Bank, especially in the city of Hebron, a place near to my heart. For those of you living in the Northwest, don't miss this presentation. And for rest of you, check out this interview. - J, I Saw it in Palestine

"Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Speak Out"
Tuesday, November 7, 7pm
Friends Meeting Hall
4312 SE Stark Street, Portland

Two former Israeli soldiers, Dotan Greenvald and Yehuda Shaul, will
speak about their experiences serving the Israeli occupation in the
West Bank. Greenvald and Shaul are members of "Breaking the Silence",
an organization dedicated to revealing the day-to-day character of the
military occupation of Palestinian land and communities. For more
information, please call 503/344-5078 or write to pprc@riseup.net.

I'm currently in the process of giving presentations on my experiences living in Palestine. As always, I'm looking for venues and audiences. Got any ideas?

Below is a description of my work and the presentation formats I'm comfortable with. Check it out and make note of what I am and am not willing to do. I've decided to post this information just to give potential hosts a better idea of what I can do and what I can't – I've been getting a number of requests for formats that I'm not able to provide, so I thought this might be helpful for everyone.

Thanks for helping to get the story of Palestine out to the world!

Coming Soon! Hopefully, after a bug in my blog is ironed out, I'll be embedding a calendar in the side bar to show when I am available for presentations. Check it out, comment, call or send me an email and we'll get a presentation scheduled for you!

Presentation description:

Portland resident Joy Ellison has returned from spending three months
in the West Bank supporting Palestinian nonviolent resistance. Joy
Ellison is an Earlham College graduate with a degree in Peace and
Global Studies and has traveled to many places besides Palestine,
including Northern Ireland and Bolivia. This summer marked her second
trip to Palestine, where she has spent a total of 5 and half months
working with Christian Peacemaker Teams, International Women's Peace
Service, and the Holy Land Trust. She is planning to return to
Palestine this year to continue working with Christian Peacemaker
Teams.

With photographs, maps, and video clips, Joy's presentations attempt
to bring her experiences in Palestine to life for other Americans.
She focuses on explaining the basics mechanisms of the Israeli
military occupation of Palestine and sharing how Palestinians,
Israelis and international partners are building peace through
nonviolent resistance.

I'm happy to give presentations in the following formats:
· Formal presentations: I have prepared a 45 minute – hour long powerpoint presentation with pictures and map to illustrate my experiences. I am very happy to give this presentation to groups of any size and answer questions. I think that this presentation is the most clear and informative and works well for groups with considerable or very little knowledge of the situation.

· Informal question and answer secessions: I'm very happy to speak about my work very briefly (5-10 minutes) and answer questions or participate in a discussion with a group of any size. I find that this is a good format for discussing both the political and the personal aspects of my work and works well in college classrooms, Sunday Schools, and homes.

· Host a video presentation: I have a small selection of videos about Palestine and I am very happy to introduce myself, show a video and answer questions afterwards.

· Elementary school classrooms/children's religious classes: I have designed an hour-long presentation about live in Palestine appropriate for first graders through 5th grade. The presentation focuses on the lives of Palestinian children and Palestinian culture, religion, and food. Presentations can be shortened if needed.

· Spoken messages/sermons, etc.: I am willing to prepare a message, sermon or other talk for religious gatherings or other large gatherings.

· Nonviolence trainings: I love to give nonviolence trainings focused on exploring what it means to use nonviolence to build peace and justice. Trainings, however, always require preparation, so I do request an honorarium based on the amount of preparation time I spend.

· Interviews: I am always willing to give interviews. I have selection of articles that I have written on Palestine that I can provide for publication and re-publication.

· Table/present information: I am occasionally willing to set up information and flyers about my work and the situation in Palestine, but I am selective when choosing a venue/schedule for such an event. I am, however, always very happy to pass on information so that other people can pass out information themselves.

I prefer not to:

· Lead people in mediations/prayers/silence: I'm often asked to lead times of reflection or mediation, but I strongly prefer not to do so. Because I take these times of reflection seriously, I find preparations for them to be very time consuming. I have one pre-prepared outline for such a presentation. I am only willing to led mediations if this outline will fit the desired format.

· Participate in a debate/panel discussion on Israel/Palestine: My work is focused on sharing my experiences and discussing nonviolent peacemaking, not debating the issues. I feel that there are other people who are better suited to that and I'm not sure that the format gets us anywhere. I have presented alongside other peace activists in an informal question-and-answer session and I am happy to do similar presentations.

· Tap-dance :-)

Find God in the Darkness
Based on a sermon given at West Hills Friends, Portland Oregon

Lately, I've realized that very few people actually understand what
people like me are doing working in Palestine. Certainly there are
many people who've never heard of organizations like Christian
Peacemaker Teams or the International Solidarity Movement, but that's
not what worries me. It's the way our friends and supporters and
often the way we ourselves describe our work that's begun to disturb
me. Often people like me who work supporting Palestinian nonviolent
resistance are described as "active peacemakers" or "people standing
in the way of violence." They say that we're "standing in solidarity
with the oppressed" or "shining God's light in the darkness" or, my
personal favorite, "trying to save the world."

I suppose all of that is true, to some degree, and I find it deeply
flattering. But I think these descriptions are also very convenient.
They make the work we do seem difficult and that in turn allows people
to react to it in one of two ways: first, these descriptions makes it
very easy for the listener to say, "why, I could never do something
like that." Secondly, and this is what concerns me more, these
descriptions make our work seem very important and even gallant. They
create a dangerous potential for nobility and self-righteousness.
They also shield us from the questions that the Israeli military
occupation of Palestine poses and make it easier for us to avoid
questioning ourselves. They also prevent us from fully confronting
the despair always present in situations of oppression.

So, let me tell you what we, the people who serve in organizations
like Christian Peacemaker Teams, really do. I think that you'll find
in the reality is less gallant and more humble that we might wish for.

We let Palestinians feed us. We accept gifts from people who cannot
afford to give them. We meet people and try not to mispronounce their
names. We explain to many people that we don't know President Bush
personally, but we'll tell everyone we do know their story. Most
importantly of all, we act in a way that allows people to preserve
their dignity.

We participate in the daily realities of the oppressed – in this case
the Palestinians – as much as outsiders of varying degrees of
privilege ever can. Sometimes we stand in line at checkpoints for
hours. We try to convince soldiers to let people go home or to the
grocery store. We sweat. We grumble (at least I do). We look for
that of God in other people.

We spend money in places that no one else goes. We smile at people
whose lives are hellish. We play soccer with children.

We are a presence. We care. And it's hard to know if we're doing a
lot of good, but we find it difficult to stop or to do anything else.

Over this summer, I set aside time to study Arabic so that my work in
Palestine might be more effective and more respectful. On a typical
day, I might have found myself traveling to Jerusalem on an errand.
I'd probably be in a bit of a hurry, but I'd visit my friend Mahjadee who
owns a dying tourist shop on Manger Street. Talking would turn to
drinking coffee, which would turn into an Arabic lesson and buying a
present from my mom. An hour later, I might finally leave Bethlehem
for Jerusalem. I'd try my best to act human-ly to the Israeli
soldiers who check my ID at the checkpoint, though I'm not sure how
one does that when a glass window and a wall of silence separates us.
I'd run my errands in Jerusalem and then I might buy prayer beads for
my friend Marwan, who always smiled sadly whenever I told him I was
going to Jerusalem. I'd find a shop and choose a piece of Jerusalem
to bring back to Marwan, who hasn't been able to travel to his holy
city, only 5 miles from his home in Bethlehem, for 12 years. I'd let
the shop owner rip me off, to the degree I could afford. Then I'd get
back on the bus, show my ID again at the checkpoint and go home to my
host family. What did I accomplish? I'm still not sure.

Or maybe, on a day I was feeling strong and resilient, I might visit
my friend who has the misfortunate to work next to a holy site for
Christians, Muslims, and Jews: Rachel Tomb. Because of its proximity
to the tomb of Rachel, Jacob's wife, the Israeli army has surrounded
his shop with the 25ft high cement Annexation Wall. The Wall snakes
inside Bethlehem to swallow up the tiny shop and all of his business
with it. His shop is dying now and when I would come to visit he
would tell me his problems and cry because the situation had stripped
him of everything and is now chipping away at his last possession: his
dignity. I would drink tea, say hello, and try to make him let me pay
my bill. All I could do was let him know that I knew he was there and
give him a few more shekels to scrape together to feed his family.

Sometimes, usually even, our work seems more direct. Christian
Peacemaker Teams volunteers accompany children on their way to school.
CPTers stand in the way when settlers throw rocks at them. We try
to find ways to support the Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance
movement. We sometimes serve as a bridge between Israeli and
Palestinians activists and we attend demonstrations against the
Israeli Annexation Wall. On what might be called an "exciting" day
(and those are the days one learns to fear) international activists
might grab or pile on top of Palestinian activists to un-arrest them.
When we are successful, we know we've helped to make sure a mother or
father or beloved child will go home safely, instead of off to spend
years in an Israeli jail. Like all activists, we have many projects:
we create documentaries, reports, and activist resources. We write
letters, paint signs, and work very hard. Always, we are writing
about what we see. We're always trying to say whatever we need to say
to help our friends understand what is happening, to make them care,
and insight to them to do something.

In my experience, these simple actions are what comprise the reality
of what we are doing when we work in solidarity with Palestinians. I
think, though, that in all of this, while we may want desperately to
believe we are changing the world, and I still have faith that we are,
we are also looking for God in the dark places. We may like to think
of ourselves as peacemakers Jesus called blessed, but we have also
become blessed because we are poor in spirit and blessed because we
mourn.

When I returned to Palestine this summer, my prayer was that I would
see God in the soldiers and Israeli officials I came in contact with.
As I stepped off the plane and tried to steady my nerves for the trip
through Israeli security, my prayers were immediately answered. The
girl behind the glass was about my age and pretty. It was easy to see
God in her. I didn't expect to continue to see God in the eyes of
Israeli soldiers, but I did. And the truth is, I still don't know
what to do with the piece of God I saw so clearly in those young
soldiers. Would Jesus carry a gun? I still don't think so. But I
saw him doing just that.

What do we do with experiences like this? It's hard to see clearly in
the dark. But sometimes it is in the dark that I am finally able to
see God.