Home  |  Who we are  |  What's on  |  Site Index  | Contact

Rev Clarence Musgrave  
and his wife Joan  
were our mission partners. 
They  worked at 
St Andrews Church of Scotland Church 
in Jerusalem before they retired in the summer of 2006.

Sunbula, the shop in St Andrew's Hospice that promotes and sells handcrafts made by Palestinians is now on the web: www.sunbula.org

Photographs of Israel and Palestine 2003-4

Study Tours Sept/Oct 2004

• No 170
• No 171
• No 172
• No 173
• No 174
• No 175
• No 176
• No 177
• No 178
• No 179

Other Letters:
No 25-30
No 31-36
No 37-41
No 42-48
No 49-60
No 61-69
No 70-79
No 80-89
No 90-100
No 101-109
No 110-119
No 120-129
No 130-139
No 140-149
No 150-159
No 160-169
No 170-179
No 180-189
No 190-199
No 200-209
No 210-219
No 220-229
No 230-239
No 240-249
No 250-259
No 260-270

Partnership in Conflict

top

Circular Letter No 178
31st July 2004

Thank you to those who have taken up the cudgels for Helen Shehadeh. At this end, she made application for what is called a “Magnetic Card” – to ensure that a blind senior woman is not a terrorist threat! She will hear about that at the beginning of the week – and maybe then will be able to get a permit. In the meantime, Mr Shaham of the Israeli Embassy in London has undertaken to try to assist her if she, or someone on her behalf, contacts him. Further news as it develops. ( I have had three letters from different people in the UK to whom Mr Shaham has replied. He will be impressed I am sure at the concern for Helen! Keep it up.)

In December 2001, when we were having a meal with some friends here in Jerusalem, one of them said that there would be no change in American policy towards Israel and Palestine until there was a change of President in the US. With the rest of the world, we are having to watch the process of the nomination of candidates for the Election in November, and wondering what change, if any, might come. In the Haaretz Weekend Magazine of 23rd July, there is a feature article about Mr Kerry, which includes the following (P 20 ) “Kerry is now totally aligned with Israel as well. At the beginning of the campaign, there were still a few faux pas, as when he condemned the separation fence at a convention of the Arab American Institute, when he supported the Geneva Initiative, or when he suggested Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter or James Baker as intermediaries in the Middle East – men considered problematic for Israel by the American-Jewish community. But in recent months Kerry has fixed all his mistakes. … The Jewish community also points out that during all his years in the Senate, he has a ‘perfect AIPAC (American Israel Political Affairs Committee) voting record’ – in other words he has always voted in accordance with the pro-Israel lobby on matters related to Israel and the Middle East.”

An article by Derrick Z Jackson in the International Herald Tribune of Friday July 30th, P 7, is headed : “An Arab-American awakening.” It is an interesting comment on the ways in which the Arab-American people may vote in the US Election. ‘In 2000 Mr Bush won 46% of the Arab-American vote, compared to 38% for Mr Gore and 14% for Mr Nader. But now, a July tracking poll conducted by Zogby International for the Arab American Institute found that only 25% of Arab-Americans say Mr Bush should be re-elected. Only 9% of Arab-Americans say Mr Bush’s policies concerning Israel and Palestine are good or excellent. This could spell trouble for Mr Bush if there are tight races in battleground states like Michigan, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where Zogby predicts a half-million Arab-Americans will vote.’

I hope this does not bore you, but it is of more than passing interest to folk here – to whichever community they belong.

Wherever you live, it is likely that there will be some form of National Holiday which commemorates some defining moment in your history. Growing up in N Ireland, such a day was 12th July, commemorating the victory of Protestant forces over Catholic forces in 1690 at the Battle of the Boyne. Understandably, different perceptions of the event were held by the Protestant and Catholic communities! Here, this week has seen the annual commemoration called Tisha B’Av – a fast held to mark the date when the First and Second Temples were destroyed. The place, par excellence, where Jewish people would want to congregate to commemorate this event, is the Western Wall. Although it is not part of the Temple itself, but a part of the retaining wall built to create the Temple Mount, it has huge religious, emotional and political significance for Jewish people all over the world. So, to allow thousands of people to visit the Wall, there were major traffic diversions around the centre of Jerusalem on Monday evening and Tuesday. Unfortunately, many of the roads that were closed were in East Jerusalem, and much of the police presence was there also – which happens to be the Arab part of the city. Were it all done somewhat more sensitively, it would help inter-communal relations. As it happens now, it seems to be yet another example of one community dominating the other.

One thing which was helpful was that the local Police Commander did not allow Jewish people to go on to the Temple Mount to pray – a precaution which evoked the following response from one of the leaders of the Temple Mount Faithful movement : “This is a total retreat from our sovereignty over the Temple Mount,” said the group’s leader, Gershon Solomon. “It’s another dishonour to the Jewish nation by a weak leadership that doesn’t understand the significance of the hour.” (Haaretz P 2, July 28th)

On Wednesday, we were back at Idna to take some people to meet the women of the Co-operative, and to buy some goods for sending overseas. All told, their sales that morning came to approx NIS 3,500. It seems a significant figure – about $800 – until it is placed in the context of the overall needs of the women and their families. Still, it is better than no sales at all. It is noticeable on the road down to Idna that the military presence is considerably less than it used to be – which could be either that there is less tension, or that the Israeli army have things so much under their control that they do not need the same level of road blocks. Certainly, for us, it is easier than it was a few months ago to pass the check points – or rather some check points. We still had to wait for over 30 minutes to get out of Ramallah on Thursday.

While we were getting ready to leave Idna, and purchasing a water melon – two Israeli army jeeps came up into the village and went off on a circuit – metal protective guards over the windows, all doors closed, horns going and lights flashing. They did a circuit, and came past where we were, before appearing to leave the village. However, before we were finished buying the water melon they were back again, and away up the same road. Some of the younger folk reacted with a bit of energy, but most just looked at them and went on with their business. Maybe their presence in the village was an indication of why there are less road blocks. Those whom the Israeli army wants, it finds in the villages, rather than on the roads.


Since the end of June we have had folk from Scotland with us, who have come out to learn more of the situation here at first hand. It has been good to have them, as it has made us think again about things that we have perhaps come to accept too easily, and it has made us question some of the assumptions that we have made.

One conversation delved into why there is so little response from the world at large to the injustices that are happening here. Is it that there is a lack of information, or is it that the information from here has to compete with news from all over the world – Darfur, Bangladesh, Baghdad, etc – or is it that the information is not conveyed in a way to which people respond? Do people see Israeli Jewish people as victims of attacks and therefore having a legitimate right to respond, or do they seem them as colonialists who are taking land and livelihood from other people? Do people see Palestinian as terrorists who have to be crushed in the War against Terrorism, or as freedom fighters who are striving for an end to the occupation of their land which has now lasted since 1967?

It is not a new phenomenon, and ways have to be found to confront people with what is actually happening, so that they will respond to it. Band Aid, Live Aid and such events stirred the consciences of many folk – but they had to wait for someone to bring the news in a way that was shocking and demanded a response. I think one such “reporting event” was by Michael Buerk for the BBC from Ethiopia.

One news item that deserves publicity but may well not get it is as follows.

On the same day as a photograph appeared on the front page of Haaretz depicting people praying at the Wall (Haaretz July 27th) the headline of the Leader column on P5 read “Scorched Earth in Gaza.” ‘The item was just another routine report: an update from the war of attrition Israel and the Palestinians are conducting in the occupied territories. Haaretz correspondent Nir Hason reported on Sunday that the IDF had demolished a packing house in Beit Hanun in Northern Gaza. … But some harsh details emerge from the Beit Hanun report. The packing plant served about 1,000 farmers in Gaza. Their vegetables and fruit were packed for export to Europe and helped provide a livelihood for thousands of residents in Gaza. Just two weeks ago, the Peres Centre for Peace transferred funds to the packing plant for the purchase of new sorting machinery. That machinery was also destroyed in the IDF action, a half million shekel loss. The packing house is now expected to go bankrupt and the farmers won’t have any way to market their produce.’


How does one get this sort of information to reach that segment of the public in such at way that they will react and begin to get a grasp on what is happening here. Is this “security”? Or what is it? What are the key words which will strike a chord in the minds of listeners and readers? In a sense, how does one reach beyond those who may be described as “the converted”?

In a conversation with a Palestinian woman this week, who now lives in the USA, we were talking about the Bible. She was quite adamant that she would have nothing to do with the God of the Old Testament – whom she sees as responsible for the Zionist activities that have taken the land from her and her family. She will accept the teachings of Jesus – but if he has to go with the Old Testament too – then for her she will have neither. Suggestions for a reply to her, on a postcard! - or even an e-mail.


I will leave it there. We were at a wedding service this afternoon – two young Palestinian people. There is the party tonight – time is said to be 1930 hours. We aim to set out at 2000 hours and will still be way too early. Fun in the middle of the tension. Sorrow also – they will probably go to live outside Palestine, their home. They ask what is their future here?

Personal news. The post of Minister of St Andrew’s Jerusalem is being re-advertised in the magazine of the Church of Scotland – Life and Work – at the beginning of August. Given that someone is found as a result of this process, it is unlikely that anyone would be here until March 2005. We have offered to stay until then – and this offer has been accepted. By my reckoning, we may get to Letter No. 212 by the time we leave. Sorry about that! Those who feel that they have had enough already are invited to cancel their subscription – by e-mail of course.



Stay well. God bless

Joan and Clarence



A word from a blind woman in Ramallah whom we met a while ago : Lighting a candle is better than cursing the dark.



A propos of nothing at all: Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Since then no one ever found it.

top

Circular Letter No 177
24th July 2004


From Circular Letter 173 of 26th June. ‘A recent letter in the Church Times, ( I think it was June 18th) sent by Mr Dan Shaham, Director of Public Affairs, Embassy of Israel, 2 Palace Green, London W8 4QB, ended with the following sentence : “Israel is still the only country in the region that has been able to offer a safe haven for Jews, a democratic society for its Muslim population, and a prosperous environment for Christians. DAN SHAHAM.” ‘


I know that some of you took up the request to write to Mr Shaham. However, I do not think that there was much by way of adequacy of response. In this environment described by Mr Shaham in such glowing terms, we made a couple of journeys.

Monday 19th July. I had some work to do in Bethlehem, which included trying to find a craftsman to repair some Mother of Pearl work brought by a friend from Scotland. We called in to see the family of George and Najla Azar. There were not all the happy, as their son who graduated this year from Bethlehem University had had his request for a Study Visa for the UK refused. He had been called to the British Consulate in Jerusalem for the normal Interview to deal with his Visa Application. For him to come to Jerusalem requires a Permit. To obtain a Permit requires a taxi ride several kms to the Army office where permits are issued. He spent a whole day making this journey, making the application, and at the end was granted a Permit enabling him to make one journey into Jerusalem. Unfortunately, his application was refused. Should he wish to try to take the matter further here, it would require yet another Permit etc.

It was little wonder that the family were discouraged – but they will keep trying.


Later in the day we visited Helen Shehadeh. Still no Permit to come to church – she must get a Magnetic Card first, which is a Security Check. Then her application for a Permit for Church can be considered. Imagine that sort of treatment for a blind person in other countries. Yet here, it is accepted and no one seems to be bothered about it. No matter what letters are written, it seems that they have no effect.

Tuesday 20th is celebrated as St Elijah Day, with special celebrations at Haifa – Mount Carmel. Hundreds of Christians from the West Bank get permits to come to Israel for the day, and from Bethlehem there were scheduled to be large numbers of buses. One of Helen’s staff applied, with her family, for such a Permit. Her family was given Permits – she was refused. No reason given for denying her a Permit.

Helen had applied for permits for her staff, so that they could bring the children of the School to visit Haifa. She had been told to call back late on Monday evening – she would then find out if she had been granted the necessary permits. Can you imagine the uncertainty for staff and children? The difficulty in arranging transport and a place for the kids to rest, eat etc.?

[Update. The kids went to bed on Monday night very disappointed as no permits had come, and so they had been told there would be no trip. However, at 2330 hours, a phone call produced the news that there were Permits, and so, after a mad scramble on Tuesday morning, 14 youngsters left with 4 or 5 members of staff. They had a very good day, and did in fact get to experience the sea. What a pity that the bureaucracy could not have moved a little bit more speedily and compassionately for a Blind School.]


Downstairs in the Day room area we were introduced to a young blind lass from Ramallah. Hadeel has just completed her secondary education in Ramallah, having spent one year at Al Shurooq some years ago, preparing to go to a normal school. She has got sufficiently good marks in her leaving examinations to gain a place in University, and hopes to start in the autumn in Bethlehem University. At present she is staying at Al Shurooq while taking a special computing course at BU. It was such a tonic to meet her, and sense her joy at what she has achieved together with the excitement of going on to University. One wonders what the situation will be like when she finishes her course and starts looking for work.

Last visit was to Elias Salman and his family. He is feeling much better as he now has a job, which he hopes will last for some time, in the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. Last year he and his family had gone on the Haifa trip – this year he decided not to go. He is at work and wants to make sure he keeps his job; it costs NIS 100 per person just for the bus, and then there is spending money; school fees are looming. So, his older daughters will go, as they have got permits, but Elias and Basma, his wife, will stay at home with the two younger kids.

And somehow, through it all, the Azar family, Helen Shehadeh, and Elias and his family, were able to welcome us with grace and generosity.

Tuesday 20th July

We reached Jayyous without incident about 1000 hours, having set off from Jerusalem after 0800 hours. Our contact persons is Abdullatif, who works for the Hydrology Group. We have been in contact with him now for most of the past 2 years, and have usually found him a positive person, despite all the troubles around. It was not quite the case today.

He spent some time telling us of some of the events of the past week, and showing us pictures.

The Security Fence runs close to the village, and through it are two gates – the North Gate and the South Gate. It is through the North Gate that most of the farmers pass to their farms and greenhouses on the Western side of the Fence. Last week, some soldiers of the Israeli Army came along and made a camp at the side of the road which runs along the Fence. We saw photos of up to 10 jeeps parked along the road. We were told that more were out of the picture. The soldiers were doing training, in the farm land of the villagers. Signs were put up, including one that read “Israel”. Coloured markers were put on stones. On one afternoon, two busloads of Israeli people, adult men and women and younger teenagers, were brought along. The North Gate was opened and they were allowed in to the village land. They had Palestinian flags with them, and began to act as if they were Palestinians demonstrating against the army. There was shouting, and firearms were discharged, perhaps with blank cartridges (the villagers did not know). This was all part of the Army training. When they had finished their demonstration, they then had a session of dancing and singing, still on the land of the village.

Added to this was the fact that there were people in civilian clothes among the farms who appeared to be carrying out surveys. When one farmer asked them what they were doing on his land, they replied that it was not his land – but theirs. They advised him to go to the Court to have his documents checked.

The whole week left the village community in a state of shock, so it was little wonder that Abdullatif was not his usual cheerful self. What was happening to their land on the Western Side of the Fence? What were the Israeli Army exercises about? Why were Israelis on their village land acting as if they were Palestinian demonstrators? Why are Israeli civilian vehicles seemingly able to use the road along the Fence, and what does that mean for their lands?

With this in our minds, we were taken along to see the work being done on the Community Centre. Donations received from a variety of sources, including one from the USA following a visit we had organised, have enabled the construction of the second storey of the Centre to be completed. It is now in process of being fitted out, and should be ready for use in a week or two. A general purpose hall, it will be able to be used for all sorts of village functions, including weddings. If the first part of the morning had been alarming, seeing how shaken the community had been by the events of the previous week, the second part of the morning was so positive and optimistic. With so much uncertainty, and so much harassment, the folk were making plans for their future, and more importantly, for the future of their children.

Wednesday 21st July.

Joan and I left for the north of Israel to spend a day or two visiting places that we had not seen before. It was to celebrate a wedding anniversary. By the time that we got away from Jerusalem, the day was half over. However, we had a good time, and included visits to Baram (or Bire’m), Banyas and, on the way home, to Nazareth.

We never cease to be amazed at the great variety of landscape that one encounters in driving around Israel and Palestine. On the way north and back home again, we passed through the Jordan valley. The temperature touched C40 degrees, and the landscape was mostly dry, dusty and arid, apart from where there had been irrigation. Up on the border with Lebanon, there were apple orchards and vineyards galore, heavy with fruit. It was a different world.

Baram is the village of Fr Elias Chacour, about which he has written so movingly in his books. It is now part of a National Park, with the ruins of a 3rd Century AD Synagogue, which are very impressive. Near it are the ruins of the houses of the people who lived in Baram. At the entrance to the Park, visitors are given the official Park Guide, prepared by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. The last paragraph of the Leaflet is as follows : “Until 1948, Baram was a Maronite Christian Village. During the War of Independence (1948) the villagers were evacuated and the site is now under the management of The Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority..” End of leaflet.

Beside the Maronite Church, which was the only building not destroyed by the Israeli authorities, there was another leaflet. It in entitled “Kafar Bire’m is waiting for Justice.” ‘The Church has been the only place which is not destroyed. It has been the villagers shelter and their symbol of existence. It gathers them and their children today, as it gathered their parents and grandparents in the past. The uprooted use it to baptise their children, and to join the young couples in holy matrimony, and do prayers in it….On 20th November 1948, the Police Minister in the presence of the military governor ordered the residents to leave it temporarily for two weeks. They claimed that when the Northern front calmed down, people could go back. THE TWO WEEKS HAVE NOT ENDED YET. … In 1952, the Supreme Court of Israel decided the uprooted had to get a special permit from the military authorities whenever they want to return to their village. But the authorities refused to give such permits. Instead the Government confiscated the lands in August 1953. On September 16th / 17th the Government demolished the village. A Ministerial Committee agreed in 1995 on the rights of the uprooted to return. However it insisted on keeping the confiscation order of the lands. They preferred to let the settlers use the lands for their COWS, rather than to give it back to its legal owners, the uprooted of Kafar Bire’m.’

While we were there a party of Jewish people from USA arrived, and went to the Synagogue to conduct worship. One wonders how much they had been told, or had learned, of the recent history of the village and its people. While they were praying, a picnic was set out for them under nearby trees, by their armed guard and his helper.

Friday 23rd July. Haaretz P 2. Headline : “Peace Now [Israeli Jewish Peace Organisation] : Gaza Settlements are Growing.”

Next headline: “ILA (Israel Lands Administration) to market building plots in West Bank.” ‘The Israel Lands Administration is planning to sell 1,815 plots of land for construction in the West Bank by the end of this year, according to data released yesterday.’

Destroyed villages and Israeli citizens denied the right to return to their own homes; Gaza Settlements expanding; West Bank Settlements expanding; it does not give the impression of a Government or a people that pays any attention to UN Resolutions or to Geneva Conventions. Does it forces one to the conclusion that there will be no Palestinian State on the West Bank, despite all the rhetoric of the USA, UK, UN, EU and others?

From a very hot Jerusalem – stay well. God bless.

Joan and Clarence

Top

Circular Letter No 176
17th July 2004

Part of my work here is to try to help visitors get some idea of the layout of Jerusalem and its hinterland. This involved showing them where to get taxis and buses; taking them to view points so that they can see the city; and taking them to checkpoints so that they can see where they will have to pass if they wish to go to such places as Bethlehem.

Last week, I had to make such a trip. After we had been around a bit of Jerusalem, we had to drop members of our congregation near their home, which is close to the A Ram checkpoint. From there we went on to Kalandia checkpoint, along the road that has been half-destroyed in preparation for the erection of the Wall. On our way back to Jerusalem, we made a detour via Maale Adumim, and Bethany. Maale Adumim is one of those places described as a Settlement – rather innocuous. It is of course on land conquered in 1967, and thus should not be built upon. However, it all depends on who you are when it comes to obeying UN Resolutions and Geneva Conventions. In its Website, it gives its population in 2000 AD as 28,000, with an aim to reach 50,000. Perhaps Settlement does not give an accurate picture of its size, and of its permanence.

Driving up through Bethany, along a 4 lane dual carriageway road, one approaches the back of the Mount of Olives. One gets to within approx 1 kilometre of the top of the Mount, when the road is completely blocked by the Wall. At this point it is 8 metres high. It has been put down without any regard for its effect on the life of the local community, and divides what was once a single community into two parts which cannot even see each other. To see how far people would have to travel to visit those who had been their neighbours before the Wall was build, assuming that they had the necessary papers to do so, we drove round to the other side of the Wall, through the one permanent checkpoint that is on the approach to Jerusalem on the Jericho road. The distance was 13 kms. Imagine having to drive that to visit your family, or your former neighbour. The Augusta Victoria Hospital, with its cancer treatment and kidney dialysis centres, was about 1.5 kms from where we were stopped in our tracks by the Wall. The Makassed Hospital, which is an important General Hospital for East Jerusalem was the same distance up the hill. To get to either of them now requires the time taken for 13 kms, and the money to pay for the taxi or the bus.

Hemmed in on one side by Maale Adumim and on the other by the Wall, you can imagine how the folk of Bethany feel.

Journey 1.
We have had our daughter Vivienne with us for a short holiday, and she brought with her a friend who teaches in the same school in Kuwait. I took them down to the airport for their flight to Amman and then on to Kuwait. For the first time ever, I was interrogated briefly by the Security Officer, as to who I was, what I did, and show my Passport and ID. Vivienne, perhaps because she had been here to visit her parents, did not get too many questions. Her friend, on the other hand, had a 20 – 25 minute interview, being asked all sorts of questions, having to show papers confirming her work in Kuwait, and having her camera inspected. Both of them had their passports taken away for some time, before being returned. At the end of it all, their luggage was completely searched, and then they were escorted to the check-in desk, and to the escalator to take them to the Passport Control. I was not at all a happy parent.

I think what annoys me as much as anything at the airport is that if one is an Israeli Jewish person, “security” is minimal. I have never seen such a person having their suitcase unpacked. On the other hand, if you are an Israeli Arab, or an expatriate, it often involves a long wait in the line to get your luggage x-rayed, after which it is routinely unpacked.

Still, allowing 3 hours for check-in procedures is usually adequate.

Journey 2.
This week, I was in Bethlehem and called in to visit the Lutheran Church. Its pastor, the Rev Dr Mitri Raheb, is an urbane man who is widely sought after as a participant in international meetings. I was asking him if he would be in Bethlehem in October, as there is the possibility I might be trying to organise a meeting at that time. He said that, unfortunately, he would not be at home. He has tried to compress as many of his overseas invitations as he can into one month, because although he lives about an hour’s drive from Ben Gurion Airport, the Israeli authorities have stopped giving him permits to use the airport. The alternative then is to travel through Amman Airport.

Lara is a young woman who also works at the Church, and she has been given a visa by the Government of America to be one of the adults with a group of young people from Bethlehem going for a Peace Programme in the USA. Like Mitri, she will have to travel through Amman.

At a meeting to discuss the Report on Theology of Land and Covenant, in Bethlehem, we met some young adults who are students in different Universities on the West Bank. They had been invited to share in “encounters” with other young adults in different countries – Turkey and Italy are two that I remember. As with Mitri and Lara, their route will lie through Amman.

Gideon Levy, an Israeli Jewish journalist, has written about the horrendous procedure for someone from the West Bank getting to Amman, in order to get to a plane. (Haaretz Magazine, July 16, P 8.) The only crossing available is at the Allenby Bridge, “the last remaining escape hatch from their prison on the West Bank.”

Step 1 – get to Jericho. This in itself can take hours, as travel on the main roads depends on the permission of the Israeli army.
Step 2 – get a number. Currently, a number obtained on a Monday will probably enable a person to get to the Bridge on Wednesday, perhaps even Thursday. It is almost unheard of for a person to get to the Bridge on the day he arrived in Jericho.
Step 3 – find somewhere to wait. There is a Reception Area – a tin roof and not air conditioned. (This week in Jerusalem the temperature has regularly been over 35 degrees C. Jericho is usually hotter.) Then there is the Departure Hall – which is air conditioned, and was built with aid from the Government of Japan. However, it closes at 1600 hours, according to Gideon Levy, and the people have to go outside and find whatever place they can for the rest of the day and night, until it opens next day.
Step 4 – wait, and wait. On the day Levy was there, those holding numbers 2,400 – 2,420 were allowed to proceed Hadra is one of the women there. She is going to Jordan to bring her son back. He has been there to see some of their family. She has number 4,807. It may take her two more days waiting.
Step 5 – Get on the bus that takes people to the frontier, and then pay up NIS 135 for the necessary document to leave.
Step 6 – Reach Amman, and then the “real” journey can begin.
Step 7 – Remembering that you will have to go through something similar to come back home.

It puts our waiting at Ben Gurion into perspective. Mitri, Lara, and all the others whom we met will have to go through this as they go on their journeys – to speak about Peace, to share in theological reflection about the Sermon on the Mount, or just to go to see family and friends.

One of the ironies is that the Allenby Bridge is in the West Bank – but since Israel is the Occupying Power, it takes to itself the right to control the crossing.

One of the Bible passages that has come up in a couple of Services in the past week is the story of the Good Samaritan.

One practical question arose at one of the meetings – could such a story even be told now? Would it be possible for someone like a Samaritan to travel on the same road as Jewish people? Ask any Palestinian about that. So perhaps the story would be a non-starter in today’s world.

It is good to listen to others, especially when they are the ones who have to struggle to get around in their own land, and who have to watch while immigrants from all over the world, who have made Aliyah to come and live in Israel, are able to move freely. To listen to the person who finds it too difficult now to pass by the house in the Old
City where he was born and brought up, and which is now in the Jewish Quarter and occupied by a Jewish family. To listen to the young woman whose brother was killed by the Israeli army, and who has somehow to be a neighbour to the people from whom came those who killed her brother. Their experiences and stories bring a whole new dimension to the study of the Bible.

Only 161 more days to Christmas! – if any would like to have a package of embroidery, olive wood, mother of pearl handcrafts, let me know and I will be delighted to organise them for you.

Last week it was my computer that was not working. This week it is the printer – so I have not been able to give this to Joan for correction and amendment. Sorry about that.

Stay well
God bless
Joan and Clarence

Circular Letter No 175
10 July 2004

A computer fault, due to my trying to alter settings about which I knew little, has kept me from some aspects of work this week. So, this letter will probably be somewhat shorter than usual! (Sighs of relief can be heard even here.)

It has been hot most of the week, at least by standards here. For most of the time, the temperature has been between 30 and 35 degrees C in Jerusalem, and over 40 degree C in Galilee. This has had a debilitating effect on almost everyone. For us, we have had the possibility of refreshing ourselves with a shower, and so it has not been too bad. Due to the fact that I had to go to Jaffa with documents which I had obtained from a Government office that had to be passed on to teachers at Tabeetha School, we also had a chance to have a quick swim in the sea. So, one way or another, we have kept fairly comfortable.

5th July saw us in Jayyous. We had some visitors with us, and for them it was their first chance to see the Fence separating Jayyous from its wells and its orchards. It was also their first chance to listen to people whose lives have been blighted by the Fence. One of the main purposes of our visit was to learn more about the situation concerning water supplies, and what is needed to assist people in the village.

We learned that there are two different classifications of wells: Agricultural wells, and domestic wells. Limits are put on the amount of water which can be extracted from them, with a higher limit being set for Agricultural wells.

We learned that there is one well supplying at least 4 villages, and though water is pumped from it for 23 hours per day, it is still only sufficient to allow water to reach homes in Jayyous twice a week, for 2 to 3 hours per time.

We learned that 1 tanker of water will meet the needs – restricted to essential uses – of an average family for almost a month. We already knew that a tanker of water costs NIS150 - $34 or ₤18

For a farmer with animals, it will be necessary to purchase approx 3 tankers of water every 2 months – NIS300.

To enable people to pay for water, they have to produce something and sell it. People produce vegetables, which have to be sold in the towns. To get them to the towns, traders are needed, who can come to the village, collect the produce and take it to market. The produce is on the western side of the Barrier, so a trader has to go through the Barrier to collect the vegetables. However, as the Barrier only opens early in the morning, at mid-day, and in the late afternoon, (assuming that in fact the soldiers do open it) this means that he has to spend at least a complete morning picking up one load of vegetables, and then try to get them to market later in the day. His costs go up; the cost of vegetables in the market cannot go up to compensate for this extra cost; and so the Jayyous farmers get less for their produce – that is if any trader is willing to come to them. What they are now finding is that traders are not coming. Yet, they still have to buy water. Last week I quoted a price of US 2 cents per kilogram for tomatoes.

In the village of 350 families, it is reckoned that as many as 100 families need assistance to purchase water. This is not a new phenomenon, but what is new is the rock-bottom prices which farmers are able to get for what they produce. So, this year is worse than last. To provide 100 families with one tanker of water per month will cost NIS 45,000. Through the generosity of many individuals and congregations, we were able to make a donation which means that every family will get water for at least one month.

But this is really only first aid.

What is needed is the removal of the Barrier. If it must be built, then let it be built on land that belongs to Israel, and not in such a place as to make it almost impossible for people to earn a living.

What is needed is to drastically change the amount of water that is made available to Palestinians by Mekorot, the water company of Israel. The following is an extract from an article on the Web page of the Palestine Hydrology Group – www.phg.org

“ All throughout the Israeli occupation in 1967 and until the present, Israel maintained its control over the water resources in Palestine and almost allocated the same quantities to Palestinians without change, despite the growing Palestinian water needs. The average Palestinian per capita water use for domestic purposes reaches 30 m3/year (this figure includes 40% of losses) compared to 100 m3/year in Israel. Meanwhile, total per capita water use is estimated at 140 m3/year in Palestine compared to 580 m3/year in Israel. However, per capita water use is much less in the Palestinian rural areas that have no access to piped water (approximately 40% of the localities) and still depend on collecting rainwater (it is nearly 10 m3/year).”

The discomfort which we have felt during the heat has been alleviated by being able to wash and shower. Imagine what it must be like for those who have little or no water, and little or no money to buy it.

The son of one of the leaders of the village was talking with his father, and asking if it would be possible to go to the sea and bathe. From their village they can in fact see the sea. His father said that they could not go, as they would have to go into Israel to go to the sea. From the mouth of the kindergarten child came the reply: “Go and ask for a permit to take us to the sea.”

Two other items of news from the past week.

July 6th Haaretz P1. “PM demands action against incitement from the right. Sharon: All my life I’ve defended Jews, now I need defence from them.” ‘Speaking to the Shinui [political party] group, Sharon said, “it pains me that, as someone who all his life defended Jews in the wars of Israel, I now need Defence against Jews, for fear someone might try to harm me.”’ The story concerns the reactions of that part of Israeli Jewish society which opposes the withdrawal from Gaza and the dismantling of any settlements on the West Bank. It shows the depth of feeling that surrounds the whole question of the Settlements. The irony is that one of the principal architects of the Settlements since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967 has been Mr Sharon himself, and now he is being attacked for proposing Disengagement.

July 7th Haaretz P1. “Hanegbi warns: ‘The assassin is already among us.’” ‘Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi warned yesterday that he suspects that someone from the extreme right has already decided to commit a political assassination to prevent the government’s disengagement plan.’

With such divisions in Israeli Jewish society, there are going to be very tense times ahead.

July 9th Haaretz P1. “Int’l Court rules Israel must pull down ‘illegal’ fence, compensate Palestinians.” The following article ends with this paragraph: ‘Israel has already prepared its response, assuming that the court will be critical of Israel. Israel will seek to block the issue from reaching the Security Council, with the assistance of the United States. Israel is also hoping that most EU countries will not support the Palestinian move as they opposed bringing the matter before the ICJ.’

News programmes on Friday were full of reports on the ruling by the International Court of Justice. Whether or when it will have any practical effect on the continuing construction of the Wall is not at all clear. In The Guardian for 10th July, Mr Raanan Gissin, the Israeli prime minister's spokesman, is reported as saying: "I believe that after all the rancour dies, this resolution will find its place in the garbage can of history. The court has made an unjust ruling denying Israel its right of self-defence." In the same article, Israel's justice minister, Yosef Lapid, is quoted as having said that whatever the UN General Assembly may decide, his government would only recognise decisions by Israel's own courts.

Progress:

Visa applications for teachers at Tabeetha have now been approved by one part of the Ministry of the Interior, and have been passed to the section that actually issues Visas and Work Permits. We wait to see what will happen there. Applications for these Permits/Visas were first lodged in early 2003.

Lack of Progress:

Still no permit for Helen Shehadeh to come to church in Jerusalem. Thanks to those who have written to their local Embassies on her behalf.

Stay well

God bless

Joan and Clarence
 

Top

Circular Letter No 174
3rd July 2004

Sunday 27th June. At the morning service, we had an empty seat once again – that of Helen Shehadeh. Still no permit, still not able to attend worship at her church in Jerusalem.

At the evening service, we had a congregation of approx 50 people – worship in the Taizé tradition. The congregation was Protestant and Catholic, Israeli Jewish and Arab people, black and white. One of the readings was the one which was used at Sabeel – in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek. One of the most moving aspects of the evening was the presence of South African people in the congregation, who in their lives have seen the transformation from Apartheid to a multi-racial society in South Africa, and now are here to share their experiences with folk in this part of the world.

All this has been against the background of increased turmoil, both in Israel and in the West Bank.

Sunday’s paper (Haaretz 27th June P1) started with the headline: “IDF kills 7 militants in Nablus operation.” People used to be shocked when there were headlines speaking of one or two killed – now killing is routine.

Below that story was the following: “Leading Rabbi takes militant line on disengagement.” ‘The former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Avraham Shapira, now head of the Rabbis Union for the Land of Israel, took a strong and militant line on the disengagement plan in a letter to answer a follower’s question. “It is clear and simple that according to the Torah handing over the land of our holy land to infidels, including parts of Gush Katif [in Gaza], is a sin and a crime. Therefore, any thought or idea or decision, and any semblance of actions, of any kind, to evacuate residents from Gush Katif and hand the land to the infidels, is opposed to the halakha, and any action must be taken to prevent it, and not assist in any action that will evict {the settlers} from their homes and land.” The rabbi’s letter is a follow-on to a ruling by the Council of Yesha Rabbis last week that “no man, citizen, police officer or soldier is authorised to help in uprooting settlements.”’

Early in the week there was a phone call from Jayyous – a sort of SOS. There is a severe shortage of water in the village. There just is not enough in the ground-water well from which they are currently getting some supplies. So, with the temperatures over 30 degrees C, it is hard enough for people to exist without water, but there are also all the flocks of sheep and goats that require to be given water also. To obtain water, it is necessary to purchase it. One tanker costs about NIS 150 – approx US$35 or ₤20. That may last a family for a month, but will last a farmer with sheep considerably less. For those who have a regular source of income, the price may not seem all that much for a month’s supply of water for a family. However, a short while ago, also from Jayyous, came a letter about the prices of agricultural produce on which village folk depend, and which will give them the income needed to buy water.

“ Prices become very low and outcome for most of agricultural products is negligible. As example, the net price of selling one box (15-kilo grams) of Tomato and Cucumber, and Cauliflower, etc. during the past three months is 30 cents/15 kilo grams. On other words, the price of one kilogram is two cents!!!. However, the economic cost for one box is about $US 3.6. I saw a farmer who sells 800 kgs of tomato for 6 dollars. I saw a farmer who left hundreds kgs of cucumber on ground, because the traders who carry the products told him, the selling prices will not cover the costs of transportation. I saw a farmer who let the sheep eat the cauliflower field of thousands of pieces because the prices will not cover the transportation costs. As a result, most of the farmers left their vegetables on ground, and crying the bad luck and the ugly wall.”

On Friday, 2nd July, Joan and I met the Ecumenical Accompaniers who have just completed their 3-month stay in Jayyous and are now on their way home. They ran out of water, and had to wait for 3 days before they were able to get a tanker to come and fill their house tank – and that was not because they had no money – more to do with the supply of water and the means of getting it to people.

So on Monday next, we will head to Jayyous for a meeting with folk there, first of all to hear about the problem, and then to see what we can do. It is unlikely that with our limited resources we will be able to do very much, but we should be able to help some folk. More about this next week.

One of the reasons for the problems of villages like Jayyous is the way in which the Separation Barrier/Fence/Wall has been built and the route it has taken. Jayyous and other villages have been cut off from their normal wells, and so they are suffering.

On Wednesday, Joan and I were guests at a Reception in Ramallah given by the Irish Government to mark the end of its Presidency of the European Union. On the way there, we decided to go via the “straight” route, past the Ram Check point, on to Kalandia and then into Ramallah.

As is normal, there was no difficulty passing the Ram checkpoint – had we come back that way it might have been more problematical. From there to Kalandia is approx 2kms. It is a major road, - dual carriageway – and passes alongside a major area of Palestinian housing and commerce. One side of the road has been completely dug up. A foundation for the erection of the Wall has been put in place. The concrete sections of the wall are all lying on their side neatly at the side of the road, waiting for the signal from the Israeli Army to the contractors to start putting them in place. Meanwhile, traffic outbound from Jerusalem to Ramallah continues to use one lane of the road, while traffic from Ramallah to Jerusalem has to find an alternative route. Under the plans that had been made public, there would be no gate in the wall between Ram and Kalandia – so that those people who have the necessary permits to travel into Jerusalem would have to go up to 2 kms to Kalandia, somehow pass through the barrier/gate, and then 2 kms back just to get to their starting place. This would be for kids going to school, for people going to work, for patients going to hospital, for family members going to visit, for anything at all. Figures from an article by Danny Rubinstein in Haaretz (Monday June 28, P 4) give some idea of the scale of the problem facing the Palestinian population as and when that part of the Wall is built :

“In the entire region [of North East Jerusalem] outside the fence and the separation wall there are over 200,000 residents, and it is estimated that about a third of these hold Jerusalem IDs, and are entitled to enter Jerusalem The daily lives of residents who do not have Jerusalem IDs are also tied to the city. Many of them have been issued permits by the military authorities – they work or study in Jerusalem and need access to the city’s hospitals and welfare services. … A-Ram [part of the area affected] has 20,000 students, children and teenagers, but only 5,000 are enrolled in local schools. The remaining 15,000 students commute each morning to schools in Jerusalem. Once the fence is complete, they will have to travel northward along the cement wall that is already going up the middle of the main road. After reaching Kalandia, they will be able to head back southward and enter thought the crossing into Jerusalem.”

To this sort of nightmare, add the situation of those who are receiving medical treatment in East Jerusalem – people who have to come to Augusta Victoria Hospital for Kidney Dialysis treatment, or for cancer treatment; to St John Eye Hospital for treatment for eye diseases – and so one could go on.

Just to say that for us, getting in to Ramallah on Wednesday was without difficulty – our UK Passports and current Visas provide the necessary documentation to allow us to pass. However, the following day, two young British people arrived at the checkpoint at Kalandia in the middle of the day – and got allowed to pass through at 2100 hours – while the Palestinians with valid papers were still there waiting. [Just a note about the matter of prices for fruit and veg. It is the season of grapes, and there were mounds of them on the stalls in the markets. They were selling at NIS 10 (just over US$2 or ₤1.20) for 4kgs of grapes. The farmers will have to sell a lot of grapes to be able to buy one tanker of water.]

It was this background which made all the more important and significant the decision of the High Court on Wednesday. Haaretz P 1, Thursday July 1, main headline was “Court nixes route of fence near J’lem” ‘The state must reroute 30 kilometres of a 40-kilometre stretch of the separation fence northwest of Jerusalem, the High Court of Justice ruled yesterday. … The court accepted the petitioners’ claim that the current route causes disproportionate harm to local residents. The current route, it wrote, will make access to residents’ agricultural lands almost impossible, thus sabotaging farmers’ livelihoods; it will interfere with residents’ freedom of movement and access to nearby cities, including access to medical care, schools and universities. “We are aware that in the short term this judgement will not make the state’s struggle against those rising up against it easier” the ruling concluded. “But there is no security without the law … Only a separation fence built on a base of law will grant security to the state and its citizens.”’

This particular ruling was followed by another one on Thursday, when the Court issued an interim injunction to halt work on a section of the Fence near Har Homa on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The big question for many people is how the Government and the Army will react to these rulings, and will there be any significant alterations made to the original plans. Haaretz on Friday 2nd July (P1) carried the headline “Sharon orders illegal sections of fence rerouted.” It is a question of wait and see what happens – on the road to Ramallah, in Jayyous and many other places. The Court recognised the right of the State of Israel to build a wall, but set down some important parameters for decisions about its route. Many on the West Bank have no problem with Israel building a wall – as long as it is on Israeli land. The actions of the Government of Israel and its Army will be scrutinised to see what is being done.

When it is big things like this in Israel that are being decided, it is the smaller things that affect people’s lives. We were in Idna on Friday. The huge road junction at Gush Etzion is now completed, and certainly, as I have said before, is not the work of a Government with any thought of return to the Green Line in that area – what happened to the need to follow UN Resolutions used as an argument against Saddam Hussein? The gate at the entrance to the village was open, but the small olive grove beside it had been uprooted. Orders have been issued by the Israeli Army to people with properties near the gate, and it is likely that they will be demolished. Work on the main road into the village, which is in the process of being upgraded, has progressed fitfully, and so houses, trees and fields are engulfed in a huge cloud of dust as vehicles move along the road.

God bless

Joan and Clarence

Top

Circular Letter No 173
26th June 2004

Wednesday 23rd June. Holidays are over – we were already running when we landed at Ben Gurion airport at 0400 hours this morning. Joan came back home with the friends who had shared our holiday, while I waited another couple of hours for the arrival of Christopher Rowe, one of the Scholars sponsored this year by the Friends of St Andrew’s, and his wife Angela. I got home about 0700 hours, and had a couple of hours’ sleep before the work of the day started.

The main event of the day was the Graduation of the Senior Class of Tabeetha Church of Scotland School, Jaffa. It took place in the playing area at the back of the School, with 15 young people graduating, leaving Tabeetha and moving on to the next stage of their lives. I have written about this Celebration before, and commented on what is for me one of the minor miracles of life here. Three speeches were made by representatives of the students – in Arabic, in English and in Hebrew. The miracle, minor in the overall scheme of things here, but major in the life of the School, is the way in which young Christian, Jewish and Muslim people have been able to work together for the past decade, respecting each other, and giving each other the room to be themselves. Tabeetha is by no means the only school of its kind, but it is the only one under the aegis of the Church of Scotland, which deserves recognition of the effort that it has put into keeping the School going over the years. The staff represents the three major faiths in the country, and they too work together to create a space where people are respected for who they are, and not for the community from which they come.

If any Secondary School, or Primary School, teacher is reading this, and feels it might be a good way to spend a few years both teaching and learning, I am sure that the Board of World Mission in Edinburgh would be delighted to hear from you.

Thursday 24th June. There was an anguished early morning phone call from Helen Shehadeh. She is still permitless – though she did manage to get through the Checkpoint on Sunday, but too late to attend the Church service. She had gone to the Israeli Army post which issues permits for people in the Bethlehem area –a journey for her of about 10 kms each way. She has to take a taxi, she has to take someone with her, and of course she has to pay the costs. She reckons that one way and another, the cost of trying to get this permit has now reached at least NIS 400 – nearly £50, or $100. On her most recent trip, she went to the window to apply for her Permit. She gave the person on duty her papers at 1500 hours – and stood until 1800 hours, when she was told that she could not have a Permit without what is called a Magnetic Card. By the time that she was told this, the other window, which had been open, had closed. Another fruitless trip. It is the cost; it is the time; it is the physical strain; but it is more the humiliation that she who was born here, who has lived here almost all her life, now finds herself treated in such a way.

A recent letter in the Church Times, ( I think it was June 18th) sent by Mr Dan Shaham, Director of Public Affairs, Embassy of Israel, 2 Palace Green, London W8 4QB, ended with the following sentence : “Israel is still the only country in the region that has been able to offer a safe haven for Jews, a democratic society for its Muslim population, and a prosperous environment for Christians. DAN SHAHAM.” Perhaps some who read this could write a letter to Mr Shaham to explain the treatment of Helen Shehadeh and invite his support in getting her the necessary permit to allow her to come to her church. Then there might be more relevance to his assertion about the environment for Christians.

Lunchtime on Thursdays is the time for a Celebration of the Eucharist at the Sabeel Centre in Jerusalem. I try to attend when I can, and today I was able to go with Christopher and Angela, and also with Gwen and Mark Thompson. Gwen is my new colleague here at St Andrew’s, having been appointed by the Church of Scotland to be the Manager of the Guest House. We were about 12 in a circle round the Communion Table. The Bible readings were from the Letter to the Galatians, Chapter 3, verses 21 – 29. The particular verse that caught my attention was verse 28: “So there is no difference between Jews and Greeks, between slaves and free people, between men and women – you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.” Fresh from our holiday in Greece, this seemed to be particularly relevant – all that is represented by the history and the culture of Greece, and all that is currently motivating the Jewish community in Israel – all somehow have been brought together in the person of Christ. We then read the Gospel – from Luke, chapter 9, verses 18 – 24. It spoke of the confession by Peter that Jesus was the Messiah, and then the new definition not only of the Messiah as one who would suffer, but of his followers, as people who have to face the possibility of suffering in their lives – suffering that may not always be thought of as “fair”. It was just after the completion of the readings that the group was joined by another person, who slipped in and took a seat by the door. As we talked of the meanings of the readings, and of their significance, the newcomer spoke of how he had found the Letters of Paul to be sources of great strength for him when he had been in prison. The newcomer was Mordecai Vanunu. That sort of simply spoken confession of the strength of the Bible by Mr Vanunu made anything that I or most others could say seem almost trite by comparison. It was a humbling, but also an enriching, experience.

From the service, I had to go on to a meeting in the Jerusalem International YMCA. 3 of us met to consider applications for assistance to pay fees for the Kindergarten, or Gan. At the end of an hour, we had dealt with 15 applications, and were able to give most of them assurance that they would get assistance. The classes in the Gan are made up of Jewish, Arab and expatriate children. English, Hebrew and Arabic are all used in the programme. It is one of the few places in Jerusalem where there is such a programme, and the staff – drawn from all sections of the Community – are committed to trying to help children get to know each other and learn about each other. The two other people who shared the work with me were both Jewish.

The last item of the day was to take our new visitors round to see some parts of the Jerusalem area. A visit to look over to Bethlehem, sadly increasingly imprisoned within its Wall and Fence; a visit to the Peace Promenade on the southern side of the city, to look over to the Old City with the Dome of the Rock resplendent in the late afternoon sun; a drive through part of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and a stop to look at the topography of the Kidron Valley before going up on to the top of the Mount of Olives; and finally down past the Church which is said to mark the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany to the place where the road is totally blocked by the 8-metre high Wall.

It is hard to make sense of it all, and even harder to think that there is anything that can be done to change what is happening.

Friday 25th June.

A second trip to Jaffa in the space of a couple of days took us to the end of year lunch for the staff of Tabeetha. As I said above, when one can see how well people from so many different nationalities, and from the three major faith communities here, can manage to work together, it is even harder to make sense of all the failures of people to get along with each other. Teachers now scatter all over the world, and will come back for the new academic year at the end of August.

Late in the afternoon, a knock on the door announced the arrival of some Israeli Jewish people who had come to talk about a project to take further their work on trying to make more widely known within Israeli Jewish circles what is actually happening in Gaza and the West Bank. We sat and talked for an hour, while they told me of their hopes for the project. More later as and when it materialises. Again, to be able to share with such folk in their anguish at what they see happening, adds another piece to what is a complicated mosaic of different hopes and fears, different perceptions and preconceptions.

The third part of the day was a small reception to meet new members of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme of the WCC. They have come from different parts of the world, including from South Africa. One often comments on the fact that this is a “small world.” One of the South Africans works with Charity Majiza, whom folk in Murrayfield in Edinburgh may remember from her time there in 1980 – 1981. Her home was in one of the Bantustans and she, as some may remember, was unable to go back to South Africa at the end of her studies in Scotland. She ended up for a time in Australia. For some years she has been back in South Africa, first with the South African Council of Churches, and now in a post with the Government. Who would have thought in 1980 that we would have such a transformation in South Africa. Might it happen here?

After a week of no newspapers and no radio or TV news programmes, it is back to the daily routine of reading and listening.

Tuesday June 22nd, Haaretz P 2. “Survey : Most Jewish Israelis support transfer of Arabs.” ‘Most of the Jewish public in Israel supports expelling Arabs, according to a survey of the public’s views on political extremism conducted by Haifa University’s Centre for the Study of National Security. The survey indicates that 63.7% of the Jewish respondents said the government should encourage Israeli Arabs to emigrate. Almost half of the Jewish respondents – 48.6% - said the treatment that Arabs in Israel receive from the government is too sympathetic. More than half – 55.3% - think Israeli Arabs endanger the state’s security, and 45.3% support depriving Israeli Arabs of the right to vote and be elected.’

Wednesday June 23rd, Haaretz P 2. “Mofaz says fence is good for economy.” ‘ … In addition, the fence has contributed to an increase in the gross domestic product and has resulted in a 0.3 % decline in unemployment, Defence Minister Mofaz said yesterday. Mofaz said the fence is one of the country’s largest-ever infrastructure ventures that will cost between NIS 8 – 9 billion – NIS 5 billion has already been allocated to its construction. Annual maintenance of the fence will cost NIS 170,000 per kilometre, or NIS 85 million per year, which will be paid by the Defence Ministry.’

Thursday June 24, Haaretz P 1. “Mr Sharon, meanwhile, said he has no intention of ever allowing Arafat to leave the Muqata in Ramallah. The prime minister told advisers in a closed-door meeting yesterday that he will not allow the 74-year old to leave his West Bank ‘for the next 45 years’, participants said.

Thursday June 24, Haaretz P 2. “Fence gets paint job”. ‘The Defence Ministry’s main weapon [in its attempt to keep graffiti from becoming permanent features on the Wall] will be a special paint, which will not prevent inscriptions from being drawn, but will allow graffiti to be easily removed using a damp cloth. Coating the entire wall with the special paint is expected to costs millions of shekels.’

Enough for one more week!

Stay well. God bless. Joan and Clarence

Top

Circular Letter No 172
12th June 2004

Sunday 6th June. Strange News. Visitors arrived at the Church this afternoon looking for the service in Dutch. For many years, there had been one held regularly on Sunday afternoons, but the folk responsible for it discontinued it some time ago. I had a chat with the visitors. We spoke of their tour – preparatory work for a Group coming from Holland next spring. We spoke about visiting different places, and they were surprised to hear that we regularly visited Bethlehem! They had been told by people here in Jerusalem that it was too dangerous to go to Bethlehem. Obviously they don’t talk to the same people as we do.

Good news. This evening there was a service of Prayers for Peace in St Stephen’s Catholic Church, Nablus Road, here in Jerusalem. Representatives of quite a number of denominations were present – service almost all in Arabic. We were all given small twigs of olive trees when we entered, and during the service, invited to exchange them with people around us, as a sign of Peace. The nearest person to me , as we exchanged our twigs, said, “A Catholic from the South of Ireland wishes Peace to a Protestant from the North of Ireland”. Strange how times have changed, and what would have been virtually unthinkable when I left Belfast to go to university in Dublin is now “normal”.

Not so good news. A friend outside the church after the service remarked how divided the Christian community is, and how difficult it must be for non-Christians to decide with whom to pray!

Some weeks ago, Joan and I travelled down to Masada with visitors, and then took the long way home, round the south of the West Bank, before travelling north past Hebron to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. South of Hebron it was rolling hill country, with many herds of sheep and goats being herded by Bedouin shepherds. It is one of their home areas, as is the Negev further south. Sunday’s paper (Haaretz 6th June P1) carries a story headlined ; “Jewish towns being planned to ‘block Bedouin expansion’.” It goes on to detail how the Ministry of Housing has drawn up plans for the establishment of Jewish towns in the Negev. ‘The Ministerial Committee for the development of the Negev and the Galilee decided some 3 months ago, at the instruction of Housing Minister Effi Eitam, to form a team to locate land for new Jewish settlements in the region to block the Bedouin’s expansion.’

Monday 7th June. For those of us who live here, there is the constant wish to try to enable visitors to see as much as possible, and to share as much as possible of what is happening on the West Bank. So Monday saw me taking a small group down to Idna, to let them meet the women there and hear something of their story, and see the actual situation along the road.

It is strange how the same words can mean different things in different contexts.

Some years ago, I remember hearing people speak of “gated” communities in the USA – and how they were looking forward to living in one. The people inside would feel secure and protected from the people outside.

The journey down to Hebron showed an entirely different meaning for the term “gated”.

Bethlehem is “gated” with only one entry point, guarded by the Israeli army. The village of Surif, perhaps 15 kms down the road, is “gated”, with an actual gate and an Army pillbox beside it. Halhul is “gated” with one road completely blocked and the other which we passed closed by a barrier guarded by soldiers, who would open it if they were satisfied with the credentials of people wanting to go in or out.

Hebron is “gated” again with the Israeli army controlling access to the city.

Idna is now “gated” with a new gate across the main road into the village. Last time we were there, it was closed completely. This time, it is open – had been opened on Sunday 6th June. The object of all this “gating” is for those outside to try to feel secure and protected from those inside. (It was closed again on 11th June.)

However, Palestinians do travel between towns and villages – along back roads. One of the women of the co-operative was in a taxi a few days ago, when it was stopped by soldiers. They made everyone get out, and then told the driver to take a stone and break the car lights. If he wanted to continue his journey, he had no option but to do what he was told. Of course, it was in the name of security, as it meant he would have less money, and be unable to travel at night, even if he risked it, until he repaired his car.

Tuesday 8th June.

The Newspaper arrives about 0530 hours, so I have a chance to read it before the work of the day starts. As you might expect, there is a lot of space given to consideration of the vote in the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday to disengage from Gaza and a limited part of the West Bank. Haaretz records both the positive views – this is a historic decision – and the negative views – as nothing is going to happen on the ground until next year, there is a real chance that nothing will happen at all!

(Haaretz 8th June P1) “IDF kills three Palestinian Civilians. One of the victims had been crippled by army fire in the first Intifada”. ‘Three Palestinian civilians, including a man in a wheelchair who had been crippled in the first Intifada and a mentally handicapped youth, were killed by the Israeli Defence Forces in separate incidents during the past 48 hours. …..Arafat Yaakoub, 31 and a father of 4, was killed by Israeli gunfire. … Relatives said Yaakoub was drinking coffee alone in the kiosk when disturbances broke out and youths began throwing stones at soldiers in another part of the camp. They claimed that a jeep then drove into the camp and opened fire from several dozen metres away in the direction of the kiosk. Military sources said that the gunfire was opened in the direction of a wall or at the ground, but the man was apparently hit inadvertently. The soldiers were not aware that they had hit someone during the incident. …….An IDF force operating in a village south of Tulkarm killed a resident, Omar Sarakh. 19, while he was wandering near the village. Palestinian sources said Sarakh was mentally handicapped. Military authorities said the force had observed the rules of engagement and fired at the youth only after shooting in the air and ordering him to halt.’

For much of the year there is a group meets at St Andrew’s Guest House, called the “Expatriate Women’s Network”. It provides fellowship, support, opportunities to follow different activities – a Book club, an Art Group, etc etc. Today, the speaker had to come from Ramallah, and I was volunteered to collect her. She is a blind woman, who is a Psycho-Social Consultant, with a Master’s degree from Rutgers University in the States. For us, the journey is not too difficult (writing on Tuesday evening, military helicopters and planes are overhead – one wonders why) – in fact by the time that we had passed the check point 4 times, we were almost friends with the soldiers!

She was a bit sleepy. About 0200 hours on Tuesday morning, some Israeli soldiers had come and parked their jeep outside her apartment, talked and kept the engine running for 1 ½ hours. She was apprehensive about putting on the light, and trying to find out what they were doing, as she could not be sure they would not be trigger happy. The Israeli PR machine would like us all to believe that the Israeli army has withdrawn from places such as Ramallah. This one incident could be repeated many times over – but who hears about it?

Her parents were refugees in 1948, from one of the villages near Ben Gurion Airport which was demolished. So she is one of those whom the Israeli government says should not be allowed to return to her home. When I asked her about this, she said that for her mother, there is still the dream of going back. However, for her personally, what would be more significant would be the freedom to travel without the harassment of checkpoints – and even to go to the seaside! In her work as a Counsellor, she was one of those brought in to Hebron by the Palestinians to work with the survivors of the attack in a Hebron Mosque by Baruch Goldstein in 1994, when 29 were killed and 125 injured.

One of her remarks that Joan noted down in her time with the Expat Women was : “Lighting a candle is better than cursing the dark.” She could live and work in virtually any country in the world – yet she says she would feel guilty were she to leave Ramallah and go to live somewhere else. It is her home and where she hopes she can make a difference.

She is one of those who give us all hope for the future.

VISAS While our blind visitor was speaking to the Expat Women, I was back again at the relevant Ministry in pursuit of Visas for teachers. This was the second visit this week, following one last week. Still no final word of Visas, applied for last year in April. In the past two days I have been in the company of Roman Catholics, Ethiopians, Armenians, Swedish Lutherans, Russian Orthodox, - all looking for elusive Visas. There is a very real concern here among those who have applied for visas and not yet had their applications processed. What will happened if they leave the country – to go on holiday during the summer? Will they be allowed back in to the country? Today, there was a phone call from a person at Ben Gurion Airport who had spent some time on the West Bank – she was not allowed into the country today, and so was sent back on the plane on which she arrived.

Earlier in the week, I wrote of the plan to create new Jewish towns in the Negev, one of the aims being to block possible Bedouin expansion. With the news on Thursday that voluntary evacuation from Gaza may well begin in August this year, and the news on Friday that the Cabinet may vote on Sunday about compensation for settlers who leave Gaza, there may well be the sorts of pressure building up that will make it impossible to go back on this Plan. However, where will all the people go? Friday (Haaretz P1) “Private plan would see new Jewish neighbourhood south of Jerusalem.” A proposal to build a new settlement on land not too far from Bethlehem would mean that it would create ‘an unbroken settlement sequence between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion (some 15kms south of Jerusalem). If it goes ahead, it would take more Palestinian land, and while clearing settlements in Gaza would create another one on the West Bank.

There was a picture on Thursday (Haaretz 10th June P1) with the caption “Tank lanes built between new Jenin homes.” ‘The residents of Jenin refugee camp have begun returning to homes destroyed during Operation Defensive Shield. The homes are being rebuilt by UNRWA with a $29 million grant from the United Arab Emirates….. UNRWA decided, after a debate on the issue, to take 15% of the original area of each destroyed house and use the area to widen roads so that in the future it would be possible for Israeli tanks to pass more easily.’

We often take visitors to a viewpoint south of Jerusalem – the Peace Promenade – from which there is a panoramic view north and east. To the north one looks at the Dome of the Rock, and the City Walls. To the east, one looks to the Arab villages east of Jerusalem. In addition, now one looks to the new Wall. So, people on the eastern side of the wall look across to the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, but are not able to get to it. One recalls the story of Moses looking across the Jordan from the east and seeing the Promised Land. It ended with the story of a wall coming tumbling down. Mutatis mutandis will history repeat itself?

Joan and I will be on holiday next weekend. No letter!

Stay well. God bless

Joan and Clarence

Top

Circular Letter No 171
5th June 2004

Sunday 30th May. Pentecost Sunday, and we had a Communion Service in the morning, followed by a Service in the Taizé tradition in the evening. It was shared with some Lutherans, some Baptists, and members of the Ecumenical Accompaniers Team currently in the Holy Land. It was good to have almost 50 people at a service! Afterwards we celebrated with something to drink and something to eat.


Monday 31st May. Twice in the past two weeks, Helen Shehadeh has gone to the Israeli Army Office which serves the Bethlehem area, to ask for her permit to be renewed. It is this permit which enables her to come to share in our services on Sunday mornings at St Andrew’s. As those of you who have met her will know, Helen is a dignified person, with a ready laugh and smile. However, when I visited her on Monday she was not feeling like laughing. Her two visits to the Army Office had been unsuccessful. They had refused to renew her permit. Bring more papers, more letters, more information, was the demand from the soldiers on duty. As you will know, Helen is blind. She has been a member of St Andrew’s Church since 1981, and an Elder since 1991. Having been able to travel in for all these years, she is now told that she had to produce yet more papers. What possible reason could there be for denying a permit to a blind woman to enable her to travel to her Church for a Sunday service? But from the Israeli Army point of view, there is a logic to it, I suppose. Require everyone to produce papers, meet new rules, satisfy new requirements, and make no exceptions, as once you do that, you get into the quagmire of having to choose between one person and another. Of course, it is not anti-Christian, stopping Helen from coming to worship – just anti-terrorism. You may recall her when she was a Commissioner at the General Assembly in 2003 – the very archetype of a terrorist! Perhaps a question addressed to your local Israeli Embassy might be helpful.


Our car had to have a regular service today, and to get back to the garage to collect it, I took a taxi. The driver and I had an interesting conversation. He was born in Israel, the son of a Syrian Jewish man who had come to Israel before 1939. According to him, Mr Sharon should get out of Gaza – if it is difficult now for a few thousand Jewish people in the middle of 1.5 million (or thereabouts) Palestinians, what will it be like in 5 years, when they are 2 million, he commented. In response to a question about the West Bank – the Israelis should get out of there also. Give Samaria and Judea back to the Palestinians. One of the ironies of his situation is that he lives in a Settlement – Gilo, on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem, facing Beit Jala. Said he, the people of Beit Jala gave us a lot of trouble a couple of years ago, but it is quiet now.


Tuesday 1st June. There is a regular meeting of Lutheran pastors and church workers in the Jerusalem area. I have been invited to attend, and recently have been able to be present at two of the meetings. Prayers, a Paper and discussion, and then time for exchange of information seems to be the pattern. This morning, as we came towards the end of the meeting, Bishop Munib shared with us two situations – one in the recent past and the other still to be resolved.

In the name of security, Palestinians from the West Bank are not allowed to travel through Ben Gurion airport at Tel Aviv unless they obtain a special permit from the Israeli Army to travel to the airport. Such permits are not easily obtained. The Rev Mitri Raheb, of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, was invited to baptise a nephew in Germany. A request was submitted to the Israeli Army for a permit to enable him to travel via Ben Gurion Airport. 4 days before the service was due to take place, permission was refused. No contacts with any officials in the Government or the Army could alter the decision. Security? You will recall that there is no airport on the West Bank. A phone call was then made to Bishop Munib who was on duty in Amman. Would it be possible to obtain a permit for Mitri to travel through Jordan? Entry into Jordan for Palestinians from the West Bank is strictly controlled by the Jordanian authorities, as they do not wish to be swamped with a flood of Palestinians moving there to live. Being Thursday afternoon when Bishop Munib was approached, Government offices had closed for the weekend – to reopen on Sunday morning. However, a Permit was eventually obtained and Mitri set out. When he got to the Allenby Bridge on Saturday morning, he was stopped by the Israeli Authorities who said that he did not have the correct papers. More phone calls – eventually after paying a special courier firm $71, he was able to cross into Jordan, catch his plane that evening, and arrive in Germany on Sunday morning just in time for the service. A matter of security? A matter of what?


So one could go on – yet as Bishop Munib said, he and Mitri were fortunate, they are able to travel. Many are not.


School terms are coming to a close in the West Bank – so children are on holiday for approximately 3 months. However, it is also the time to ensure that your children are enrolled for the next academic year. Churches run schools, and to meet their expenses, have to charge fees. So, it is a time for parents to try to find money for registration, and then for the annual fees later on. Talking with one family recently, it was clear what a financial strain they were having. Permits to work in Israel are almost unobtainable, so people have to try to find work in the West Bank. If work is found, wages can be very low. A person who may have earned £500 when working in Jerusalem before the Intifada may now, if he has a job at all, be lucky to earn £150 (NIS 1,250 or NIS 1,300). Registration for the family with whom I was talking would come to NIS 1,450 for their 4 children. Then on top of that would come the regular fees – as much as another NIS 5,000. So there is the

nightmare of trying to find money to pay fees, as education is seen as paramount, and a way of perhaps ensuring a future for their children. The same situation will be found in other parts of the world also – we had to cope with it when working in Zambia, especially when I was Headmaster of a Church Secondary School. But for the present, it is the situation on the West Bank which is staring us in the face.

Friday 4th June. On Thursday evening, many of the roads in our part of Jerusalem were closed temporarily, while a Parade made its way to the nearby Liberty Bell Park. It was the 3rd annual Gay Pride Parade. As can be imagined, there are very conflicting views within society here on the topic of Homosexuality The report in Haaretz today contained the following paragraph: “Posters went up in the city denouncing the mayor and the parade. Rabbi David Basri, a prominent kabbalist, said homosexuals were ‘subhuman’ and would be reincarnated as rabbits.” (Haaretz 4th June P1.)


On an altogether different note, today has seen the decision by the Prime Minister to sack two members of his Cabinet, who represent one of the most right-wing Parties – The National Union Party. Notices have been issued, but one of the provisions of the Israeli system of government is that letters of dismissal have actually to be handed to the recipients, and the dismissal will then take effect 48 hours later. There is some doubt at the time of writing where at least one of the Ministers is – and what will happen if his letter cannot be delivered to him in time to prevent him from attending the Cabinet meeting on Sunday, when Mr Sharon is scheduled to put his Disengagement Plan to the vote. It makes for an interesting life.

However, the revised plan also has its critics – not that they are against it, but that they feel with each instalment of it having to be voted upon before being implemented, it could well go the way of other plans and get lost in legal and political wrangling. We will have to wait to see.


E-mails come flooding in about the situation in Rafah. Having invaded in a major way, and having then withdrawn after widespread criticism from governments around the world, the Israeli army is now being more restrained. Smaller raids are taking place, and more houses are being demolished. Haaretz Friday 4th June P3 reports that the Israeli army invaded Rafah again on Wednesday night, destroying at least 18 houses. A Gush Shalom e-mail on Thursday gave the figure as 41 houses having been destroyed this week.

This is the background for a paragraph from the article by Gideon Levy entitled: “End of the Rainbow” – about Rafah (Haaretz Weekend magazine, p 6.) ‘Now all 19 people are crowded into a tiny 2 ½ room apartment belonging to one sister, on the edge of the destroyed area of their refugee camp. The curtain blowing in the breeze allows intermittent glimpses of the view from the window; mounds of rubble all the way to the end of the street. This is the Awad family – mother, elderly aunt, son, daughters and their families. On Thursday May 20, two bulldozers approached their home, threatening to raze it with the occupants still inside “Operation Rainbow”. The 85-year old aunt barely managed to climb out. She says that in 1948 when she fled from her first home, and it 1972, when the IDF razed her home again, it was easier for her – she was still young then. One of the daughters, architect Manal Awad, says that its not just stone wall that have been destroyed, but also memories, - in the photographs and books that are lost for ever. Her sister tried to save the coffee table that she had designed, but couldn’t The table was crushed along with the other contents of the house. The IDF did its work very thoroughly here. The house and their contents were completely crushed. Entire house have been wiped off the face of the earth, and now they are just mounds of dirt. ….. Manal Awad sits in her modest office in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City, tearlessly mourning her demolished home. …. [Manal] I tried to reassure my sister but when I called back she said that the bulldozers were right in front of the house. I told her: You have to get out of the house immediately. She said the guest room was already collapsing. They were afraid to go out because there was a bulldozer in front and another one in back, as well as tanks. My mother took a hammer and tried to break through the wall to the neighbours. My sister brought a ladder for them to climb out. Me 85-year old aunt, who walks with difficulty, managed to climb the fist couple of rungs, but then she stopped and said she could go on. My mother and sisters pushed her up, the neighbour pulled from the other side and she finally got over, I don’t know how.’


This hardly gets a mention in the Israeli press. I regularly look at the Guardian on the Internet, and it is remarkable how seldom an article on the situation here in Israel/Palestine is listed on its website.


Saturday 5th May. We had some work to do in Ramallah, and so we headed off up the road. I had hoped to go by the first checkpoint, called A Ram, and then measure the distance from there to Kalandia, the major checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. The road was closed due to there being a large demonstration organised against the proposed extension of the Wall. More about this next week, when I have some actual details that I can share with you.


On Sunday at 1800 hours our time, there will be a special service of Prayers for Peace, organised by Sabeel. If you remember, you could perhaps join us at a distance, as we pray for peace here.



Stay well. God bless.

Joan and Clarence

Top

Circular Letter No 170
May 2004


The following is an extract from a letter forwarded to me from Scotland. It reflects the deep divide within the world-wide Christian community.

“I am an Aberdonian Christian living near Brighton in the south coast of England and I hunger for all things to do with the Granite City. I happened to come across your website but alas was saddened to read the letters sent to Ferryhill by the Rev Clarence Musgrave and his wife Joan. God bless them for their commitment to helping the poor Palestinian people (something of which I engage in myself) and this is to be commended. What is sad however is their blatant anti-Israel stance which does them no favours. I would strongly urge them to read their Bibles especially Romans chapter 11 to see what the Lord is about these days regarding Israel……We must however do all we can to help the Palestinians and a good starting place would be for concerned parties such as the Church of Scotland to start lobbying rich Arab states such as Saudia Arabia who not only could provide immediate help but who could also provide the long term solution i.e. provide a homeland for the Palestinians in Saudia Arabia. Why do we insist on Israel giving up land when S. Arabia etc. have vast quantities of free and open space. Other Arab states won’t help of course because they want nothing to do with the problem. In fact they prefer to finance suicide bombers and their families”


It is strange how words are used.

The military invasion of Rafah last week was code-named Operation Rainbow. One of my earliest introductions to the Rainbow was in a Bible Story book about Noah : (Genesis 9) : And God said to Noah “I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you …. I have set my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Until now, I had always associated the word “Rainbow” with peace.


The corridor which the Israeli army have created and wish to enlarge on the Egyptian border in Rafah is called the Philadelphi Road. The word ‘Philadelphi’ has for me its roots in the Greek words : “Love of brother.” It seems a strange name to give to such a sign of the work of bulldozers demolishing houses.


Monday 24th May.

Helen Shehadeh has asked me to go to see the ground that she has already purchased for what she hopes will be a new school, and the ground adjacent to it that she hopes to be able to purchase. In mid-afternoon, Rizek Abusharr and I set out – with thoughts in my mind of last week spending over 2 hours at the checkpoint. This week, it was about 5 minutes’ total time for crossing in and out!

We saw the site, and certainly agreed that if she could find the necessary money, it would be helpful for the future of the school. However, $150,000 is quite a sum.
 

Tuesday 25th May.

9 of us left Jerusalem early in the morning to drive to Jayyous for the Kindergarten Graduation. Arriving early, (surprise, surprise!) we had a chance to talk with some folk from the village. They spoke of two matters in particular –

the economic effects of the current situation caused by the difficulty in getting to their farms to tend their crops and their trees, as these are on the Western side of the Fence; inability to get their produce to markets, as they are not allowed to drive on the main roads, and so have to try to make their way over bush roads; low prices, where a box of tomatoes used to be as high as NIS 20, and is now NIS 5;

the ‘security’ effect of the Fence. The villagers thought that with the erection of the Fence, the Israeli army would have less need to make incursions into the village. The reverse has been the case, with Israeli soldiers coming into the village more frequently, sometimes 4 or 5 times per week. Usually such incursions are at night, and until 2 weeks ago, often involved the use of tear gas. Within the past 2 weeks, since I was told the ICRC protested about the use of tear gas, it has not been used. However, sound bombs still continue to be used.

The Graduation Ceremony took place in the grounds of the Community Centre. There was a programme that lasted almost 2 ½ hours, with the kids singing, dancing, and performing traditional ceremonies. For us as visitors, it may have seemed a trifle long, but one look at the faces of the families and it was plain that this was at least one opportunity to forget for the moment their troubles, and to affirm themselves and their identity.

Following our last trip to Jayyous with visitors from USA, one of the visitors sent a significant donation to assist with the completion of the Community Centre, and it was good that there was someone there to hand over the donation in public, as a way of encouraging the village community, and the Centre Committee, in their work.


On the way to Jayyous, we encountered that well-known phenomenon of the morning mobile check point. Obviously by the afternoon all those whom the soldiers wished to catch had been caught, as the road blocks had vanished. We got back to Jerusalem in time for tea – physically fairly tired, but emotionally and spiritually refreshed by having been able to share in the events of the day.


Tuesday 25th May - Wednesday 26th May

This was the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. My little book tells me that Shavuot means “weeks” and is held at the end of the 7-week period after Pesach (Passover). The time scale is similar to that in the Christian Calendar between Easter Sunday and Pentecost. Traditionally associated with the wheat harvest, it became associated with the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Many Jewish people stay up the whole night after the start of Shavuot to study the Torah, and prepare for prayer when the sun rises.


Thursday 27th May.

In any conversation here it is not long before “The Situation” features as a major topic. Pro- or Anti- whichever side, or whatever action, everyone has an opinion. Opinions reflect the deep divisions within Israeli society – between Jewish and Arab citizens, within the community of Jewish citizens, and also within the community of Arab citizens. There are also differences of opinion within the Palestinian community. How such differences will affect future policies, and how they will be resolved, remains as yet unclear.

These thoughts came to mind when reading an article in Haaretz, 27th May P5, entitled “We are all in the same boat” by Israel Harel. He deals at some length with the published results of a recent survey undertaken by the Israel Democracy Institute.

‘Some 35% of Jewish youths who identify themselves as secular Israelis say they don’t want to live in Israel. With Orthodox youths, the figure is 14%; among young people identified as “traditional” the figure is 12%; and just 9% of young ultra-Orthodox say they will emigrate. …. They are sobering statistics, especially when considered together with the fact that the birth rate among Jews is steadily and sharply falling and any decrease in the birth rate among Arabs in Israel is negligible. 6 months ago, the Central Bureau of Statistics disclosed that the average number of people in an Arab family in Israel is 5.4; in Jewish families the figure is 3.6. And if more than one third of native-born, secular Jews do not believe they have a future here (among new immigrant Jewish youth, the figure is 49%), it’s not difficult to imagine what the future holds for the Jewish state.’ Among those polled, 43% supported refusal to serve in the IDF, with respect both to evacuating settlers and to serving in the territories.

I am not aware of having seen a similar poll having been taken among Palestinian young people, but I am sure it would make similarly sobering reading. Sadly, emigration seems, for many on both sides, to be their goal, and the only way they can make a future for themselves.


Later in the morning on Thursday, I was travelling with an Israeli civil servant, who is Ultra-Orthodox, from one of the Government Offices with which we work. His family have been in Jerusalem for 10 generations, - 300 years. In our conversation, I asked him how he and his family celebrated Shavuot. The Tuesday evening they had all attended worship in the Synagogue – then home for a meal – and he returned to share in the all-night study. Interestingly, one of the papers discussed focussed on Jewish doctors being under obligation to treat Gentile patients on Shabbat. (Recalls an episode from the Gospels.) When I asked him what he would like Mr Sharon to do, I got two answers, one predictable and one surprising The predictable one was that there should be no “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. The surprising one was that the Israeli government should invest heavily in the Palestinian economy – not to increase Israeli domination, but to strengthen the Palestinian economy. With a better economic future, perhaps there would be more hope for young people and less appeal to become suicide bombers.


Friday 28th May

I mentioned above that the Jewish festival Shavuot had connections with the wheat harvest. Today, Joan and I went down past Bethlehem and Hebron to Idna. It was warm, and the sun was shining. The countryside was a picture – with the golden coloured fields of grain, and the bright green leaves on the vines. Around Idna we saw several groups of people working at harvesting their grain – gathering the cut grain into sheaves, prior to threshing it with a thresher powered by a tractor - methods wich we both were accustomed to in N Ireland when we were children. It should have been a happy journey. It was not. The huge “checkpoint” at Gush Etzion, with its 4-lane road leading to it from the Jerusalem direction, is progressing, eating up land, and demonstrating that there is not the slightest intention of any compliance with UN resolutions as far as this area of Palestine is concerned. The entrance to Surif, one of the villages which supplies handcrafts to Sunbula, has been more tightly closed off. The one entrance to the next town, Halhul, is now guarded by soldiers checking cars, under the watchful eyes of the lookout soldiers in the “pill box” tower. The main entrance to Idna is now totally blockaded, and a new “pill box” put there, again with soldiers watching the road and the village through their binoculars. We had to turn back and follow a farm road to get into the village. If it is security that is the goal, why leave any roads open into the village? If it is not security, what is it? From Bethlehem to Idna would take not much more than 30 minutes in normal traffic. Yesterday, one of the women went to Bethlehem for business for the co-operative – it took her 2 hours to get there, on back roads, and she had to take 7 different taxis. For the settlers, - and people like us - the main road has been resurfaced.

We brought more handcrafts to Jerusalem – looking for markets!

Also looking for people interested in Sinai in October.


Stay well. God bless. Love from us both.

Joan and Clarence.

Top