Week 1 Report

Below is a release I wrote today for the Holy Land Trust website:

On May 21, the first twelve participants for this year’s Palestine Summer Encounter program arrived in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and were transported to Bethlehem to meet their new Palestinian host families. To begin the program activities, the new participants attended an orientation on life in Palestine and then went on a bus tour around Bethlehem to get them acquainted with their new surroundings.

The participants, from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia, have already bonded as a group as they embark on this exciting journey for their summer together. Seven of the participants will be here for whole three-month program, and six have planned on staying for two months. Participants have already experienced the great hospitality of Palestinians even after just a few days on the ground. One participant said of her experience with her host family so far: “I was immediately part of a family. Instantaneously, I knew that I could count on these perfect strangers for anything.” (To read more of the PSE participants’ experiences and thoughts, follow the online blog at: http//www.palestinesummer.org/blog.)

The participants had time to relax after undergoing orientation, spending time finding their ways around Bethlehem and getting to know their host families. On Sunday, May 24, the participants shook off any remaining jet-lag and stepped up their activity, taking a day trip to Jerusalem during which they were taken on an eye-opening tour with ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions), including a visit to a Bedouin camp currently being separated from the neighboring Arab community in East Jerusalem by the construction of the Wall, and a visit to Ma’ale Adumim, the largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank. After the ICAHD tour, the group had the opportunity to engage in a very informative discussion with the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem.

On Monday, May 25, participants gathered at the Holy Land Trust office in the morning, and then separated ways to begin work at their individual volunteer placements around Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, and Beit Jala. After volunteering, colloquial Arabic classes began at the Bethlehem Bible College to equip the participants to truly enter into the life and culture of Palestine. The remainder of this first week, the participants will be beginning the other classes in the summer curriculum (Nonviolence, Christian Zionism, and Theology of the Land), meeting with Holy Land Trust Executive Director, Sami Awad, for a presentation, and further encountering Palestine with a night of cultural activities. The participants are excited to be here and learning much, and their new community is grateful to welcome them. Ahlan w sahlan!