The Good and the Bad

Well you’ve heard already that the participants are here if you read my last post. And you’ve heard pretty much what I’ve been doing considering I am with them at all times, responsible for organizing their activities and leading/accompanying all of the activities as well. I suppose I can just take a moment on a personal note to say that I am really enjoying this group. They seem like very mature individuals, and actually, I am one of the youngest people among us right now. I have had a lot of fun getting to know them and hanging around with them in our meetings and our trips within Bethlehem and in Jerusalem. A couple of nights ago at Osh Grab (the park where I worked last year), there was a little festival with a British musician and a few debkah (traditional dance) groups performing. One member of the group went with me, and besides having a good time watching everything, we had a really great discussion about using our expensive private educations to do something meaningful here and back in the U.S.

Even though so much has been going very well, I have been getting very frustrated recently—just because I have been reading the news. While waiting for a while to meet our participants as they arrived in Jerusalem, I was reading an Israeli newspaper, which had a mix of articles from right-wingers and people who are probably middle-of-the-road politically. I have also been reading Ha-Aretz online in my spare time. I’ve read about how Israeli companies are removing stone from West Bank quarries, which is a violation of international law (it is illegal to exploit the non-renewable resources of an occupied territory). I read from people who were indignant that illegal settlement outposts were being threatened by the government to be dismantled. (Never mind that normal settlements are against international law themselves—it is illegal to move a civilian population into an occupied territory—but, the outposts are illegal even by Israeli law! Defense minister Ehud Barak has been making empty threats of dismantling these for two years; he tries to negotiate with the people living in them, who are clearly not interested in negotiating, and never gives an ultimatum for talks to end and action to commence, enforcing his own laws/policies.) Over and over, I see how Israel out-rightly refuses to abide by the terms of the peace agreements it has signed. I read how the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton are actually “pressuring” Israel to freeze all growth in settlements (something encouraging finally!), yet how Netanyahu has decided to ignore that. (In another article I learned that despite Israel’s noncompliance, the U.S. is going to completely foot the bill for a new missile defense system.) I read how Israel is getting closer to outlawing the mourning of its conception. (Palestinians usually commemorate the Nakbah [i.e. “catastrophe” in Arabic] rather than the Israeli Independence Day.) To echo a cry I’ve heard at the Ma’asara protest numerous times: “1, 2, 3, 4, Occupation NO MORE; 5, 6, 7, 8, Israel—a FASCIST STATE!” I want to know what is going on around me, yet I wonder if reading all of this news is just going to make the whole situation even more unbearable because, when I hear all of these things day after day, it wears me down and chips away at what little hope I am still holding onto for this situation to be resolved with a real peace (and there can be no Peace without Justice).

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!

Getting Started

Marhaba everyone. I'm really not a fan of blogging at all (see the quote below my profile picture on the right...), so I thought that I might just use the official Palestine Summer Encounter blog as my own blog to keep you updated this summer; after all, what the participants explain in their entries will be a direct result of my work here, facilitating the entire program in which they are involved. But, upon further consideration, I suppose that is not the best way to communicate with everyone who is interested in specifically what I am doing.

For this reason, here I am, blogging once again. I had considered also doing a vlog (video web log) instead of writing, but I think that me sitting in front of a camera and just describing things would be a little awkward, so I'll likely be sticking with this format. I will hopefully be doing update videos for what is happening in PSE, and I will post links to those when they become available.

I'm not going to write much now since I actually just wrote a blog yesterday for the official Palestine Summer Encounter webpage blog. The text of that blog is below, but I also encourage you as the summer progresses, if you are interested, to visit the official blog and hear the experiences of the participants. (The web address is: http://www.palestinesummer.org/blog.) From time to time, I will likely be posting as part of the PSE blog, but I will also post those entries here, to my own personal blog.

More later...

ma' salaame daymaan (with peace always)

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Issalaam alaykum min Bayt Lahem!

Ismi John, and I am one of the two representatives of Middle East Fellowship who will be on the ground in Bethlehem this summer, helping coordinate the Palestine Summer Encounter program. Sara will join me for the second session, but I have been here since May 9, working in the Holy Land Trust office putting things together for our first session to start here at the end of the week. As I work with our program calendar and our office staff finalizes volunteer opportunities and homestay placements, I am growing increasingly more excited for the participants to arrive and soon begin their amazing summer experience with the PSE program.

I remember last summer at this time: I was a worried, excited, and hopeful incoming participant, unsure of what I was getting myself into for the summer. I had planned on being here for three months without having had any previous experience in the region and knowing no one, so it was a leap of faith, but by the end of the summer, it was very obvious I landed in the right place. This past week has been wonderful for me to get to reconnect with friends here at Holy Land Trust and at PAIDIA International Development—the NGO where I volunteered last summer. I just wish some of my friends from the program last summer were still here as well—it will be different without them accompanying me this time—but I have already made some great new connections, which I know are going to make this summer special in its own ways. My own experience with PSE was challenging but thrilling and incredibly educational and rewarding, so I am excited to welcome the 13 new participants who will soon be starting their own summer journeys with us.

This summer, the participants will have new opportunities that have just been added to the program. In addition to our colloquial Arabic classes, we are going to be offering three other courses during the first session: Christian Zionism, Theology of the Land, and Nonviolence—all of which are being taught by Palestinians who hold impressive credentials of numerous degrees and personal experience in their fields. In addition to classes, as in past years, the other components of the program include living with host families, doing volunteer work, having cultural nights, listening to guest speakers, and going on trips around the region. Programming for this first session looks exciting, and I know the participants are going to learn a lot and really enjoy themselves.

Hopefully soon you will begin to hear from the participants themselves; as they begin and work through the program, all will have the opportunity through this blog to share with the rest of the world how their summer experiences are informing, challenging, inspiring, and changing them as they encounter Palestine. Stay tuned!