Wednesday – April 15

Simply put, today was overwhelming! Our first full day in Israel began with a lovely breakfast at the Guest House and not a super early start – thank you Lord! It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked through the stone walls and buildings to a UN office for a briefing on their work in the West Bank and Gaza. The UN provides humanitarian aid to the Palestinians here as their situation is often quite desperate. We all huddled into a room and were given an excellent presentation on the challenges in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The power point gave us so much info it was a little hard to process it all. But, in a nutshell, Gaza is struggling. Israel controls its borders and there are a huge number of restrictions on people and goods coming and going. Even their border on the Mediterranean is patrolled so the sea has become overfished in the limited area they are allowed. The West Bank is also occupied by Israel and there are a large number of Jewish settlements with about 500,000 people who live by Israeli law while the Palestinians live under military law. An incredibly complex situation.

The next stop was headquarters where we met with some of the “usual” excellent staff. We were given an overview of programs here. All 14 ADPs are in the Palestinian Territories.
Lunch followed in a stone walled restaurant. It is all stone here! A young Israeli woman met with us and shared her experience as an Israeli who refused to serve her mandated military service and spent 3 months in jail as a result. As a young student, she had spent some time in the West Bank and actually got to know some Palestinians and that time then informed her decision as a conscientious objector. She also filled us in on the culture of the military and its impact on life here. Children are taught in school about the key role the military plays and the sense that the Jewish people are always just a generation away from another Holocaust. Therefore, all this military presence is essential. A significant point for me was that teachers are given financial incentives if more of their students enlist! In high school, instead of Outdoor School, the students go to a week of military camp. Guns are everywhere and so their presence is commonplace and accepted as a part of life. She spoke very matter of factly so, to me, that made her story all the more compelling.

After lunch, we boarded our lovely bus and picked up a retired Israeli colonel who was mandated with the building of the security fence which surrounds all 451 miles of the West Bank. To say that it was enlightening does not do it justice. He is a confident well spoken man who spoke with great zeal about the necessity of the fence and all the many concessions he personally made in the building process to accommodate the local people and the Jewish interests. Much of the fence is barbed wire with the 9 meter concrete walls around urban areas. Every bit of the fence is protected with alarms that notify soldiers instantly if any contact is made with the fence. Patrols are always within 5 minutes of any point on the wall. According to him, 5-20 “terrorists” are picked up each day, trying to enter Israel. The fence is necessary to protect Israel. We drove around and visited different spots around Jerusalem and heard stories about those locations as they pertained to the wall and its construction. I was reeling after all I had heard throughout the day. Back on the bus, one of our guides from headquarters, who is a Palestinian Christian, responded to the colonel’s presentation. It was emotional and heartfelt. Even our driver had a few words for us.

Back at the hotel, we met to debrief before supper. Much needed! This trip is so different than other ones – which I pretty much thought it would be. There is no clear cut issue to address and learn about – like water and sanitation or child protection. This land may be the most fought over piece of property in the world and it is called the Holy Land! A land where just last summer 3 Israeli boys were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists. Then, in response, right here in Jerusalem, a Palestinian boy was taken and burned alive in retaliation. And so started another war in Gaza. I was expecting to be overwhelmed and so I am. But I also need some clarity and sense of purpose to go forward. That will take time, and knowing some of what is ahead, probably some healing.
Anyway – that was all before supper. We ate at the guest house, which was relaxing and good. Briefly, this is a guest house run by the Episcopal diocese of the church of St George. It is built of the ubiquitous stone blocks and looks quite monastic, with long corridors with windows out to a beautiful garden square. All the ceilings are vaulted white plaster and there is a sense of peace here. It is the perfect place to stay.
After supper, I intended to go back to my room to write and unwind but got into a great conversation with two of the women over some glasses of wine. I love to hear each woman’s story and why she is here – what brought to the place of wanting to wrestle with this. A few of the women have been here before but most of us are first timers. I am grateful for the ones with some experience and context. It helps.
Then to bed.