Thursday – April 16. Holocaust Remembrance Day

We had a little time to reflect this morning and it was much needed. Due to a great thunder and lightning storm, our morning hike was canceled. We extended our meeting with a lovely young woman from the US consulate. For almost two hours, she shared her role here and the incredibly difficult road between so many factions. She kept saying how complicated it all is and how it is such a mess! She became quite emotional over the losses on both sides. Clearly her job is almost overwhelming and we felt it with her.
Then a siren went off. Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. The sirens will go off, all over the country, several times today. Everything will stop and people will stand and be quiet and remember until the siren stops. So we did too. It is a privilege to be here on this day and the horror of that event should never be forgotten. But then there is the fact that it is kept in the front of Israeli consciousness. Therefore security must be maintained at all costs. The price is high, on all fronts.
So I sit here quietly, urged to think of how Jesus would respond to this. And I think of him crying over Jerusalem, wanting to care for her like a hen with her chicks. But Jerusalem rejects him.
What is the call to me? Weeping is in order. But one cannot live there. I do not have a response yet. I am praying God will show the way and that I will be obedient to follow.
We spent some time then out in the garden, sharing our thoughts – the rain had stopped and the sun came out! Thank you Lord.
Lunch followed at a nearby restaurant – excellent food again! I am loving all the incredible Middle Eastern dishes and flavors. Before the main course there are always various salads and pita bread with spreads. Plenty to keep body and soul together.
We then walked across the street to an NGO called Grassroots. It is a Palestinian organization which serves as a clearing house for other related NGOS and as a resource for Palestinians. A young, passionate Israeli Palestinian woman met with us. There are so any designations for Palestinians here and each group has its own identity cards which define their movements. One group lives in Gaza. Then those from Israel proper, those born in Jerusalem, and those living in the West Bank. Those in Gaza are the most restricted and are only allowed out by rarely given permits. Those from Israel and Jerusalem can move rather freely in those areas but need a permit to go to the West Bank and must pass through a security checkpoint in the security wall to go. Those on the West Bank are limited within that area by the occupation and must also get permits to travel through the wall. No one goes into Gaza.
Palestinians pay the same taxes as the Jewish folks, even in the West Bank but Israel controls the funds and decides how much should be spent on infrastructure. One can always tell the Palestinian homes because they have large black water tanks on their roofs so they can collect water for the days it is turned off. For Israelis, the water is always on. There are roads within the West Bank that Palestinians are not allowed to drive on and garbage is not picked up for them. This young woman shared her concerns as a Palestinian woman and, in an ideal world for her, still regards this entire area as Palestine. Another difficult issue is the “right of return.” Any person who can show any degree of Jewish ancestry can move to Israel with full citizenship rights. The Palestinians who were displaced in 1948, when Israel became a nation, or after the 6 Day War in 1967, have no such rights. There are many Palestinian refugees still living in Jordan and other surrounding Arab nations who would like to come home. This presentation was in such sharp contrast to the Israeli colonel we heard yesterday. So, as our friend from the US consulate said in the morning, it’s a mess!
Because the weather had improved, we then headed up to the top of the Mt of Olives to walk down the hill the same way Jesus came on the day of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Our staff is so amazingly well prepared so gave us brief summaries for each area. At the top, we looked across the Kidron Valley to the old wall and the Dome of the Rock, with the sun shining off its gold dome. We looked at the site of the City of David and Jewish and Muslim cemeteries close to the old wall and the blocked Golden Gates where Jesus is to enter Jerusalem when he comes back. The thought is that since the dead in Christ are to rise first, those closest to the entry point will be the first ones to make an appearance! I may have to make arrangements for my ashes to be spread over here! We began the walk down the mount and stopped at a chapel commemorating the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. A lovely little chapel with an amazing view across the valley. Continuing down the hill, we came to the Garden of Gethsemane. The ancient olive trees are now enclosed by a small fence but it is a quiet place even with all the tourists. I wished that I could walk amongst the trees but understand the need for the fence. The small chapel beside the garden has purple stained glass windows, symbolizing the drops of blood Christ spilt there. At the bottom of the hill, we met our driver and continued on our way. We drove through a few of the neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to see the conditions. Compared to some of the poverty I have seen in other places, the homes and businesses seem good but the areas are shabby and rundown. There is garbage around and one is tempted to be critical until one remembers that normal city services are not provided here on any regular basis, despite taxes being paid. We stopped briefly at one spot right by the wall. It was very sobering to stand by it, walk up and touch it and know this particular section divides the neighborhood from its university. So people have to go a distance to a checkpoint to get to a place which used to be a part of the neighborhood. It can often take a hour and a half to get there when it used to be a journey of minutes. Over 80% of the wall is within the former Palestinian border so has effectively redefined the boundaries. What does one do with all that?
And of course we move on. Please let me learn and respond as Jesus would.

We ended up back at our lovely guest house with some time before dinner. I spent much of it writing this,with my feet up. My ankles are slowly going down, after swelling up on the planes. Maybe it’s time for compression stockings – depressing thought!
We walked a short way to dinner and had great salads and pizza! Conversations around the table can be fun and lively but also deep and thoughtful. The preparation for this trip was so well done and the women here are really all so right for this place. We are all quite different and come from all over the country, but there is a unity of purpose and a willingness to listen and learn. It feels somewhat superfluous to go out and enjoy pizza after seeing the need. The balance is hard to find but my going hungry probably won’t help the situation! Is that justification? My mind is reeling.
Back to the guest house, to repack because we are moving onto Bethlehem for the next 5 nights. Bethlehem is within the West Bank but can literally be seen from Jerusalem. I am looking forward to this next leg of the journey.

Love to all.