So, it turns out for the two days I'm in Jerusalem at least, there *is* some net access. So I made it. I'm here. I just watched a lightning storm from the roof of the building Pilate traditionally tried Jesus in, with the Dome of the Rock about 2-300 metres away.
--------------------------
I don't know how often I'll be able to do this, but here's another update.
Today was the day I stopped feeling like a tourist, and more like a witness in a country rife with oppression. We talked to a number of Israeli human rights organisations, and we took a tour of East Jerusalem. I stood in front of the wall that's ribboning through the land, and stood in front of a house that had been demolished. I'm still in shock, and processing everything I've learned today. It's... Yeah, definitely still processing.
On a lighter note, I had my first authentic Middle Eastern falafel today, in a restaurant that had no English signing whatsoever, from restaurant staff that didn't speak English. Even in South Africa, English was pretty universally on display and almost everyone knew how to speak it, so this was a new experience for me. I'm really enjoying the people who are on the delegation with me, and am looking forward to getting to know them better. We've got one from New Zealand, and the CPT liason is from Scotland, so there's always some interesting accent to listen to.
Tonight, we also went beneath the convent we're staying at to a cavern that had the roads of Jerusalem from Jesus's day exposed. Since the stones exposed are a very main road through ancient Jerusalem, there's a pretty good chance that they were stones that Jesus had walked on, so that was pretty cool.
Also, we had our first (and hopefully last) vehicle breakdown. It was on a very steep hill in East Jerusalem, and there was a lot of rolling backwards and loud banging noises, so it was pretty frightening.
Thank you everyone for your notes. I don't have time to respond to all of them right now, but I'd love to get together with anyone that wants to and tell you everything I can once I get back. I'm only two days in, just one full day, really, and it's... it's something else, that's for sure.
The taxis are out of this world. Traffic signs and painted lines on roads really seem to be guidelines more than anything else. There's been many times I've been absolutely sure we were going to be in a collision only to see the cars zoom by each other with only inches to spare. (Maybe I shouldn't let my mom know about that part...)
Anyway, I'm off to Bethlehem early tomorrow morning. I'll be back in Jerusalem before we fly out, so I'll definitely be able to come online again then. I have no idea if I'll be able to do it before then. Thanks again for all your prayers and support! I'll see you all soon!
Ben
-----------------------------------------------------
If you check out my new profile pic, that's me and the delegation starting to walk away from the wall that's just starting to be built just outside of Bethlehem. We're walking away because those soldiers you can see in the background started driving down to chase us away.
Except for some rather frightening corralling and shoving at the beginning of the protest, the soldiers were very gentle and kept their distance from us until they started driving down, and even then, they just drove away once we left and didn't stop us for ID or anything. Israeli soldiers CAN be brutal, but anyone that paints all Israeli soldiers with the same demonic paintbrush are just as wrong in their attitudes as those that say that all Palestinians are terrorists.
I have met SO many awesome Palestinians AND Israelians while I've been here. There's an awesome Israeli activist movement that's at work in Israel, at both a grassroots level, and through organisations that are lobbying and seeking legal precedent and doing that sort of thing.
And the Palestinians! It gets me so frustrated every time I meet another wonderful Palestinian how horribly misrepresented these people have been by the news, by movies, by... by everything. I've met so many Palestinians who are so passionately dedicated to non-violence it puts me to shame. In circumstances that seem incredibly bleak and miserable, they are hopeful, they are working for change, and they are smiling. I'm in awe.
Also, if anyone still goes to Danforth CTI on this mailing list, could someone pass on a message to JP in the office for me, or even print this out directly for him? Let him know these people DO want us to be there. Some of the progressive Israelis do, and every Palestinian we've come in contact with is very supportive of what we're doing here. CPT never goes anywhere they haven't been invited by locals. Israeli's and Palestinians alike can be a loving, compassionate people, just like any people group can be loving and compassionate. And I feel completely safe here. (Except for possibly when I'm in a particularily daredevil-ish taxi drivers cab...) I haven't felt threatened by anyone, no matter their nationality. I do understand JP's concerns, and of others who've voiced similar concerns (and sorry for singling you out JP, but I want you to get this message while I'm there, and I can't think of any other way to get it out) but I really do feel like they're based on misrepresentations of the situation.
This has been an incredible experience so far, and it's really only just begun. This morning I'll be going to a church service in a language I don't understand in Bethlehem. Bethlehem! King David's hometown, Jesus traditional birthplace, a besieged warzone... So much has happened here over so many historical epochs.
I would love to come back someday with a group of people... with some friends, and just spend time being in the country, seeing the sights. Much of Palestine needs tourists to survive, and the occupation and the second Intifada has choked the tourist trade beyond Bethlehem to being practically non-existent. So if anyone would be interested in a social-justice minded tour of Palestine at some far point in the future, let me know. The seeds have been planted in my mind.
Some good websites to check out...
www.acri.org.il - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
www.badil.org - Badil resource center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.
I just want to let you guys know again, I feel very safe here. The most dangerous element is the traffic, as of now, and I'm having a great time.
Talk to you all soon,
Ben
P.S Just want to clarify a bit, lest I seem *too* hopeful. Horrible things ARE happening here, and there are very nasty individuals and institutions at work. It's mindblowing, and is relentless. However, there's more hope here than I ever believed there could be. There is more compassion in the people facing oppression, and there is more concrete good things being done. As our Israeli tourguide said, he may never get back together with his ex-girlfriend, but the wall will come down. There will be peace. Heck, three years ago I was in South Africa, learning about many of the same things I am today, except I was learning them as history in Africa. One day people will be learning about what is being experienced today as history too. I'm sure of it.
----------------------------------------------
I finally have a chance to update you all on the past couple days, and now that I've got some time in front of the computer, I've got no idea where to start.
The past few days were spent in very rural areas, mainly around the villages of Susiya and At-Tuwani. At-Tuwani is where a permanent CPT team is located. Our time in Susiya was incredible, and will stick with me for the rest of my life. First of all, we visited a settlement, and talked to a settler. It was... bizzarre. The settler we talked to was from South Africa, and she wanted to assure us that what was happening in Israel was completely different from South Africa. In South Africa, the blacks were being persecuted, and it was wrong. Israel is not apartheid (says her) because the Arabs (she NEVER referred to them as Palestinians) are not being persecuted. She came across as a perfectly reasonable, wonderfully compassionate person, and if we hadn't seen the lives, heard the stories, and been in the places she was talking about ourselves, I might have seen things her way. BUT we had seen the lives of the Palestinians, we had seen the checkpoints, we had seen the persecution with our own eyes (I've felt it myself, but I'll get to that soon...) and knew that the reality of the situation and her quite earnest perception of it weren't the same.
What shocked me the most, and I could see from the faces of my co-delegates that they felt the same way was when the settler talked about seeing pictures of South Africa, of the 'blacks only' and 'whites only' signs, and how she didn't remember them when she lived there. And she said, and this is a direct quote "When you're part of the system, it's hard to see the injustice of it."
When you're part of the system, it's hard to see the injustice of it.
She said it herself! Right there! Of course, now it's got me thinking and wondering about what systems of injustice I'm a part of that I just can't see, and what people are looking at me and shaking their heads about how I'm just continuing along living in this system of injustice that I'm benefitting from...
The settlement we visited had stolen land from and continually harassed the village of Susiya, which we visited next. Their village has been destroyed four times, and every time they've built it up again. Right now, the ones that remain are living in tents. They are incredible, resilient people, and I hope I'll learn better Arabic, and be back to get to know them better. I played Volleyball in the Judean wilderness as the sun set, laughing with the locals at my own incompetence as the lights of the settlement glittered surprisingly close by.
Supper that night was the greatest cross cultural experience I've ever had, and one of the greatest experiences period that I've ever had. We broke up into small groups, and visited other families living in tents in the area. I went with my new friend Mary Rose, the woman in my profile picture with a rainbow coloured hat, and we visited a man named Jamal's family. He spoke maybe four words of English. Mary Rose and I spoke about four words of Arabic, but it was a wonderful experience. Jamal introduced us to his family, and we all smiled at each other, and sat there in the tent, eating. Mostly in silence, though every once in a while we would try to talk and communicate. We managed using mime and charades to have a discussion about Canadian and American politics, and about Israeli policies, but it was quite simple. Mary Rose was very happy when she remembered that New Zealand (where she comes from) had a female prime minister, and was able to get that across to the women. I didn't get any pictures, but the faces of that family will be etched in my mind till I die, and I'll always remember just sitting with them, sometimes singing, sometimes gesturing, but always smiling and always welcome.
This trip has affected me in almost every possible way it can, I think. Politically, I feel on fire, and I can't wait to come home and talk to every politician I can get ahold of about what I've seen and what Canada can do. I want to start letter writing campaigns, form petitions, and just raise awareness in every way that I can.
Spiritually, the bible has NEVER seemed more real to me. When you're in the land these stories take place in, everything makes sense. I've seen women gathered at wells, I've walked the rocky paths and seen the stones lying everywhere, just waiting to be picked up and used in an execution. I've eaten bread and cheese made in ways that haven't changed in thousands of thousands of years. I've seen the descendants of grapevines that Joshua and Caleb would have seen. It's brilliant, it's absolutely brilliant. The night I was in Susiya, my back was starting to get sore from sitting on a pallet without anything to lean on, and Jamal's brother could tell, so he pushed some pillows towards me and demonstrated how to recline on them, and I had a flashback to my Gospel of John class, and Michael Szuk showing us how Jesus and his disciples would have reclined around the Last Supper table, and it was exactly the same way. I've watched my feet get dusty and dirty to the point where I wish someone would have offered to wash them for me.
I'm in the CPT headquarters now, and I'm amazed at how much it feels like another home. As soon as I entered the staircase, and started walking up the stairs, it just felt like I'd come home. So, at this point, I definitely want to be a part of CPT, and having seen At-Tuwani and Hebron, I think Hebron is where I'd like to be. It feels... right, and it feels more right the more I spend time here.
Being in Hebron has been very interesting. A number of people at home wondered if the fact that I look ethnically like I could be Jewish or Palestinian would make a difference. It has, and the jury says I look Palestinian. Noone Palestinian has accused me of being Israeli, and at checkpoints, I feel more like a Palestinian then an Israeli. It doesn't help that my passport stamp from Israel didn't have enough ink on it and is very faint, so the two times where I've had to show it to soldiers and border police, it's taken a fair amount of convincing to get the soldier to believe I'm not a muslim. Even Palestinian police thought I was Arab and were giving me trouble for it.
Hebron is probably the most non-Western city I've ever been in. Leaving the old city and walking through the main markets is... is truly out of this world. I had a great Shawarma for lunch today, and am looking forward to exploring more meals and treats as the week goes on. We'll be spending the rest of our time in Hebron now until the last day, which will be in Jerusalem again.
Some final words about apartheid, and whether there is an apartheid system in Israel or not... There is a system of Seperateness. There are roads that Israelis can go on that Palestinians can not. If Palestians build 'illegal' buildings, they are bulldozed and receive demolition orders. If Israelis build illegal settlements (which all settlements are) they are not demolished. Every once in a while, an OUTPOST will be demolished, but never settlements. Anyone that says Israel is not Apartheid, I challenge you to come here yourself. See how the Palestinians live, how they are treated, then see how the Israelis live, and tell me that there isn't a policy of seperateness going on here. I've felt it myself going through checkpoints just because I look like I could be Palestinian. It's humiliating, and I can't imagine what it would be like to experience that every day. Eventually the soldiers realize I'm not Palestinian. The real Palestinians don't have that luxury.
Anyway, love to all of you. I don't feel quite the same level of safety that I did before... (We heard a firefight going on as we were trying to go to bed last night) and the military presence is much higher here, but I do still feel safer than I thought I would.
I'll see you all soon...
Ben
-----------------------------------------
I can't believe my time here is almost over. Today, Bob -our delegation leader- mentioned that tomorrow we would be going to Jerusalem, and I was shocked. Where has the time gone? I don't want to go home yet. There's still too much to see, too many things I want to do. Tomorrow morning we'll be heading back to Jerusalem, and we'll have one day of freedom to do whatever we want. I'm hopefully going to get in touch with an old family friend living near Bethlehem and spend some time with him.
I've decided I AM coming back. For sure. I'm going to sign up for the summer training in July/August, which means I won't be coming back to Centreville as supervisor. Which makes me feel a bit nostalgic, and sad, but after being here for the short time I have been, I'm realizing I can't just leave it behind. I love the country, I love the people, I've seen the good that CPT does in the area from many different locals and organisations, and I want to be a part of it.
I want to be a part of this CPT community as well. For those of you that know how interested I am in intentional community, that's what the CPTers have here. I've heard them say many times 'The street work is easy compared to living in community.'
I came on this delegation to find out whether the ideals of CPT that I had in my mind were the reality of CPT, and I've discovered that yes they are. The people in this organization are imperfect humans doing their best to live together in a very stressful situation, doing their best to follow the personal call they feel to go out into the world and work for peace, for dignity, for what they believe is the way the world should be and the way the world can be.
This is discipleship at work. These people are following Jesus in a real way that I feel I can follow too, with them. Heh, in a doubly real way considering the dusty paths we're actually walking.
So yeah, it feels like this delegation has been a success. I want to be a part of CPT in an ongoing fashion, and the CPTers here seem to think I'd be a valuable addition to the team, so... here I am.
When I come home, I'm going to talk at Danforth, both the church and the high school, (though this might be after I visit British Columbia...) If any of you that are reading this can think of any venues or organizations or people that you'd like me to talk to given what you've read, please get in touch with me and let me know. Even you BC folk, I'll be in BC... I still don't know what days exactly I'll be coming... I should be working on that, but I'll be there very soon. Over Remembrance day for sure, and possibly a week before or a week after that. But yeah, I'll be in BC, so I could do some talking over there too. I want to tell the stories that I've heard, I want to describe what I've seen. Over and over again, that's what the locals have asked us to do. "Tell our stories. Let people know what's happening."
On a different note... since I'm so bent on coming back, I really, really want to learn Arabic, and more specifically, Palestinian Arabic, which is different enough from classical Arabic to make classical Arabic lessons not that useful... so does anyone know anyone that knows Palestinian Arabic that would be willing to be a tutor?
Thank you all for reading my long rambling updates, and special thanks to those of you that have responded so encouragingly, especially when I haven't actually talked to you in years.
This will probably be my last update unless something incredible happens tomorrow in Jerusalem that I just *have* to write about. So, Salaam Alaykim. I'll hopefully see all of you soon.
Ben
--------------------------
I don't know how often I'll be able to do this, but here's another update.
Today was the day I stopped feeling like a tourist, and more like a witness in a country rife with oppression. We talked to a number of Israeli human rights organisations, and we took a tour of East Jerusalem. I stood in front of the wall that's ribboning through the land, and stood in front of a house that had been demolished. I'm still in shock, and processing everything I've learned today. It's... Yeah, definitely still processing.
On a lighter note, I had my first authentic Middle Eastern falafel today, in a restaurant that had no English signing whatsoever, from restaurant staff that didn't speak English. Even in South Africa, English was pretty universally on display and almost everyone knew how to speak it, so this was a new experience for me. I'm really enjoying the people who are on the delegation with me, and am looking forward to getting to know them better. We've got one from New Zealand, and the CPT liason is from Scotland, so there's always some interesting accent to listen to.
Tonight, we also went beneath the convent we're staying at to a cavern that had the roads of Jerusalem from Jesus's day exposed. Since the stones exposed are a very main road through ancient Jerusalem, there's a pretty good chance that they were stones that Jesus had walked on, so that was pretty cool.
Also, we had our first (and hopefully last) vehicle breakdown. It was on a very steep hill in East Jerusalem, and there was a lot of rolling backwards and loud banging noises, so it was pretty frightening.
Thank you everyone for your notes. I don't have time to respond to all of them right now, but I'd love to get together with anyone that wants to and tell you everything I can once I get back. I'm only two days in, just one full day, really, and it's... it's something else, that's for sure.
The taxis are out of this world. Traffic signs and painted lines on roads really seem to be guidelines more than anything else. There's been many times I've been absolutely sure we were going to be in a collision only to see the cars zoom by each other with only inches to spare. (Maybe I shouldn't let my mom know about that part...)
Anyway, I'm off to Bethlehem early tomorrow morning. I'll be back in Jerusalem before we fly out, so I'll definitely be able to come online again then. I have no idea if I'll be able to do it before then. Thanks again for all your prayers and support! I'll see you all soon!
Ben
-----------------------------------------------------
If you check out my new profile pic, that's me and the delegation starting to walk away from the wall that's just starting to be built just outside of Bethlehem. We're walking away because those soldiers you can see in the background started driving down to chase us away.
Except for some rather frightening corralling and shoving at the beginning of the protest, the soldiers were very gentle and kept their distance from us until they started driving down, and even then, they just drove away once we left and didn't stop us for ID or anything. Israeli soldiers CAN be brutal, but anyone that paints all Israeli soldiers with the same demonic paintbrush are just as wrong in their attitudes as those that say that all Palestinians are terrorists.
I have met SO many awesome Palestinians AND Israelians while I've been here. There's an awesome Israeli activist movement that's at work in Israel, at both a grassroots level, and through organisations that are lobbying and seeking legal precedent and doing that sort of thing.
And the Palestinians! It gets me so frustrated every time I meet another wonderful Palestinian how horribly misrepresented these people have been by the news, by movies, by... by everything. I've met so many Palestinians who are so passionately dedicated to non-violence it puts me to shame. In circumstances that seem incredibly bleak and miserable, they are hopeful, they are working for change, and they are smiling. I'm in awe.
Also, if anyone still goes to Danforth CTI on this mailing list, could someone pass on a message to JP in the office for me, or even print this out directly for him? Let him know these people DO want us to be there. Some of the progressive Israelis do, and every Palestinian we've come in contact with is very supportive of what we're doing here. CPT never goes anywhere they haven't been invited by locals. Israeli's and Palestinians alike can be a loving, compassionate people, just like any people group can be loving and compassionate. And I feel completely safe here. (Except for possibly when I'm in a particularily daredevil-ish taxi drivers cab...) I haven't felt threatened by anyone, no matter their nationality. I do understand JP's concerns, and of others who've voiced similar concerns (and sorry for singling you out JP, but I want you to get this message while I'm there, and I can't think of any other way to get it out) but I really do feel like they're based on misrepresentations of the situation.
This has been an incredible experience so far, and it's really only just begun. This morning I'll be going to a church service in a language I don't understand in Bethlehem. Bethlehem! King David's hometown, Jesus traditional birthplace, a besieged warzone... So much has happened here over so many historical epochs.
I would love to come back someday with a group of people... with some friends, and just spend time being in the country, seeing the sights. Much of Palestine needs tourists to survive, and the occupation and the second Intifada has choked the tourist trade beyond Bethlehem to being practically non-existent. So if anyone would be interested in a social-justice minded tour of Palestine at some far point in the future, let me know. The seeds have been planted in my mind.
Some good websites to check out...
www.acri.org.il - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
www.badil.org - Badil resource center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.
I just want to let you guys know again, I feel very safe here. The most dangerous element is the traffic, as of now, and I'm having a great time.
Talk to you all soon,
Ben
P.S Just want to clarify a bit, lest I seem *too* hopeful. Horrible things ARE happening here, and there are very nasty individuals and institutions at work. It's mindblowing, and is relentless. However, there's more hope here than I ever believed there could be. There is more compassion in the people facing oppression, and there is more concrete good things being done. As our Israeli tourguide said, he may never get back together with his ex-girlfriend, but the wall will come down. There will be peace. Heck, three years ago I was in South Africa, learning about many of the same things I am today, except I was learning them as history in Africa. One day people will be learning about what is being experienced today as history too. I'm sure of it.
----------------------------------------------
I finally have a chance to update you all on the past couple days, and now that I've got some time in front of the computer, I've got no idea where to start.
The past few days were spent in very rural areas, mainly around the villages of Susiya and At-Tuwani. At-Tuwani is where a permanent CPT team is located. Our time in Susiya was incredible, and will stick with me for the rest of my life. First of all, we visited a settlement, and talked to a settler. It was... bizzarre. The settler we talked to was from South Africa, and she wanted to assure us that what was happening in Israel was completely different from South Africa. In South Africa, the blacks were being persecuted, and it was wrong. Israel is not apartheid (says her) because the Arabs (she NEVER referred to them as Palestinians) are not being persecuted. She came across as a perfectly reasonable, wonderfully compassionate person, and if we hadn't seen the lives, heard the stories, and been in the places she was talking about ourselves, I might have seen things her way. BUT we had seen the lives of the Palestinians, we had seen the checkpoints, we had seen the persecution with our own eyes (I've felt it myself, but I'll get to that soon...) and knew that the reality of the situation and her quite earnest perception of it weren't the same.
What shocked me the most, and I could see from the faces of my co-delegates that they felt the same way was when the settler talked about seeing pictures of South Africa, of the 'blacks only' and 'whites only' signs, and how she didn't remember them when she lived there. And she said, and this is a direct quote "When you're part of the system, it's hard to see the injustice of it."
When you're part of the system, it's hard to see the injustice of it.
She said it herself! Right there! Of course, now it's got me thinking and wondering about what systems of injustice I'm a part of that I just can't see, and what people are looking at me and shaking their heads about how I'm just continuing along living in this system of injustice that I'm benefitting from...
The settlement we visited had stolen land from and continually harassed the village of Susiya, which we visited next. Their village has been destroyed four times, and every time they've built it up again. Right now, the ones that remain are living in tents. They are incredible, resilient people, and I hope I'll learn better Arabic, and be back to get to know them better. I played Volleyball in the Judean wilderness as the sun set, laughing with the locals at my own incompetence as the lights of the settlement glittered surprisingly close by.
Supper that night was the greatest cross cultural experience I've ever had, and one of the greatest experiences period that I've ever had. We broke up into small groups, and visited other families living in tents in the area. I went with my new friend Mary Rose, the woman in my profile picture with a rainbow coloured hat, and we visited a man named Jamal's family. He spoke maybe four words of English. Mary Rose and I spoke about four words of Arabic, but it was a wonderful experience. Jamal introduced us to his family, and we all smiled at each other, and sat there in the tent, eating. Mostly in silence, though every once in a while we would try to talk and communicate. We managed using mime and charades to have a discussion about Canadian and American politics, and about Israeli policies, but it was quite simple. Mary Rose was very happy when she remembered that New Zealand (where she comes from) had a female prime minister, and was able to get that across to the women. I didn't get any pictures, but the faces of that family will be etched in my mind till I die, and I'll always remember just sitting with them, sometimes singing, sometimes gesturing, but always smiling and always welcome.
This trip has affected me in almost every possible way it can, I think. Politically, I feel on fire, and I can't wait to come home and talk to every politician I can get ahold of about what I've seen and what Canada can do. I want to start letter writing campaigns, form petitions, and just raise awareness in every way that I can.
Spiritually, the bible has NEVER seemed more real to me. When you're in the land these stories take place in, everything makes sense. I've seen women gathered at wells, I've walked the rocky paths and seen the stones lying everywhere, just waiting to be picked up and used in an execution. I've eaten bread and cheese made in ways that haven't changed in thousands of thousands of years. I've seen the descendants of grapevines that Joshua and Caleb would have seen. It's brilliant, it's absolutely brilliant. The night I was in Susiya, my back was starting to get sore from sitting on a pallet without anything to lean on, and Jamal's brother could tell, so he pushed some pillows towards me and demonstrated how to recline on them, and I had a flashback to my Gospel of John class, and Michael Szuk showing us how Jesus and his disciples would have reclined around the Last Supper table, and it was exactly the same way. I've watched my feet get dusty and dirty to the point where I wish someone would have offered to wash them for me.
I'm in the CPT headquarters now, and I'm amazed at how much it feels like another home. As soon as I entered the staircase, and started walking up the stairs, it just felt like I'd come home. So, at this point, I definitely want to be a part of CPT, and having seen At-Tuwani and Hebron, I think Hebron is where I'd like to be. It feels... right, and it feels more right the more I spend time here.
Being in Hebron has been very interesting. A number of people at home wondered if the fact that I look ethnically like I could be Jewish or Palestinian would make a difference. It has, and the jury says I look Palestinian. Noone Palestinian has accused me of being Israeli, and at checkpoints, I feel more like a Palestinian then an Israeli. It doesn't help that my passport stamp from Israel didn't have enough ink on it and is very faint, so the two times where I've had to show it to soldiers and border police, it's taken a fair amount of convincing to get the soldier to believe I'm not a muslim. Even Palestinian police thought I was Arab and were giving me trouble for it.
Hebron is probably the most non-Western city I've ever been in. Leaving the old city and walking through the main markets is... is truly out of this world. I had a great Shawarma for lunch today, and am looking forward to exploring more meals and treats as the week goes on. We'll be spending the rest of our time in Hebron now until the last day, which will be in Jerusalem again.
Some final words about apartheid, and whether there is an apartheid system in Israel or not... There is a system of Seperateness. There are roads that Israelis can go on that Palestinians can not. If Palestians build 'illegal' buildings, they are bulldozed and receive demolition orders. If Israelis build illegal settlements (which all settlements are) they are not demolished. Every once in a while, an OUTPOST will be demolished, but never settlements. Anyone that says Israel is not Apartheid, I challenge you to come here yourself. See how the Palestinians live, how they are treated, then see how the Israelis live, and tell me that there isn't a policy of seperateness going on here. I've felt it myself going through checkpoints just because I look like I could be Palestinian. It's humiliating, and I can't imagine what it would be like to experience that every day. Eventually the soldiers realize I'm not Palestinian. The real Palestinians don't have that luxury.
Anyway, love to all of you. I don't feel quite the same level of safety that I did before... (We heard a firefight going on as we were trying to go to bed last night) and the military presence is much higher here, but I do still feel safer than I thought I would.
I'll see you all soon...
Ben
-----------------------------------------
I can't believe my time here is almost over. Today, Bob -our delegation leader- mentioned that tomorrow we would be going to Jerusalem, and I was shocked. Where has the time gone? I don't want to go home yet. There's still too much to see, too many things I want to do. Tomorrow morning we'll be heading back to Jerusalem, and we'll have one day of freedom to do whatever we want. I'm hopefully going to get in touch with an old family friend living near Bethlehem and spend some time with him.
I've decided I AM coming back. For sure. I'm going to sign up for the summer training in July/August, which means I won't be coming back to Centreville as supervisor. Which makes me feel a bit nostalgic, and sad, but after being here for the short time I have been, I'm realizing I can't just leave it behind. I love the country, I love the people, I've seen the good that CPT does in the area from many different locals and organisations, and I want to be a part of it.
I want to be a part of this CPT community as well. For those of you that know how interested I am in intentional community, that's what the CPTers have here. I've heard them say many times 'The street work is easy compared to living in community.'
I came on this delegation to find out whether the ideals of CPT that I had in my mind were the reality of CPT, and I've discovered that yes they are. The people in this organization are imperfect humans doing their best to live together in a very stressful situation, doing their best to follow the personal call they feel to go out into the world and work for peace, for dignity, for what they believe is the way the world should be and the way the world can be.
This is discipleship at work. These people are following Jesus in a real way that I feel I can follow too, with them. Heh, in a doubly real way considering the dusty paths we're actually walking.
So yeah, it feels like this delegation has been a success. I want to be a part of CPT in an ongoing fashion, and the CPTers here seem to think I'd be a valuable addition to the team, so... here I am.
When I come home, I'm going to talk at Danforth, both the church and the high school, (though this might be after I visit British Columbia...) If any of you that are reading this can think of any venues or organizations or people that you'd like me to talk to given what you've read, please get in touch with me and let me know. Even you BC folk, I'll be in BC... I still don't know what days exactly I'll be coming... I should be working on that, but I'll be there very soon. Over Remembrance day for sure, and possibly a week before or a week after that. But yeah, I'll be in BC, so I could do some talking over there too. I want to tell the stories that I've heard, I want to describe what I've seen. Over and over again, that's what the locals have asked us to do. "Tell our stories. Let people know what's happening."
On a different note... since I'm so bent on coming back, I really, really want to learn Arabic, and more specifically, Palestinian Arabic, which is different enough from classical Arabic to make classical Arabic lessons not that useful... so does anyone know anyone that knows Palestinian Arabic that would be willing to be a tutor?
Thank you all for reading my long rambling updates, and special thanks to those of you that have responded so encouragingly, especially when I haven't actually talked to you in years.
This will probably be my last update unless something incredible happens tomorrow in Jerusalem that I just *have* to write about. So, Salaam Alaykim. I'll hopefully see all of you soon.
Ben
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