Monday, May 31, 2010

Topkapi Palace, Jewish Museum and Sufis



Today we toured around Istanbul, which has the most incredible traffic jams I’ve seen in a long time! We visited the Jewish Museum which is located in the Asian section of the city, far off the beaten tourist track, so much so that our driver and guide did not know how to get there and we drove around the section of the city that caters to contractors (block after block of lighting shops and tool shops and machine shops) before we finally located the museum which is on a tiny back street that is only accessible on foot. The museum used to be a synagogue. It was fascinating to learn about the welcoming attitude the Ottoman Empire had to Jews throughout its history. The Jews of Turkey are primarily Sephardim and have enjoyed prosperity and comfort in their years here. Notwithstanding that, they are a tiny minority of modern Turkey. Some of the artifacts in the museum attested to the peaceful co-existence of Muslims and Jews in this country as there were Jewish prayer shawls that bore the crescent moon and star symbol of the Turkish culture and even more surprising were the Torah scrolls that are held together by two long rods the top of which are very ornately decorated and there were several scrolls that had the crescent/star symbol on the top of the two posts or rods that the scroll is wound around. It was an amazing show of interfaith understanding and respect going back centuries.

After lunch by the Bosphorus, we went to the Topkapi Palace, the palace of the great Sultans of Ottoman history. That palace is a spectacular place to visit and one could easily spend an entire day just to see it all. We didn’t have that much time. The highlight of that tour is the building housing the religious relics of Islam, including relics of the beard of Mohammad, the tooth of Mohammad, the saucepan supposedly used by Abraham for entertaining guests, the turban of Joseph (Hebrew prophet, not husband of Mary!), and the arm and skull of John the Baptist. In that same building the Qur’an is recited constantly, 24 hours a day so you walk through seeing all these very holy relics and objects while listening to the chanting of the Qur’an. When you go through the room where the person is doing the chanting they have a screen that is scrolling the words being chanted in both Turkish and English, so I spent quite a while in there just listening to the chanting while reading along. I could have stayed much longer, but had to catch up with my group! Alas, photography is forbidden so I couldn’t take any pictures of the beautiful objects we were seeing. A trip through that palace gives one an idea of the extreme wealth of the Sultans of the empire. The jewels and gold and spectacular medals, and carpets and throne hangings and the like are absolutely breathtaking. Apparently during the time of the Sultans, 4000 people lived within the palace enclosure. It was a little city all unto itself. The group photo was taken on one of the verandas overlooking the Bosphorus Strait, on the palace grounds.

During our travels today we ran into a group of high school girls on a school trip. They were an amazing sight as they all had extremely colorful headscarves on and as they approached it was an beautiful kaleidoscope of color. I’ve included a picture of a group of them so you can see the beauty of their attire. It’s amazing how Turkish Muslim women manage to make the most of their “modest” code of dress. They know a lot about color and are anything but dowdy or plain!
This evening we went to the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony and Sufi music concert, which featured Sufis chanting, and the whirling dirvishes doing their dance. That was enchanting. There is something mesmerizing about the dervishes dancing. As you watch it becomes a form of meditation even for the spectator. The chant that accompanies it was a combination of verses from the Qur’an as well as Persian poetry and poetry by the famous Sufi mystic, Rumi.

We are now retiring to the rooftop terrace for dinner where we will once again be able to look over at the Blue Mosque all lit up and hear the last call to prayer for the day.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Depart Israel Arrive Turkey


Today we left our Jerusalem hotel early and went to the Haram Al Sharif where we got an up close look at the Dome of the Rock. Unfortunately, since 2000, no one who is not Muslim is allowed in either the Al Aqsa Mosque or the Dome so Dr. Shafiq and Mustafa went into the Dome to pray but the rest of us had to wait outside. We then left through the Lion's Gate and I made a note to self never to enter or leave the Old City through that gate. What a madhouse! Hordes of tourists and its one entrance that a lot of cars and trucks use so it is very hard to traverse. We were very glad to see Sami our driver and our bus after struggling through the crowds to get out of there.

We got to Ben Gurion airport with plenty of time to spare. Getting out of there was the usual Israeli third degree. Our team leader explained to the airport security folks what we had been doing in Israel, but they still pulled one of our members out of the line for extra questioning. They had her there for quite a while, asking very detailed questions about who we are, what we had done while there, lots of questions about our two young men, especially Mustafa who is Muslim. Then a few folks had to have their suitcases opened and searched and there was lots of drama about some books we had been given at Al Quds University. Susan and George had to mediate that mess but in the end they let us all through and didn't confiscate any material or haul anyone off for extended questioning, thank goodness. Honestly, the entire atmosphere in Israel is anything but welcoming, with army soldiers all over the place toting their uzzis and the pervasive atmosphere of suspicion and danger. Our flight left about 45 minutes late. Nonetheless, I recommend Turkish Airlines - the flights have been great and the in flight service is very good too. Much more civilized than most American airlines these days.

We got to Istanbul and just arrived at the Almina Hotel, in a wonderful lively neighborhood within walking distance of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The rooms are lovely, and I'm delighted to finally have internet in the room!! This feels like a luxury. We're pretty tired but are going to convene on the roof in a few minutes for dinner overlooking Istanbul and the lights on the Blue Mosque. Then I suspect we'll all crash, as it has been a long, tiring day.

P.S. - Dinner on the rooftop terrace was spectacular. The Blue Mosque is vividly visible lit up against the night sky and the water of the Bosphorous is on the other side view. As we were sitting enjoying our dinner and fascinating conversation with two young men who were exchange students at Nazareth College last year, both of whom are Kurds, the evening call to prayer sounded. It was gorgeous to hear the muezzin from the Blue Mosque, who was described by one of our party as the Pavarotti of muezzin. Truly, the chanting of the call to prayer was magical, and as we looked at the minarets against the night sky, there were seagulls flying all around the minarets, almost as though they were dancing to the call to prayer. It was truly breathtaking. We'd all been in animated conversation until the call to prayer sounded and then we were simply transfixed by the sound. What is also incredible in Istanbul is that there are so many mosques and they all do the call to prayer at the same time so you hear it echoing all over the city from every direction. Truly beautiful. I've posted a blurry, but suggestive photo of the Blue Mosque taken from the rooftop where we were sitting.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Al Quds University





Today we started out to see the Al Aqsa mosque, only to discover that it is closed to tourists on Saturdays! Dr. Shafiq tried his best to negotiate an exception to the rule, but negotiating with the Israeli police doesn’t work. So we stopped in the Arab quarter of the old city for Turkish coffee, and spent some time shopping before heading to the West Bank town of Abu Dis where Al Quds University is located.

Al Quds is a Palestinian university and it is very impressive. Nazareth College has recently negotiated an agreement with them for academic and cultural exchange and so when we arrived the ceremonial signing of that agreement was the first order of business. Then we were privileged to meet with students in the American Studies program who were there for classes. In the class I was in there were a number of students who are employees of the Palestinian government, who are studying in this particular program because they believe that an understanding of American culture and politics is critical for them in their jobs. Susan asked them what they think of America and Americans and one student, a woman who spoke fluent English, was quite frank in saying that for Palestinians, Americans are equated with Israelis because of the political and economic and military support that the US gives to Israel. She stated bluntly that most Palestinians equate the US with Israel, and Israel is most definitely the “enemy” in the eyes of Palestinians. Remember that these students live in the West Bank so they live daily with checkpoints, restrictions on movement within the West Bank, separate roads, permits required to go to Jerusalem which are routinely denied or, if granted, often ignored by soldiers at the checkpoints. Despite the difficult and oppressive conditions under which they live these Palestinians are very serious about education because they truly believe it is essential if they are to improve their lives and the lives of their children.

After our classroom experience we toured two museums that are on the university campus. One is a tribute to Palestinians who have been imprisoned in Israeli jails. That was an amazing exhibit as it chronicled the journey of those who are arrested by the IDF and imprisoned. For Palestinian families, it is normal for the men in the family to spend some time in an Israeli prison. An amazing section of the exhibit showcased the beautiful artwork that the prisoners do while in prison. In order to get the materials they need to do the artwork they have to go on a hunger strike, but apparently, when they do, they can negotiate these art supplies and the work they produce is spectacular. I’ve included a picture of a model of the Dome of the Rock that a prisoner made while in an Israeli jail. We then toured the Math museum and that was great fun.

We enjoyed lunch with the students in a local restaurant where we had a chance for more informal conversation. Most of us came away with great respect for these folks who are working so very hard to gain an education while holding down full time jobs in a place where life is very, very difficult. I participated in a lively discussion with a young woman who is an oral surgeon, currently doing her master’s in American Studies and who spoke quite eloquently about her issues with Israelis and her dismay at what she considers their complete ignorance of Palestinians and Palestinian culture. I’ve included a picture of her at lunch.

In the evening, after a couple of hours of shopping in the Old City, we went to the home of Dr. Mohammad Darjani a professor of American Studies at Al Quds. His home is beautiful, and just inside the Separation Wall between the West Bank and Jerusalem. He spoke to us about his work with Muslim clergy and the Muslim establishment, not only in Palestine but throughout the Middle East to promote the concept of “wasatia” which is a Muslim version of “the middle way” or moderation. He gave us an incredibly thorough lecture parsing out verses in the Qur’an and the Hadiths of the Muslim tradition that can lend themselves to a moderate, pluralist position towards other faiths, particularly Judaism and Christianity. I was fascinated to watch him doing what the theologians that I most often teach have done within the Christian tradition, which is to find a theological basis for an attitude of openness to other religions, particularly the other two Abrahamic faiths. He also shared with us a lecture he does all over the world called Big Dreamz and Small Hope which was truly brilliant as an analysis of the two competing narratives in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and of an approach that gets around the competition to the possibility of shared hope for peace. It was a superb lecture and I hope to find it on his website and spend more time going through it slowly. He then offered us dinner, which was a traditional bedoin meal of tabouli and a delicious beef dish in a cheese sauce with rice. We finally rolled out of his house at 10, exhausted, but intellectually and physically fully nourished. I’ve posted Dr. Darjani’s picture also as he was talking to us on his balcony overlooking the city.

Tomorrow we’re going to try to get to the Al Aqsa Mosque again before leaving for the airport. We move on to Istanbul tomorrow afternoon.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Neve Shalom Wahat Al Salam and Non Violent Resistance






Today we visited the Jewish Arab village known as Neve Shalom Wahat al Salam, which means Oasis of Peace. This is a small, intentional village in which the families who comprise the village have made a conscious decision to raise their children in a place that is both Jewish and Arab and where both Hebrew and Arabic are spoken. The school is completely integrated and bilingual giving the children the unique opportunity to grow up knowing people from the “other side” of the conflict here. Israeli schools are segregated – either Jewish or Arab and children who grow up in the Israeli public schools never meet people not like them. There are 55 families living in the village at this time, although they have enough room for 90 more and they are continually growing. The village also sponsors a School for Peace which offers programs and institutes both in Israel and around the world on peacemaking, conflict resolution and the like. They have offered these programs to professionals of all stripes – teachers, lawyers, doctors, politicians and civil servants and others. They are now involving Palestinians from the West Bank in their programs but have to conduct those programs outside of Israel because the West Bank Palestinians cannot enter Israel.

The village was founded in the early 1970s and was the dream of Bruno Hassar a Roman Catholic monk who was born a Hungarian Jew and raised Jewish who converted to Roman Catholicism in college. He dreamed of starting a community where Jews and Arabs could live together in peace and his dream, through his very hard work and persistence became a reality. The land for the village was originally donated by Trappist Monks from a monastery nearby.

Touring the village we had a chance to see how very possible it is for Jews and Arabs (both Christian and Muslim) to co-exist and live in peace together. The members of the village who spoke with us about their lives and their mission were inspiring to hear. They acknowledge that it is not easy in this country where the tensions are so high to do what they are doing, but that they hope that they can prove by example that peace is possible. They told us of some of the tensions, most particularly the difficulty that the children in the village face when the Israeli Jewish youth become of age to do their obligatory army service. The Arab kids are not required to do Army service and, indeed, the Arabs are ambivalent at best about the Army since it is the tool by which the Israelis enforce their occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Apparently, when the Israeli Jewish kids are ready to go off for their Army stint it sometimes causes sadness, tension and strain with their Arab friends. Many of the youth in the village opt for community service rather than the Army, which is only an option for the girls. Some kids from the village have refused to go into the Army, but that then means they do time in jail.

The school in the village is intentionally bilingual and binational and they told us of how they have to create their own curricular materials to supplement the official Israeli public school curriculum to correct for the Zionist bias in the official curriculum. They have had to be creative to find ways to teach the history of Israel and Palestine that honors both narratives. All the children learn both Hebrew and Arabic and all classes have either a teacher who is bilingual or two teachers so that all classes are taught in both Arabic and Hebrew. Since we were visiting on a Friday, classes were not in session, except the kindergarten. The “weekend” in Israel is Friday/Saturday. When I inquired about whether this school had classes on Sunday they said yes, and that school starts at 8. When I then asked how Christian children can go to church if they are supposed to be in school, the principal admitted that this is a problem. In Israel, Christians are really marginalized, because Sunday is a regular workday, so schools and businesses are open. It makes it very hard for Christian communities to function when they are not able to worship on their holy day.

They also have created a Pluralist Spiritual Centre where people of the three religions can share a sacred space. They have built a “House of Silence” on a hill overlooking a valley, which is a place for prayer and meditation for people of all faiths or none at all. We stopped in there for some silent prayer and it was truly a holy space. It would make a wonderful place to do a retreat. I’ve included a picture in the House of Silence and some of the children’s artwork that is displayed near the school complex as well as a shot of the kindergarteners we met today at their storytime.

It was heartening to see that peaceful co-existence really is possible and to realize that at the grassroots people truly are capable of living peacefully together. The status quo does not have to remain the status quo.

We then went to Abu Gosh, a Muslim Arab village where we had lunch in a little restaurant that claims to have the best hummus in the world (??!!?? –Actually, it was pretty delicious!) and while we sat eating our lunch we listened to the sermon and prayers from Friday Ummah, as the mosque was right down the street and the Friday midday prayer service was broadcast from the minaret. Dr. Shafiq and Mustafa stayed with us through the sermon and then ran over to the mosque when the prayers began so as to meet their Friday obligation.

This evening we had a fascinating meeting with a Palestinian woman who works for the NGO Justvision, which is active in fighting for Palestinian rights. She is an Israeli Arab but works closely with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. She showed us their most recent documentary, entitled Budrus, which chronicles the non-violent resistance movement of Palestinians in a West Bank village where the Israeli government was taking land from the villagers, specifically their olive groves from which they make their living, in order to build their Separation Wall. This was a “good news” story in that the resistance by the local Palestinians along with Israeli activists and international activists who supported them in that work actually caused the Israelis to pull back and erect the wall closer to the Green Line leaving 95% of the olive groves to the village. The woman who spoke with us was very articulate and quite outspoken about the need to raise up a new generation of leaders both for the Palestinians and for the Israelis. She was quite clear that neither set of leaders are going to manage this conflict in a productive way and that they do not have the interests of the people on the ground at heart. She believes strongly in grass roots work and in training and raising up a new generation of leaders who will not be as corrupt as the current group. By the end of her presentation we were all ready to vote her into office!! The film she screened for us is doing the film festival circuit all over the world, but should be available for purchase on DVD in about a year. (This is the same group who produced the documentary “Encounter Point” that has been released in select theaters in the US in the past couple of years.)

So now I’m off to bed. I’m mostly recovered from my desert experience, except for very sore leg muscles used on the descent! Apparently my regime in the gym doesn’t work out those particular muscles!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Masada and the Dead Sea




Today wins the prize for an endurance test. We left at 7:00 to drive to Masada, in the southern part of the Judean desert, near the Dead Sea. There we visited the ruins of the fortress built by Herod the Great. It’s an incredible city on a desert mountain the ruins of which were excavated in the 1950s and 1960s. This is where the Jews fought to their death in the Great Revolt that began in 66 CE and ended with the siege of the fortress by the Romans in 73 or 74 CE. The site is now on the World Heritage sites list of UNESCO and it is something to behold. The plateau on which Herod built his fortress is 450 meters above sea level, rising up as a massive mountain out of the Judean desert. Visitors can go up to tour the ruins via cable car or by hiking up what is called the snake pit trail. Our leader advised us against trying to walk up since we arrived by about 8:30 and he felt it was too hot. Some of us were skeptical about his concerns until we decided to walk down it rather than take the cable car. After touring the ruins for about an hour in the blazing sun, 7 of us decided we’d walk down rather than ride. It took us 45 minutes walking carefully down the side of the mountain, which is rocky, dusty and HOT!!! I drank 1.5 liters of water just on the sightseeing above and the descent on foot, the last slugs of my water bottle feeling like I was drinking from the hot water tap. There are stairs cut into the mountain for much of the descent and the rest is a dusty footpath. We were all drenched in sweat by the time we got to the bottom, and we learned that the temperature was 110 degrees! I think I’m glad I didn’t know that as I was walking down. The views were amazing out across the desert to the Dead Sea but I am now paying with very sore muscles in my legs just above my knees and a whopping headache, probably from dehydration. I’ve been pounding down the water all day but still do not feel rehydrated. I have a new found respect for the perils of the desert!

We then went to the Dead Sea and put our feet in the water there. It was amazing to watch folks floating effortlessly on the dense and chemically rich water! It felt good to have my feet in water, even though it was particularly warm and not what one would call refreshing water either! I’ve included pictures of me on the top of Masada and one of me and Susan Nowak dunking our feet in the Dead Sea.

From there we went to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity. As we were driving back to Jerusalem to head on to Bethlehem, the sky became especially hazy (it had been somewhat hazy all day, even in Masada) and began spitting rain a little. Before long the air was thick whitish brown and opaque. Apparently this is not uncommon here to have a weather system move in that traps desert dust and moisture in the atmosphere, causing a heavy pressure in the air and this thick cloud of whitish brown dust. It is rather oppressive and was sufficiently thick that when we returned to the hotel our view of the Old City was gone!

Our evening lecture was by a young Palestinian woman who is working on a PHD in conflict resolution. Her story about being a Palestinian woman seeking advanced education was very moving, as by doing so she is going against some cultural norms. She is a sign of new things happening for women in this Middle Eastern culture and it was inspiring to hear her story.
At this point, I’m completely exhausted, and still suffering from a bad headache and sore muscles. I’m hoping a good night’s sleep will revive me because at present I’m done in! I don’t think I’d make a good desert nomad!

More tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Yad Vashem and IPCRI


Today we visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial. It is more than simply a memorial or a museum, it is also the pre-eminent venue for Holocaust studies in the world. Scholars from all over the world come to Yad Vashem to study the Holocaust. The exhibit is incredible, following the build up to the holocaust in the early part of the 20th century, through the years of the war and to the death marches, the liberation of the camps, and the stories of survivors who then emigrated to Israel and other parts of the world to rebuild their lives. There are thousands of artifacts in the museum as well as movie/video footage from the holocaust years. What is particularly powerful are the videotaped interviews with holocaust survivors telling their stories. Many of them never spoke of the holocaust and had to be coaxed into speaking and being videoed for the museum. Their testimony is riveting to say the least. I listened to two survivors from Lithuania describing in detail their experiences of the Nazi soldiers hauling all the Jews in their town out to a pit where they were made to strip off their clothes and the soldiers shot them right beside the pit where folks fell into mass graves. Both these survivors were children at the time. In each case they fell into the pit but had not actually been hit by a bullet. They managed to crawl out and escape to safety once the soldiers had left. The woman who told her story was 7 years old when this happened, the man 16. Then the artifacts in the museum are truly riveting. I spent time reading postcards and handwritten journal pages written by Jews on the trains to the camps, telling of what was happening and specifically saying that they were writing this in the hopes that someday someone would find the postcard or journal pages and know what had transpired. Two of the postcards were written by women who then threw them out of the train hoping they’d be found someday. The journal was written by a man who buried it by the train tracks and hoped it would later be discovered. Really riveting stuff.

I had the same uneasiness going through the museum as I had two years ago, however, as I looked at the images of the brutalities that the Nazis visited upon the Jews of Europe and think about the human and civil rights violations now being visited upon the Palestinians by the Israelis. The checkpoints, the separate roads in the West Bank, the denial of water and electricity, the situation in Gaza are all too reminiscent of the Warsaw ghetto and the terrible discrimination and persecution of Jews in Europe leading up to the war. Much as Israelis bristle at the suggestion, it is so obvious that what is happening is the classic situation of those who are abused later become an abuser. And the other disturbing reality that I saw today was hordes of young Israeli soldiers, carrying their guns, swarming through the museum. We were told that visiting Yad Vashem is part of the training of the soldiers when they enlist in the army, so that “they will know why it is so important to defend this country.” Given that the 18 year olds now enlisting in the army are the third generation after the holocaust generation, I find myself wondering where we draw the line between wanting them to know and learn the history so that they will not repeat it, and perpetuating the anger, hurt and bitterness unto the generations to come so that the wound never heals. They so internalize the narrative and the pain of that narrative that the anger, bitterness, depression, sense of persecution does not abate making them live with a fearful, bunker mentality which sees the world and everyone outside of Israel as a potential enemy who is out to destroy them. This is not the best world view to have going through life and certainly does not create a climate where peace may be negotiated. As horrible and reprehensible and undefensible as the holocaust was, there has to come a time when it takes its place in history and the younger generations become able to live in the world as they encounter it, not as their great grandparents encountered it. They need to be able to become the change they’d like to see in the world, and I wonder how that can happen with this heavy emphasis on “Never forget.”

I was also unsettled as I looked at the photos of Germany in the early 1930’s where there were signs telling people to boycott Jewish businesses, being very aware of the growing movement worldwide right now for “boycott, divestment and sanctions” (BDS) to try to pressure Israel to change its behavior towards the Palestinians. Once again, one could argue, “the world” is calling for a boycott of Jewish business, although this time I believe it is not on the basis of their religion or ethnicity, but on the basis of their political actions. Still, its curious and gives me pause.

We went from Yad Vashem to the offices of an interfaith peace group called Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) which is an Israeli-Palestinian partnership joining activists, academics, negotiators, political and military experts in the development of a viable two state solution to the conflict. These folks have been in existence since 1988 and they really know their stuff. They work with the US government on pretty high level negotiations. We were all enthralled as we listened to the Israeli Gershon Baskin talk about how a two state solution can work and his firm belief that it is very possible. The Palestinian Hanna Siniora was similarly convinced and reiterated what we’ve heard from a number of Palestinians on this trip that the Arab world is ready to make peace with Israel, to recognize the right of Israel to exist as a state and to work out an agreement, if Israel will deal with the issues of the settlements, refugees and the status of Jerusalem. This organization is working closely with the Obama administration in their efforts to broker a peace agreement, and these men seemed genuinely hopeful that a workable two state solution and agreement can be worked out and soon. They expressed remarkable confidence in George Mitchell and what he might be able to pull off. We all came away from that discussion feeling far more hopeful about the possibilities for this conflict than we have before.

Our next stop was to have been the museum of the Dead Sea Scrolls but we learned that it was under construction so that plan was scrapped. A few of us decided to go back to the Old City. Dr. Shafiq and our two young men were going to go to Al Aqsa mosque for evening prayers and three of us decided we’d do some shopping and go again to the Western Wall and Holy Sepulcher (one of our number had missed that part of yesterday.) We had a blast shopping in the market and Dr. Shafiq proved to be an expert negotiator with the vendors making sure we drove hard bargains for our purchases! No wonder he’s so good at interfaith work! This time when we got the Holy Sepulcher the Franciscans were doing Vespers, with incense and chanting and processions all over the church to various parts of the shrine, so we enjoyed a good dose of ancient Christian tradition and liturgy. It was fun to think of Dr. Shafiq nearby praying in Al Aqsa mosque as we were praying in the Holy Sepulcher church. We finished our day back at the hotel with dinner and a lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Tomorrow we are off to Masada, the Dead Sea and Bethlehem. We have a very early start, so as to get to Masada before it is too hot. So I’m off to bed. More tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Cesarea and Jerusalem





Another full and tiring day. We were up extra early this morning, as we had to be on the bus at 8 and had to pack up to leave the kibbutz for our journey to Jerusalem. We had a meeting first with Galilee College, a small institute that brings in delegations of people from various developing countries for training in all manner of professional areas – health care, tourism, business, political leadership. There were a lot of groups of Africans from Nigeria staying at the kibbutz while pursuing their training programs at Galilee College. A professor there gave us a fast pass through Israeli history, with a pretty clear bias for the Israeli narrative. I found it hard to believe him when he opined that a two state solution is possible and that the Israelis in the West Bank settlements would willingly leave to make room for Palestinians who would then move in as part of the reshuffling that a two state solution would require. I’d like to think his sentiments represent a large percent of the Israeli population, but I don’t think they do. And I’m not sure he was being completely forthright with us.

Last night we met with three Israeli young people, all of whom are just 18 months out of their army service. Two are in college now and one is working. Their perspective on the conflict was a bit discouraging, in that they are obviously steeped in the Israeli narrative so completely that it would take a lot to move them to a different place. They are young and even though they’ve done their military service they all admitted to never having met or spoken to a Palestinian. They’ve met some Israeli Arabs, but never anyone from the Occupied Territories. They spouted the usual “everyone is out to get us so we have to defend ourselves militarily” and “the Arab world wants Israel to go away” and the sanitized history of what happened in 1948. I couldn’t help but remember a young woman about their age who spoke to my delegation two years ago quite eloquently about her own “awakening” when she travelled outside of Israel for awhile and learned a more nuanced version of the history. She returned to become quite an activist for Palestinian rights. These kids are not even close to being there. The hopeful thing was that they all said they want to meet Palestinians and would welcome the opportunity to hear their stories and learn about how they perceive this conflict. One girl struggled with how her narrative could be right and the Palestinian narrative also be right. We old folks tried to suggest that she consider the possibility that both narratives are “true” in their own way and that the first step is to learn the other person’s narrative and listen closely.

After our Galilee College visit, we headed to the ruins in Cesarea, the city of Herod the Great. Cesarea is on the Mediterranean coast, so we rejoiced in the chance to walk on the beach and dip our feet in the warm waters of the Mediterranean sea. It was lovely to visit the excavated ruins, which are still being excavated with interesting new finds all the time. I’ve included a photo of the whole group taken in front of the aqueduct and a shot of the sea scenes. A lot of us were wishing we could just spend the whole day there on the beach!

We then drove the hour to Jerusalem and checked into our hotel, the Seven Arches Hotel which is on the Mount of Olives and looks out over the old city. We can see the Dome of the Rock from the dining room. We had a late, light lunch and then entered the city through the Joffa Gate, walked through the Christian quarter first, stopping at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was absolutely mobbed with people. When I visited it two years ago it was nowhere near as busy. Towards the end of our visit there, the Greek Orthodox began to chant vespers, and the sound of the chanting and the scent of the incense was heavenly, despite the crowds and noise.

We then made our way through the winding, stoned streets of the Christian quarter, through the souk (trying very hard not to look at all the wares for sale from very enthusiastic vendors!), then through the Jewish Quarter to the Wailing Wall. I really love the Wailing Wall. There is something deeply spiritual and powerful about it. Unlike the Christian shrines that are simply mobbed and seem very commercial, the Wall is quiet, even with the significant crowds and there is a sense of holiness and solemnity that permeates the area. I joined the women at the women’s section of the wall where I prayed and with many other pilgrims, placed prayers written on a small piece of paper into the cracks in the wall. Pilgrims bring their prayers and leave them in the wall so we all wrote out prayers for peace and interfaith understanding and put them in the holy wall.

After that we had to make our way back to the hotel for dinner and after dinner we had a lecture from a professor at Al Quds University, a Palestinian University, about Jerusalem and its significance for all three Abrahamic faiths. This professor, Dr. Darjani, has written a book about Jerusalem as an interfaith city and is a vocal supporter of Jerusalem remaining a city for all three faiths, rather than allowing it to become the capital of Israel and be controlled solely by the Israeli Jews.

I’m loving being back in Jerusalem. The Old City is truly an amazing place, with its narrow winding streets, and the centuries of history embedded in every stone. Not to mention the hordes of people of all different religions from all over the world who are there to visit the holy sites. The excitement and energy and vitality of the Old City is palpable, even with the obvious signs of the tense political situation in the Israeli soldiers patrolling the city carefully, with their weapons slung over their shoulders as they keep an eye on everyone’s activity.

I’m off to bed now. We have to be up early again tomorrow. We do the Holocaust Memorial – Yad Vashem in the morning and then the Dead Sea Scrolls in the afternoon.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Mount Tabor and Bedoin Feast






Another full day. I’m writing much earlier than usual. Our leader is giving us an afternoon break so we can rest and catch up on e-mail and such, so this blog will only cover the first part of today. Tonight’s activities will have to wait for tomorrow’s installment!

We left early this morning for Mount Tabor, which is the Mount of the Transfiguration. As with all of the holy places from the Christian tradition, a huge church has been built on the site and it attracts pilgrims by the thousands. Mount Tabor is very high and the road up to the top is steep and winding. We had a few hair raising encounters with taxis coming down the mountain as we were going up. The view once you get to the top is spectacular out across the valley. As we drove up the mountain I had a new appreciation for the effort Jesus, Peter, James and John must have expended to walk up that mountain. Its no wonder the three disciples saw a vision – they were probably light headed from exertion!!

The church is a beautiful ornate building with a chapel each for Elijah and Moses and the main church has a splendid mosaic of the transfiguration scene. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself over the realization that while Peter wanted to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the mountain after he saw the vision and Jesus told him not to, centuries later, Christians would do just exactly that!! Precisely what Jesus did not want folks to do has been done in the name of Christian spirituality. Life is funny. I’ve included pictures of Elijah and Moses taken in their respective chapels and of the central mosaic in the shrine.

We then had a lecture by Fr. Shehadeh Shehadeh, a Palestinian Anglican priest whom I met when I was here the last time. He is the peace and reconciliation and interfaith officer for the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. He spoke about the situation for Christians in the Middle East and the conditions under which Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the West Bank are living. As I listened to him I could tell that the past two years have been tough ones. He is deeply committed to the peace process, but equally disgusted with Israeli politicians and deeply distrustful of their motives. He firmly believes that the politicians in the Israeli government right now simply want to get rid of all Palestinians from Israel and from the occupied territories. He referred to the war in Gaza in 2008 and the recent Israeli elections as real dark moments in an already difficult history. His talk sparked a very rich and deep conversation about the realities of this conflict. Our guide is an Israeli Jew who teaches in the Israeli school system and has served in the Israeli army. One of our leaders from Nazareth is also a veteran of the Israeli army and Jewish. Then Dr. Shafiq and Moustafa (the young man who spent two hours in detention being questioned when we arrived!) are Muslim and the various American Christians in the group have varying degrees of sympathy for Israel or the Palestinians. Mostly everyone is trying to ferret out the “truth” in this conflict and that is incredibly hard to do. Ultimately we have to listen to people’s stories and try to understand the many layers of complexity in this situation. We had quite a discussion about the Holocaust and the extent to which it is still a factor in the Israeli psyche and Israeli inability to move toward more healthy relationships with Palestinians.
This very rich conversation started up on Mount Tabor and continued in the Bedoin tent where we ate a feast of a lunch. This Bedoin family owns a restaurant and nursery in the little village that is at the bottom of Mount Tabor. Many Bedoins live in that area, and while they retain a lot of their customs from their nomadic days, many of them now are not roaming nomads as they once were. They do, however, live very simple lives and hospitality is a major virtue and value in their culture. Entertaining the stranger in their “home”/tent is the height of what a Bedoin is meant to do. We ate in a very large tent that this family maintains, sitting on cushions on the floor. The food was simple, but delicious and plentiful. The lemonade was superb, being fresh and seasoned with mint leaves giving it a truly refreshing twist. We ate pretty quickly but then reclined on our cushions for at least 90 minutes talking through the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Fr. Shehadeh stayed with us through that lunch and his presence and the presence of our Israeli guide helped bring lots of different perspectives to the conversation. I’ve included a couple of pictures of the tent and our mealtime together. (The young man in the picture with me is Moustafa, our young Muslim student who is a fellow of Eboo Pate’s Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago. He has recently graduated from Wake Forest University and is going to do interfaith work for a living.)

One thing I noticed when I was here before and has not changed is that there are a LOT of feral cats in Israel! Everywhere you go you trip over a kitten! There is one very young kitten here on the kibbutz who shows up everywhere. Last night when I was posting this blog, she jumped up on my computer and walked around on the keys! One of our Israeli hosts said that every few years the government tries to have a campaign to spay cats, but somehow it never works for very long. So I wonder if I’ll manage to post this today without her help!

This evening we are meeting with an interfaith dialogue group of Israeli Arab Muslims and Israeli Jews who are active in working for interfaith cooperation and dialogue in Israel. We are having dinner with them here on the kibbutz. Then later this evening we are meeting with several Israeli university students to talk with them about their perspectives on Israel and its situation with the Palestinians. I’ll report on that tomorrow! Tomorrow morning we leave for Cesarea and then Jerusalem.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Jordan River, Sea of Galilee and House of Hope







Today was a full day, beginning at 8:00 AM and finishing just a moment ago at 9:45! We started out driving through the Galilee, stopping at the Jordan River at the site where Christian pilgrims come to be baptized. No one knows exactly where in the Jordan River Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, but the baptismal pilgrim site has long been established and is quite an operation! To say that it is commercial is putting it mildly!! For $25 you can purchase your white baptismal gown which goes over your regular clothing as you are baptized by full immersion in the Jordan River. Today, being the feast day of Pentecost was an interesting time to be at this particular site, however. There was a group of Pentecostal Christians from Brazil who had made a pilgrimage here and they were undergoing the full immersion baptism ritual while we were there. It was fascinating to observe because many of them were speaking in tongues, fainting, going into trances and really exhibiting the “slain in the spirit” behaviors that I’ve only ever seen in movies. It was a little disconcerting, but fascinating to watch, even though all us mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics felt a little ill at ease with what we saw. I’ve included a picture of that ritual with this blog. As I watched this particular ritual, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that Pentecostal Christianity is among the fastest growing versions of Christianity worldwide, particularly popular in the global south, including Latin America, Africa and Asia. It is such a different way of being Christian that it almost feels like you are observing a completely different world religion in action.

We went next to the Mount of the Beatitudes where there is a church and shrine built at the spot where it is believed Jesus delivered the beatitudes. It is very beautiful there and the view out over the hillside is incredible. The shrine includes not only a church but elaborate gardens. It was the kind of place I could imagine spending some retreat time, as it was peaceful, despite the hordes of tourists.

From there we drove along the sea of Galilee and went on a boat ride. That ride was very beautiful and evoked images of all the many stories of Jesus and his disciples on boats on the Sea of Galilee. I kept thinking about one of my favorite hymns (661, 1982 Hymnal!) that starts, “They cast their nets in Galilee, just off the hills of brown, those gentle, simple fisherfolk, before the Lord came down.” The hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee are brown and it is quite beautiful there. On the boat ride we had a discussion of Baptism in the Christian tradition, and of its roots in the Jewish tradition of the mikva cleansing ritual. Dr. Shafiq also told us about water purification rituals in Islam and we had fun comparing and contrasting the symbols and significance of these rituals across the Abrahamic faiths.

We decided to do our Pentecost liturgy there by the Sea of Galilee. We found a quiet spot under some trees where we were away from anyone else. I was celebrant for the Eucharist and Gordon Webster preached. It was wonderful to be observing the feast of Pentecost at such a holy place. It was very windy by the water, so I was struggling throughout the liturgy to keep the bread from flying off the log that was serving as makeshift altar. Finally, when the wind was gusting so strongly that I couldn’t hold the bread in place and say the Eucharistic prayer, Dr. Shafiq, who was observing our worship, took over holding the bread in place while I consecrated it. I doubt too many priests have had the experience of celebrating the Eucharist beside the Sea of Galilee with a Muslim Imam serving as acolyte!! This is interfaith at its best. And after the service, our Jewish leader helped consume the leftover consecrated wine!

From there we went to a restaurant just up the road that is right on the beach. It was a beautiful setting to sit and enjoy a veritable feast. We left there quite stuffed! We then went to an Arab village where we met with Elias Jabbour, a peace activist, who told us about the work he has been doing for over 32 years as an Israeli Arab working for peace between Arabs and Jews. After his talk, we were again fed a meal by his family, although most of us were still pretty stuffed from lunch.

Upon our return to the kibbutz, we had another lecture by a reform rabbi from the Galilee region, who is very actively involved in Jewish/Arab dialogue in the Galilee. His perspective on Jewish/Arab relations within Israel was interesting, and refreshingly nuanced. Once again, as I learned during my last trip to Israel in 2008, I became aware of the complexity of the issues here and of how hard some folks at the grassroots level are working to make a difference. One can only hope their commitment, hard work and prayerful purpose will make a difference in the end.

So all in all it was a very full day and definitely a memorable birthday. That service by the sea will go down in my memory as a very special Eucharist.

I am now exhausted and ready to find the internet, post this blog and crash!! More tomorrow.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Bahai Gardens, Druze Village and Dialogue





Our first day was packed and stimulating. We are staying on a kibbutz near Nazareth, called Kibbutz Mizra, which was originally founded in 1923 during the time of the British Mandate in Palestine. It is old and not luxurious in terms of buildings or accommodations, although it is absolutely comfortable. It epitomizes a simple, communal lifestyle. We eat our breakfast in the common dining hall, which reminds those of our group who went to summer camp of those childhood experiences! The food is plentiful but basic. However, on the road we have eaten exceedingly well.

We went first to Nazareth to the Basilica of the Annunciation. It is a beautiful church with mosaics of the Virgin Mary and child sent from countries all over the world. They are a magnificent testament to Mary’s role as “goddess” or “bearer of the divine feminine” in Christian history. We went inside the church where the grotto is that is believed to have been Mary’s house when she lived in Nazareth. After touring the church we sat on the plaza and had a lively discussion of the role of Mary in Christianity and Islam. Dr. Shafiq read to us from the Qur’an which has an entire chapter dedicated to Mary. Susan, Gordon and I talked about her role in Christian history, highlighting the distinctions between how Protestant Christians and Roman Catholics have dealt with her over the centuries. We spent well over an hour in lively discussion, bringing in Judaism as we went through the New Testament scriptures that describe Mary and looked at their roots in the Hebrew Scriptures.

From there we drove to Haifa, a very European style city on the bay where the Bahai world center is located. We had lunch in a wonderful cafĂ© in Haifa, enjoying the typical Middle Eastern feast of hummus, tabouli, salads of various kinds, and kebabs and pita, finished off with baklava of various kinds. We were stuffed when we left! Then we went to the Bahai world center where they have magnificent gardens that the Bahai’s maintain with a shrine dedicated to their founding prophet (his remains are entombed there) and where they maintain stunning gardens leading up to the shrine which is a place of pilgrimage for Bahais. Those gardens look out over the water and are truly a gift of holiness from the Bahai community.

From there we went to the top of Mount Carmel, where Elijah is believed to have slain the prophets of Baal. Dr. Shafiq enchanted us with stories from the Qur’an that are believed to be related to stories about Elijah. Then we went down the mountain to a little Druze village, where we had dinner at a Druze family owned restaurant. The Druze are a secret religion, related to Islam, but distinctly different. Most of them live in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. As Arabs in Israel, they fare better than other Arabs and can, in fact, serve in the Israeli army, which means that they have more opportunities in the Israeli system than other Arabs who are not permitted to join the army. Our dinner with the Druze family was superb and plentiful. We felt like we’d had Thanksgiving dinner by the time we rolled out of there.

The beauty of this trip so far is the really deep interfaith dialogue that is going on during the bus rides, over the meals, sitting out on the lawn at the kibbutz over a glass of wine. We have had some amazing conversations today about the theologies of “suffering” and how the three Abrahamic traditions handle it (with Shafiq and I brining in the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs when applicable!). Over dinner we found ourselves comparing and contrasting death and dying and funeral rituals and beliefs between/among the Abrahamic faiths. As we sat on the lawn at the kibbutz tonight we learned from George (who lived on a kibbutz for 10 years) about the kibbutzim in Israel and what they were founded to be and how they have changed over the 60 years of Israel’s existence. The original socialist, utopian ideals of the kibbutzim have had to be compromised as younger generations have not been as willing as the founding generations were to sacrifice their individual autonomy for the good of the collective. Many of the kibbutzim have privatized and become more like extended co-ops than the original kibbutz ideal.

There is an interesting undercurrent of caution about confronting the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. George is Jewish and an Israeli citizen, although quite willing to be critical of Israel. Susan is very loyal to the American Jewish perspective on the conflict and cautious about criticism of Israel. Gordon and I are probably the most “pro Palestinian” based on our previous experiences here (and Gordon’s wife is a Palestinian Christian living in exile in the US who won’t even set foot on Israeli soil) and Dr. Shafiq is very concerned about the plight of Palestinians and suggested tonight that we engage in dialogue about it, which we decided to take up tomorrow evening as it was late and everyone was exhausted. We are certainly seeing the good side of Israel on this trip so far. As we drove through Haifa today, and even on the ride back to the kibbutz, I couldn’t help but think about what I saw in the West Bank two years ago and how different this plush, green, cultivated, beautiful “blooming desert” is from the Palestinian territories. Every time I saw the irrigation systems and the sprinklers spraying water all over the Israeli fields all I could think of were the Palestinians in Ramallah who can’t flush a toilet but once a day because they don’t have water thanks to Israeli diversion of their water supplies to support the Israeli settlements. It is so easy for middle class Israelis and tourists simply not to see or to care about the real human rights violations happening just a stone’s throw away in the West Bank. And as we drove to our kibbutz here near Nazareth I remembered the destroyed Palestinian villages that I visited on my last trip here that are right in this area, buried under Israeli kibbutzim and farms. Then I remind myself that the house I so enjoy living in in Rochester sits on land that once belonged to Native Americans who did not willingly give it up to colonial settlers! As I experienced on my last trip here, confronting the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as a descendent of White European Christians is a contemporary journey into the very same attitudes and activities of my own ancestors who conquered the United States and sent missionaries from England to Africa and Asia and other far flung parts of the world. It is painful because of what it is doing to real people in the 21st century, but it is also a contemporary example of the excesses of colonialism and racial/ethnic tension that have marred so called “civilized” societies for centuries.

Tomorrow we go to the Sea of Galilee. It is Pentecost tomorrow also, and we are going to celebrate the Eucharist by the Sea of Galilee. I will be particularly thrilled to be celebrant at that Eucharist, with our Jewish and Muslim travelling companions as guests.

Friday, May 21, 2010

First Day

Whew! Long journey here. The flights were great. We left Rochester on time, got to JFK on time and had several hours layover. Our flights on Turkish Air were wonderful - great food, very comfortable. The excitement started once we arrived in Tel Aviv. There are 13 of us on the trip and 12 of us got through passport control with no problem. One member of the group, a young Muslim man, aged 22, was taken out of the line and held for questioning for two hours. We all stood outside waiting for him, worried about what was going on in there. When they finally came out with him they then took him off to another room to go through his luggage, which took another half hour. Honestly, the profiling going on here in the name of security is ridiculous.

We drove up to the Galilee where we are staying on a kibbutz - Kibbutz Mizra. Since we were so late arriving, we had to find our rooms (basic but fine) and then make our way to the dining hall for dinner. After dinner, the rabbi who lives here, a "secular humanist Jewish Rabbi" by his own description, celebrated a welcoming the Sabbath service with us. It was quite beautiful - we sang songs in Hebrew, reflected on some Biblical passages, talked about the meaning of Sabbath, and the symbols of the Sabbath celebration - the bread and wine - from all three Abrahamic tradition perspectives. We had a sort of "trialogue" sermon/reflection on the Sabbath readings and concluded with a beautiful poem written by the rabbi and read in Hebrew, Arabic and English. This rabbi is a peace worker here in Israel and expressed hope for a resolution to the conflict here and reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians. It was a lovely evening, except that we were all so exhausted we could barely keep our eyes open.

Tomorrow is an early day, and since I am barely functional at this point, I will sign off for tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow, with a decent night's sleep under my belt, I'll be able to take some pictures to post here too! We are in a beautiful location, with Nazareth off in the distance.

Shabbat Shalom.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Getting Ready...

Tomorrow we leave for Israel. From Rochester we go through JFK, then on to Istanbul where we have a three hour layover and finally to Tel Aviv. We should arrive Friday afternoon Israeli time. We are thirteen travelers. One Jew, two Muslims and a motley assortment of Christians, including a nun, an Episcopal priest, a Presbyterian pastor and various lay Christians of different denominations. This trip is organized by the Center for International Education and the Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue at Nazareth College. We have already had three pre-trip meetings where we enjoyed lectures covering the origins of the three Abrahamic faiths. We had a lively discussion about prophets and prophesy from the three religious perspectives, which gave us a wonderful preview of the rich conversation we will enjoy as we journey through the Holy Land.

I will try to blog every night, but my success at doing so will entirely depend on the quality of the internet connection!

Expect a first installment by Saturday morning, USA time.