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!

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.

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.