Delegation: Day 2

My head is spinning. It has been an intense day!

We started this morning with a trip to the Sabeel office. Sabeel is an Arabic word that means "The Way" and is an ecumenical grassroots movement. It was founded by Naim Ateek, an Anglican priest in Jerusalem who was displaced from his home when Israel became a State.

Ateek is a Palestinian Christian who wrote a Palestinian Theology of Liberation called "Justice and Only Justice." It claims freedom and fullness of life for all of God's children, including Palestinians.

Sabeel began as a movement and later became an organization in 1995. They encourage faith communities to challenge the Israeli occupation and are working for a just solution.

I learned that 2% of Palestinians are Christians, which is not a large percentage, but is more than most people know exists. We heard a lot today about the Christian value of forgiveness and whether Palestinians will be able to forgive Israelis for the occupation. Nora at Sabeel commented that the ability to be nonviolent IS part of the forgiveness process.

After lunch we met up with "Women in Black," a group of Israeli women who stand on a busy corner in Jerusalem and silently witness against the occupation. We joined them in their witness and held big black hands that had "Stop the Occupation" in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. The women are all in their 70s and 80s and I asked them how long they have been doing their witness. One of the women, Dagne, told me they have been there every Friday since 1987.

It was really humbling to be part of their witness. It was hot and the hour felt long. Most people ignored us, but many people shouted at us in Hebrew and a little boy (he looked about 10) put his head out the car window and stuck his tongue out at me. A young guy in his 20s flipped us off and made a rude gesture to his private parts, but Greta just held up her sign and said, "Talk to the Hand." (Our signs were hands) I can't believe how many hours those women, Israeli women, have spent on the street corner...

We left Jerusalem and took a taxi to the Wall, where we experienced our first checkpoint. Palestinians who live in the West Bank have to apply for permits to leave the West Bank and enter Jerusalem. Checkpoints are part of their daily commute to work or to visit family. Many Palestinians are denied permits so they are not able to leave the West Bank at all.

We are staying in a refugee camp in Bethlehem. In 1948, when Israel was established, 800,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes and many are now living in Bethlehem. We were given a tour of the camp, a city within the city, and ate dinner in the home of a Palestinian family. The parents have 3 children and when I saw their faces, I lost it. I have thought about and prayed for Palestinian children, but today I met them. And saw their faces. And it broke my heart.

We had a question and answer time at dinner and Greta asked the parents what they hope for their children. The mother wasn't able to answer without crying and the father told us it was a hard question to answer. He hopes that things will be better for them--they try to make a nice home for their children, send them to school, buy them bicycles--but, in reality, he knows his children will not have a lot of options. He said that one of the saddest things for him is that his children have never seen the Sea.

There is SO much more to tell, but too much for a blog post. My head is spinning, my body is tired, and my heart is broken. This is harder than I ever dreamed it would be.