How to make porridge.

January 26, 2010

So who knew how many different ways there are to cook porridge. The box clearly states “Product of Canada” and I thought that meant we cook it my way! Not so, there is a Scottish way, a Swedish way and a Canadian way. The Scottish way is loose, runny and thin, not too much porridge used, very economical. The Swedish way is a little less runny, a little thicker, no brown sugar on top – not sure what that says about the Swedes. And then there is my way – the best – so thick you can stand a spoon in it, very firm (no comments, please), not very frugal, and topped with a ton of brown sugar. Amazing, the things you learn when living in the West Bank with total strangers. Jk, I’m sure you have your hybrid German/Canadian way.

The past two days were filled with personal stories of incredible resistance, resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity. We have a lot to learn from the people we meet!

On Sunday, while visiting the village of Al Walaja, we were graciously shown around by Machmud and Issam, two young men in the late twenties. When asked what they would like to see in the future for their village, one replied, “Leave us alone!”, referring to the occupation and the building of settlements which encroach on their village. It was the third time this week that we visited a village under threat: Al Walaja, An Nu’man and Husan.

In Al Walaja, Machmud works at the Ansar Centre, a community centre providing support for children, teenagers and women of the village. There they can gather, participate in programs and generally find solace in sharing their discomfort with each other as settlement construction approaches barley meters from the door of the Ansar centre.

The village tour they took us on passed the demolished ruins of Issam’s house, a home which was demolished by the Israeli army, rebuilt by the family, only to be demolished again. They do not have the money to build a third time. A road, which only Israelis can drive on, separates Machmud and his family from a lonely little house on the side of a steep, picturesque hill. This house belongs to his grandmother. Atop the hill sits Har Gilo a very large, not-so-picturesque settlement built within the extended borders of the city of Jerusalem. The house had to be abandoned by his family several years ago and they now live with other family members closer to the centre of the village.



Next stop on our tour, was to visit a farmer, Abedelfatah Abedrabah (that’s what he said), who lives in a small but cosy cave complete with a bed, a few chairs, a dug out kitchen cupboard area and a wood stove (crafted somehow out of an old unused water cistern). Photographs grace the walls of his cave. Abed proudly showed us a guest book, his third, with comments from internationals from all over the world who have visited him and he asked us to sign it. A privilege!





While walking down the hill to Abed’s with our young companions, they told us that they really should not be in the area or the Israeli soldiers would harass them and possibly arrest them. But they felt comfortable that, while in the presence of anyone from the international community, this would not happen. They only wish to be left alone to live in peace and with dignity. It was a real feel-good visit. Can you picture me protecting anyone from the Israeli army?

Today, we visited another village, Jubbet adh Dhib, which does not appear to be under threat from settlers or demolition, however, they have other significant problems. It is a village of 167 residents, 75 of which are children. A settlement sheep farm sits about 250 metres from their houses but the Israelis will not allow power to be brought into the village, nor will they allow a road in to be built. We had to climb a hill of rock and mud for about 20 minutes to get into the village. They have a generator which they use occasionally. The UN and other NGOs helped them raise funds for a solar power system but no sooner was it installed, the Israelis ordered them to dismantle it.



Hamza, the self-appointed leader of the village, is a pleasant man who spoke very seriously for the first hour of our visit but became lighter as the visit wore on and his comfort level with the new Team 34 grew. The children came into the house where we met with Hamza and his brother, Ammar, to recite the alphabet for us, first in English and then in Arabic. Then their teacher had us repeat the alphabet in Arabic. Then they insisted they would dress me up in genuine Arabic dress for a photo op. In spite of living without even the convenience of electricity or a road to the village, these folks were happy, cheerful people.



We had a briefing with the local ICRC representative today; however, she is as new in her job as we are in ours. I think the briefing was reversed with us briefing her. It is a reciprocal arrangement with each sharing any new developments with the other. She has the power to intervene with the IDF if necessary to see if improvements can be made in the checkpoint.

Tomorrow, we have a couple of meetings planned with Vice-chancellor at Bethlehem University and the Arab Education Institute. We also have one of our Hebron colleagues arriving for a placement visit with us for two nights.

The weather has been a bit miserable of late, rather like November, cold and damp, hovering between 3 – 7 C in the morning but with the dampness, it feels much colder. After 3 and a half hours in the checkpoint, I can’t wait for my internationally-made porridge and Nescafe, and I don’t care who makes it!

January 22, 2010

22 January 2010

The sun was brilliant today, kind of lifted our spirits. We spent most of the day outdoors. I can’t say it is warm but it was one of those days when it was warmer outside than in. Our apartment is very cold in spite of having a gas burner going every evening for several hours. We also have two electric heaters but some days it is impossible to warm up.

The team has to do a lot of planning in order to fit 2 placement visits and 12 days off for each of us into our schedule and leave at least two in the placement at all times. As well we have to consider from Feb. 15-20, we go on Israeli exposure week and we also have to host our colleagues who wish to come to Bethlehem for their placement visit. We first drew the days until March 31st on a huge calendar and then went to work on organizing this big jig-saw puzzle called our schedule. I know that it will feel like we just get going when all of a sudden Team 34 will be arriving.

Thursday was my first day off so I took the bus to Jerusalem, transferred to another to Ramalla and did a little mindless walking in shops and drinking coffee. Unfortunately, the CP Kalandia between Ramalla and Jerusalem was very busy (a nightmare, actually!) and when I finally got back to Jerusalem just after 7 p.m., the buses to Bethlehem had stopped for the night and the bus station was deserted. A random car pulled up to the bus station, claiming to be a taxi and the driver said he would take me to Gilo CP for 50 NIS (about $20). I told him I wouldn’t pay that much and I didn’t trust that he was actually a taxi. We negotiated for a few minutes, he reduced his fare to 40 NIS and convinced me he was a taxi and I got in. I must say that for the first time I was very glad to see Gilo CP.

This week has been, as usual, filled with activity. Yesterday, we didn’t have too much planned for the morning so we walked in town to Manger Square at prayer time at the Mosque. Quite a sight! Thousands of men, cars jammed in everywhere, and the Imam preaching by loudspeaker into the Square. The Mosque was filled to capacity so the overflow was in the Square. We tried to be respectful and passed through the crowd to the fringe where we waited until prayers were over to carry on to our destination which was John and Mike’s Christian souvenir shop. These two characters are Palestinian Christians and good friends to the EAPPI program who welcome us for tea whenever we pass by.




This morning we visited a village, Husan, in which the Israeli army shows their presence and might frequently. When I called our contact, Nasser Hamamrah, last night to arrange our visit, he had to interrupt my call to tell a soldier that he would not move his vehicle. He said that there was no reason to move his vehicle but the soldiers like to remind them constantly that they are in control. We arrived in Husan at 10 a.m. and he invited us to his house for breakfast. His mother had prepared a meal for us, complete with fresh baked bread, zatar, olive oil, wonderful Palestinian fare. She said that the next time, she will prepare magluba for us. Unfortunately, Nasser’s wife was in Jerusalem so we were unable to meet her but we did meet several of his brothers and his children Mohamed (10 yrs), Mouth (9 yrs), Malek (5 yrs) and Mohamed (10 mths).



Nasser used to be an active member of Hamas, imprisoned first by the Israelis for 8 years and then by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) for another 2 years. He said that he now supports the Islamic Jihad party (promoting non-violence among Palestinians) but they do not run any members in the elections because they feel the election results are a foregone conclusion. He said that he had a change of heart and became a peaceful man after he married and had children. He took us on a walk-about through the village. He feels it is important that the army know that internationals visit and support the villagers. We were probably being watched by the IDF as we walked – they don’t miss much!

We took our leave from Nasser and his family and went straight to Aida Refugee camp to visit Kholoud and Iman Ayyan and their children, Ansam (13 yrs), Hamed (11 yrs), Worod (8 yrs) and Shiraz (1-1/2 yrs). They also fed us a Palestinian delicacy of mushy cauliflower deep fried in a batter and olive oil. One gets quite adept at smiling, stuffing themselves and washing it all down with luke-warm heavily sugared tea. Bet your mouth is watering! Sometimes one has the opportunity to request tea ‘biddun sucar’ (without sugar) but more often than not it is just presented to you. They spoke about their experiences of growing up in a refugee camp.

From there, we rolled ourselves (feeling totally stuffed) down the hill and into Lagee Center where we give English conversation classes to young people from a Dakba dance group. After a rather disasterous start last week, we re-arranged the groups, separating the boys and girls and were much more successful this week.



This term EAPPI would like us to focus our stories on the dwindling number of Christians living in the West Bank and as well, on the impact settlers and settlements have on communities in the West Bank. Because we are the Bethlehem team, we are in the best position to do the reporting on the plight of Christians. To that end, we will be attending church every Sunday (not optional as it is in some placements) and hopefully, different churches. Last Sunday two of us went to the Armenian catholic service in the Church of the Nativity and Gunnar and I went to the Lutheran Christmas church. We were welcomed by the minister as the new team in town. Always nice to be made to feel welcome! We joined them for coffee following the service. Tomorrow, Gunnar and Sabine will attend the Lutheran church in Beit Sehour and I am not sure where I will go. Many choices are available.

I am fading now and the challenge of putting photos into this blog awaits, as does CP duty at 4 a.m., to say nothing of the boring trance I have managed to put you into! So I will close for now......until the next time............

Bethlehem Team

The changing face of Gilo

17 January 2010

Oh dear, oh dear, the soldier at Gilo told us that the gate will now open at 4 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. You know what that means – rise at 2:50 a.m. instead of 3:50 a.m. Great!

Actually, when we arrived at the CP this morning at 4:35, there was barely a queue, maybe 400 people. We couldn’t figure out why there were so few people but did notice that the first turnstile was already open. After a quiet, orderly crowd of 1869 had passed through the CP, we spoke to the soldier in the booth who informed us the gate will now be opening at 4 a.m. everyday. Inshala! This will substantially alter our task. We called Machsom Watch to see if they could confirm this info for us – which they did, so we are now in the process of attending the CP at 3:45 instead of 4:45 to see what happens. So far it has made an improvement in the life of a Palestinian getting to work – it’s all relative, I guess – it’s still a very demeaning process but not as demeaning as before.

This week, our team is feeling our way around Bethlehem, meeting with contacts, getting to know where we can buy what we need and just generally getting comfortable in the placement. We have hosted a delegation almost everyday - this morning 23 young Norwegians from a political youth party with sympathy for Israel, - so we had to get up to speed very quickly to sound half-way intelligent. I think that we have managed, although we need a little more communication among our group – Gunnar began in Swedish (which the Norwegians understood) and then I took over half the group but didn’t know what he had already told them. These kinks will be worked out as the days unfold.

There is one ‘baby hospital’ (comparable to CHEO) in the West Bank which is almost in our backyard. Yesterday, we had an interesting visit with the PR person, Bashir, who gave us good information about the medical care (or lack thereof) in the West Bank. This hospital has its roots in the Christian community, however, treats (and pays for) any child in need of care regardless of religious affiliation. The name of the hospital is Children’s Relief Bethlehem or the Caritas Baby Hospital and was founded in 1953 by Father Ernst Schnydrig, a Swiss man. He apparently had come to Bethlehem at Christmas to worship at the Church of the Nativity and came across a Palestinian father who was burying his dead child in the mud near Aida Refugee Camp. He was so moved by the sight that he open a 14-bed house for sick babies of the poor, which has now grown to an 82-bed hospital. It exists on charitable donations primarily through the Caritas Sisters and the Catholic dioceses in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and other European countries.

Dr. George Zoughbi, a paediatrician, took us on a tour and told us stories of the children he treats. George was educated at McGill U. and practiced in Edmonton and New York before returning to Palestine about five months ago. One little patient, a six year old girl, is in renal failure and her father and mother will not sign consent for dialysis 3 times per week – too much trouble for them and she is not worth it. We asked if the child were male, would the parents agree to treatment and he answered, sadly, yes. He said that she has been in hospital so much that the staff has become her family. She will die soon.

Another patient he introduced us to was a three-year old child who fit in the same size of bed as the new-borns (you know, the little, clear plastic bins that new-borns sleep in at our hospitals). This child suffered from a respiratory illness (asthma), caused or made worse, in large part, by second hand smoke and diesel emissions. He said that she came from a household where the men refused to give up smoking in the house. The nurse picked her up for a cuddle, took off her breathing mask and she responded with a smile for us, just before she (the child) reached for the mask again. She will die soon.

It is a very clean, well-kept hospital with good relations with the Hadassah Hospital in Israel (west Jerusalem). They said that children in need of surgery are transported by Palestinian ambulance to the CP, met by and transferred to an Israeli ambulance to continue the journey to Hadassah. The hospital staff assist parents with getting permits for the mother to travel to Jerusalem to be with the child. All expenses for the family are covered by donation.

George said his dream for the hospital would be that it become a full-service hospital with paediatric specialists in all areas, so that among other things, families would not be separated by the wall and CPs at already stressful times.
Enough of the gloomy! Did I tell you that I nearly got washed out of the CP yesterday with the rain? This is good news, the farmers really need it. When it comes down here, it really comes down in sheets.

Team issues are well in hand with cooking, cleaning and shopping being shared activities (well, almost).

Until later......still trying unsuccessfully to incorporate photos into the blog.....

Beit Lehem blog, 15 Jan 2010

Back in full swing, but with slightly different angles this time.

Team 34 met in Jerusalem to get to know each other and to have our extensive orientation sessions. The ‘Bethlehem Braves’, as we dubbed ourselves, is a group made up of 3 lovely souls plus me: Phil Lucas (retired head teacher) from Scotland, Gunnar Stenbeck (retired pastor) from Sweden and Sabine Blum (retired midwife) from Switzerland. We are all approximately the same age and stage in life, with spouses at home, children and grandchildren dispersed around the world. Yesterday, we held a family ‘show and tell’ of stories and photographs. I think that the Bethlehem Braves are off to a good start which is not to be said for all 6 groups of Team 34. One girl has already been moved into the Jerusalem team due to a medical condition which was not disclosed to EAPPI prior to coming. We all wish her well and hope it works out.

Our tasks will be similar to the duties I performed on my last stay, of course, with a much stronger focus on the plight of Christians living in the not-so-Holy Holy Land. Our compulsory tasks include Gilo checkpoint (CP) or CP 300 watch, accompanying visiting international delegations in Bethlehem (most are interested in the CP), attendance at one of the many churches in Bethlehem, visiting villages: Al Walaja, An Nu’man, Jubbet adh Dhib, Al-Khader, Umm Salamonu, Al Masara and more, accompanying school children at An Nu’man and Tuq’ua, and visiting refugee camps (three, in and around Bethlehem). We have regular visits to organizations such as United Nations (UNOCHA), and Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss problems we see at CPs and in the villages.

The chaos which is Gilo CP is difficult to describe in words but there are a couple of good You Tube videos that capture the scene. Try googling ‘You Tube - Bethlehem checkpoint 4 a.m.’ (and be patient, it takes a while to view with the annoying stops and starts). We get up at 3:45 to arrive at 4:30 a.m. to begin our watch. One of us stays near the first turnstile to ensure that the Israeli soldiers arrive on time to open the CP and then to count the number of Palestiaians passing. In theory, the IDF should already be there because there is a Humanitarian Lane which should be open 24/7. In practice, this is not always the case. Palestinians are simply trying to get to work on time, something we all take for granted – except during snow storms – but the CP process can take them an hour or two to pass through. Meanwhile, the other team member enters the terminal to monitor the metal detector lines and ID booths. We are usually in the checkpoint between 2 and 4 hours, but occasionally as long as 6 hours (hasn’t happened yet but then again we have only done one CP duty). The reward for me in this challenging setting is to go back to our apartment and cook up a big bowl of Canadian produced Quaker oats which I can buy in Jerusalem. Coupled with a cup of Nescafe instant, what could be better?

We have been informed by our Jerusalem office that we have 5 delegations arriving in the next 6 days. These delegations can be from a variety of organizations/countries such as churches or perhaps parliamentarians who would like to be escorted through Gilo CP, and to be told about the situation ‘on the ground’ as they say. We have different things that we can do with them depending on how much time their tour has given them to be here. I personally am looking forward to this activity because it is not something that would have happened in Tulkarm.

Today, we walked in our first demonstration in Umm Salamonu/Al Masara and it was completely peaceful. With about 2 dozen soldiers blocking the road out of town and on rooftops, forty to fifty locals and internationals walked through town to where the soldiers had razor wire strung across the road. It always causes anxiety wondering if some Palestinian teenager will throw a rock at the soldiers and start a chain of events with sound bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets. The organizer, Machmud, spoke to everyone stressing the need for calm because the army had been in the villages last night but did not arrest anyone and they wanted to keep the peace.
At 5:30 p.m. today, we are going to attend a worship service held at the wall by the Sisters of Caritas, a local group of nuns who run a Baby Hospital in Bethlehem. They conduct this service every Friday, weather permitting, so it will be a regular event for us.

I apologize to those of you who asked and I told you I would continue my blog under the Accompanier. My technology skills, being what they are, did not enable me to go back to it in English. It kept appearing in Arabic!

Back to blogging in Beit Lehem another day.......

Disclaimer:
Susan Palmai works for The United Church of Canada as an Ecumenical Accompanier serving on the World Council of Churches/Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The views contained herein are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer (The United Church of Canada) or the WCC. If you would like to publish the information contained here or disseminate it further, please first contact the EAPPI Communications and Advocacy Officer (eappi-co@jrol.com) for permission.