101 Ways to Jump a Queue

Picture loading problems again! You will have to imagine!

So, by Saturday, I had beaten the angry flu bug into submission and was able to get back to my duties. I thanked God ‘big-time’ and I think it carries far more weight when you live amid the roots and ancestors of his humble servants because I have stayed well without relapse. He must have appreciated my words of praise.

We had a simple hour-long meeting with a local contact, Basil Araj, at lovely Sima’s lovely cafe, a short walk from our house. Sima is a Cordon Bleu trained chef who returned to Bethlehem after her training to open a cafe. For the first three weeks we were here, Sima was on vacation but returned last week. The atomsphere is gentle and calm with Sima and Hind, her mother, circulating in the shop after they have served you wonderful Quiche, soup and sandwiches or just a fine filter coffee. Unfortunately, I discovered the other day that in the making of the fine filter coffee, they use the plastic filters for each cup only once and then off they go to landfill. So much for enjoying filter coffee! My environmental-conscience will not allow it – I’ll drink tea with mirameya and save the planet some grief.

Saturday’s supper was a fund-raising event at the Lutheran School in Beit Sehour. We were treated to an entertaining evening with a choir, Dakba dance troup, an instrumental group followed by a light supper of falafel, hummus, olives etc. The evening ended with a massive bingo game and door prizes, not our lucky night. This Christian community in Beit Sehour is quite affluent with many Christians send their children to private schools rather than to the government-run schools. We have been getting tidbits of anecdotal evidence that the government schools do not measure up to the standards of the private schools, which is not surprising, and if you want your child to get into a good university, private is the way to go.

A word about Christians in the West Bank – their numbers are dwindling. We have been trying to get an accurate figure but suffice to say that the numbers have dropped significantly over the years from 1987 until now. We have heard from a high of 90% to today at 2.1%. Only 16% of the population of Bethlehem is Christian. Bethlehem University, which is a Christian Catholic institution, now has a largely Muslim student body. Many young people speak of a widening gulf between the young Muslim and Christian youth due to the relative freedom the young Christian women enjoy as compared to the Muslims. It is hoped that the Kairos document will be widely adopted as the way forward by Christians around the world. Yesterday, we met with Nidal Abu Zuluf, who runs the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) under the auspices of the YM-YWCA at Shepherds’ Field in Beit Sehour. He worked with Rifat Kassis on the presentation of the document and again stressed its importance to us.

Sabine and I drew the long straws on Sunday morning when we hosted a delegation of 2! Most of our delegations so far have been Swedish and our colleague, Gunnar, joyfully has jumped at the chance to speak to his countrymen in his own first language. We accompany him with the large delegations (up to 35) to corral the stragglers, camera-buffs and lolly-gaggers who lag behind. On Sunday while Gunnar was doing his usual Swedish thing with a group of 13 and 14 year olds, Sabine and I met two Brits, the President, Rev. David Gamble and Vice-President Dr. Richard Vautrey of the Methodist Church in England. We met them at the Bethlehem Inn and accompanied them to the Gilo CP where they experience the look and feel of the CP. Each delegation asks for different activities and we were not sure what they wanted to do, so, planned to take them to the Christmas Church to worship. Once in the old city, they decided it would be preferable to stop at John’s shop for souvenirs and tea, to visit the old market, to eat falafel and call it a morning. On the way back, Magdi, another shopkeeper, offered to drive them to the CP while Sabine and I tended his shop and made more tea (no fear of a customer needing the shopkeeper – no customers!). They seemed to be pleased with their visit to Bethlehem.

Human nature being what it is and CP duty being what it is, leads one’s mind to wander while on duty even though we are strongly advised to be ever vigilant while on duty. After 4 hours of angry soldiers yelling at even angrier Palestinians, I begin to study the antics of the participants. Queue jumping is a refined Palestinian art and one day I think I’ll write a book about it. For now, I think I have witnessed 100 of the 101 ways it can be done: from the subtle side-winder; to the not-so-subtle climb over the shoulders of the person ahead of you; to peeling back the plastic of the CP roof and come down through the razor wire; to trying to get through the humanitarian lane; to spotting a “friend” further up the line than you and joining him; to stepping out of the line for prayers and jump back in farther ahead after prayers – a fascinating study, really! And when they all stop for prayers, they put their black plastic lunch bags down and I wonder how it is that they get their own back when they pick them up. Now I have concluded, it doesn’t matter because the bags all contain the same lunch – falafel and hummus!