Day 13 - Worship in Jerusalem and Saying Goodbye

Today we took a trip into Jerusalem to worship at St. George's Cathedral, the seat of the Arab Anglican Bishop of the region, Bishop Suheil. A bishop from England, Bishop John Parker gave the sermon and we participated in holy communion. The organ there was quite something to here, and it was good to be among other pilgrims from around the world worshiping together.

We had lunch in the old city, at a rooftop cafe overlooking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Dome of the Rock. We then went to the Wailing Wall one last time, before making our way back to the bus. Boy was the bus crowded, with standing room only. You can't beat six shekels for a trip back to Bethlehem, having been taken advantage of by the taxi driver on the way in, but it was quite crowded for the locals who take this route everyday to their jobs in East Jerusalem.

Tonight we had an evaluation of the trip and a musical concert and celebration of our time together with the other internationals. The Al Arabia reporter that followed our groups showed the clips that she send in to Dubai about the olive harvest. A couple of them included interviews with us, including one clip about this blog, but the audio tracks weren't playing correctly so we couldn't hear part of it. Hearing Arabic for part of the clip, then nothing at all, made it all pretty funny to watch. We hope to get an English version of the clips sometime soon, but if you have satellite, look for us on Al Arabia. Some people left early in the morning, but our flight doesn't leave until Monday afternoon. See you all soon.

Day 12 - A Peaceful Day Near Nahalin

Today, we went to a farm nestled between two hilltop outposts, makeshift settlements of trailers and small buildings placed on Palestinian land, where extreme Israeli settlers hope to further their expansion of other major settlements in the area around the small Palestinian villages of Jaba' and Nahalin. Once these settlers move in, however, the Israeli government runs roads, water, and power to these outposts, and then helps protect them with the military. Once these "facts on the ground" change, it is easier for politicians to include such areas within the Separation Wall that will run through this area. The farmer told us that the wall is planned to go around his village, separating him from two of his three fields, and the wall will go right through Jaba' separating neighbor from neighbor.

Despite this reality, this Muslim family goes about their work, harvesting their 200 olive trees and working to protect what is left of their land. Today's picking was more joyous and celebratory, as we have heard of past harvests, without the interruption of either soldiers or settlers. Since this was a Saturday, the whole family came out to pick olives, and kids were quite hilarious. Will's stomach was upset most of the day, and the father made an herbal tea for him. Here are some of the pictures that the children took of us today.

This afternoon we went to see the Olive Press co-op, a series of machines that clean, press, de-pit, and then compress the oil out of the mash. Quite a process.

Day Eleven - More Pictures

Olive picking pictures.

Day 11 - A Full Day of Olives

We left the hotel early to drive to Bet Jala, a suburb of Bethlehem, where we were to pick olives today. We arrived and met the farmer at a checkpoint that separates his land from the historic municipality of Bet Jala. The Israeli Defense Force placed the fence in between the farmer’s house and olive groves, and basically included him and his family in the jurisdiction of Greater Jerusalem. This means that only he and his family can help with the harvest of over 300 trees. Their neighbors up the hill left Palestine to move to Chile, where they could more easily make a living. When they are gone for three years, the Israeli government will claim the land and add it to the Gilo Settlement on the top of the hill – the reason presented as to why the family is separated from their neighbors in Bet Jala. Because his house is now on the other side of the wall, they will not allow him to drive his car through the accepted district of Jerusalem in Israel to his home. His only means of transportation is now a motor scooter, or the option to walk half a mile to the fence and then call a taxi from Bet Jala.

When the soldiers wouldn’t let us in, the farmer appealed to their superior, and we waited around in the sun for two hours. While we waited the British and Australians played cricket with some makeshift sticks and a hackysac. Zelda and Allan organized a litter pick-up in the adjoining olive tree field. The mother came out with tea, and we got to know the family better.

Eventually, they let us in after checking all of our passports, and drove back to check on us at regular intervals. Sometimes they waved, and once they gave us the “thumbs up.” It was a full day of hard labor. Will says, “My dad always told me that if I went to school I wouldn’t become a ditch digger.” So why do I keep finding labor-intensive service projects like building labyrinths and picking olives?

The family was very hospitable. They joined us in the picking and provided a great lunch under the shade of the olive trees were picking. We guess that we picked about 10-12 trees or 200 to 250 lbs of olives. Needless to say, we are all pretty sore and achy right now. 12 trees out of 300 isn’t a huge contribution, but we could tell that our presence and solidarity with the family meant a lot to them and their neighbors. The mother does handmade Palestinian embroidery of scarves, shirts, dresses, and purses. She invited everyone to come in and see what they would like. She is quite talented, and it looked like her quality was greater than that at the shops in Jerusalem. We took a brief tour of the area, driving to the Cremisan Franciscan Winery, which has been moved from the city of Bet Jala to the Greater Jerusalem district. The proximity of the massive settlements, built on their Palestinian neighbors land, continues to push those who remain to the margins of survival and separates them from their historic neighbors.

Day 10 – Conference in Bethlehem

The YMCA and YWCA and the Alternative Tourism Group sponsored their first international conference our group went to today. Will was on a panel with Kristel Letchert of the Dutch Olive Tree Campaign who talked about strategies and Connie Hackbarth who spoke about what is going on in Jewish peace communities and justice for Palestinians. People from all over the world were there to talk about how we can work for a just peace between Israel and Palestine. Will spoke on the role of the church in this peace work.

Very serious and somewhat sad Palestinians and Syrians discussed the ongoing occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. They gave numbers and statistics on what different advocacy groups are doing and can possibly do together to bring an end to the illegal occupation. It was well thought out, and the moderators kept the conversation focus. Over lunch, we were able to informally interact with other internationals and even met some good folks from Sacramento. It was a good time. We got a lot of ideas about what we can do when we come home, and we will be looking for churches, synagogues, mosques, and service organizations to show what life is like in the Occupied Territories. Do you want to host such a presentation in late November through January? Email Will at willymac4@comcast.net



We had dinner at the Grotto Restaurant with our friend Christy Reiners, who was Will’s teammate on the Peacemaking Program’s group of 100 in May of 2006. Good food, and good to catch up with Christy’s service projects here.

Day Nine - Palestinian Hospitality

A fellow Presbyterian from Minnesota, who was on the Keep Hope Alive olive harvest last year, loaned Will McGarvey a cell phone for our use in Palestine. He also called a Palestinian businessman (Majdi) here in Beth Sahour to let him know we were here. While we were working on our blog Tuesday evening in the hotel lobby, we heard someone ask at the desk for Will. He came over and introduced himself and before we knew it, he had invited us (all 6 of us) to his home for dinner the following night. He brought us to his Bedouin gift shop where we met his oldest son and a couple from Minnesota---the Palestinian husband grew up with Majdi and met his wife in Minnesota some 26 years ago and come back often to Bethlehem. His family owns a garage not far from Majdi’s.

Majdi’s home is close to his shop so some of us could walk while he drove to park his car in the carport. He introduced us to his family; 3 sons and his wife. His wife prepared an excellent dinner but did not sit down to join us, apparently embarrassed about her English. Zelda mentioned that we had the custom of giving thanks before a meal and Majdi led us in an Arabic grace. We ate without cutlery but had enough Pita bread to move the food around off the small plates and into our mouths. The hit was his own prepared olives with broiled chicken, tomato salad, humus, cucumbers, vegetables and pickles. He showed us how to dip the bread in olive oil and a dish of zaater, a dry mixture of thyme and sesame seeds. Ummm. We have found the Palestinians very friendly and hospitable. Majdi told of his concern for his sons and his willingness to make a special sacrifice to send them to private schools to ensure a good education. He also takes an active part in their activities and their friends. When his sons meet new friends, he tells how he casually gets them to bring them to the store so that he can meet them and how he checks with his friends to find out about their families. He wants to make sure they don’t get in with a bad crowd and drugs.

While we were finishing up dinner, we heard 3 loud bangs and we all decided it was time to go home. Majdi drove Nancy, Zelda, and Bill back to the hotel, while Will, Allan and Alvin walked up to the main street, only to find the stores quickly closing up. While walking to the street, our eyes stung a little and we squeezed into the grocery store while they were closing. The proprietor was closing so we went out to the street and ducked back into a driveway between 2 buildings. We could see the Israeli solders coming down the street with their searchlight scanning the buildings. A taxi drove in front of us and we didn’t hesitate to jump in for a ride back to the hotel. Naturally, Majdi was worried about his oldest son in the shop and we felt relieved that he didn’t have to make a special trip back to the hotel for us and that he could go check on his son. Talk about hospitality.

The next morning, we learned from our guide that the Israeli army regularly harasses and encroaches on Palestinian territory (in this case, Bethlehem). We also learned at dinner this evening with an American from Walnut Creek that it is quite common for the Israeli army to arrest anyone they want. She told us how the Israelis went into the University and arrested 20 students who were in the 98 percentile and held them on administrative leave, meaning that no charges were filed but still they were detained. How ironic it is that we only hear about how dangerous the Palestinians are when in fact it is the stronger, better equipped (with US taxpayers money) Israeli’s that are causing a whole nation to live in fear and anxiety. Being in Palestine and seeing the roadblocks, high Walls, Israeli soldiers all carrying their guns with their finger ready to pull the trigger, one quickly realizes the real cause for the lack of peace in Palestine is the military’s quest to drive the Palestinians from their country.

Day Nine - More Pics

Here are some more pictures. We caused quite a stir in the little village of Husan today as a group of 50 internationals. The children wanted to practice their English with us, and figure out what we were doing. It was a little hard to communicate with some, but they love to play games with us in the street. They loved to play the instruments of the Olive Picking Circus that are traveling with us. The teenage girls were pretty shy, but the younger boys and girls loved to take pictures with our cameras. As always, the highlights include meals shared by the families in back yards and the fields.