Arabic lesson

Marhaba! Kiif halkum?

(Your response is "hamdu-lillah! Maabsuttiin")

Good day! How are all y'all?

"Praise God! We're all fine"

Arabic is one of those mind boggling languages that has multiple layers to learn: the speaking part (including masculine and feminine forms of every noun, pronoun, verb, etc.), and the written part. Then, you have to decide if you want to go further and try to learn the classical language (instead of the colloquial version). In classical Arabic, there are 12 possible endings for every noun, verb, pronoun, etc. (instead of just 8).

But, if you've learned some of the basics, including
la = no
aywa (or na'am) = yes
shukran = thank you
afwan = you're welcome
ahlan wa sahlan = Welcome! (to which you respond ahlan wa sahlan fiik!)
wa salaam aleikum = hello (to which you respond aleikum wa salaam)
ma is-salaame = goodbye

If you've learned these, you've covered a lot of ground. Of course, you cannot have a real conversation, but at least you can say hello and be friendly! Then tricky bit is, if you sound too good with these phrases, then your conversation partner thinks that you can actually speak Arabic and might launch into some other topic about which you CANNOT converse.

Then, you just look at them dumbly with your mouth hanging open. Try it, it works.

It's at that point that I usually think "WHY didn't I study Arabic before coming here like I intended to?!?!?!?"

Sermon's missing

No sermon this week. Sorry. I wrote one, but it wasn't very good.

And, I've been away and not posting for awhile. I hope to catch up in the next few days.....

Boys in jail, part 2

The family awoke with a start from the banging on the door. They didn't know what to do, so they huddled together and tried to ignore the shouts, the smell of the tear gas seeping through the cracks around the door and windows and the crashing sound at the door. After a few minutes, the door to the roof burst open and several soldiers from the Israeli army came down the stairs into the house.

The family was herded out of the house in their nightclothes into the courtyard at 1am where they were held with the red point of light of the laser sights of the machine guns aimed at them. They were all asked to produce their identification cards because the army had come to find Fadi, one of the sons of the household. Once they identified him, questioned him about his older brother (who's in the Palestinian police) and his father (who works at a settlement), they forced Fadi to strip to check that he wasn't armed and dangerous. After hastily dressing again, Fadi was put into one of the jeeps to be taken away.

Fadi has asthma and didn't have the chance to bring any of his medication. As the soldiers were hauling him away, his mother was screaming at them about his asthma and begging the soldiers to help him. They said that they would, but when she finally had the chance to visit him in prison, he said that he never had any treatment. Rather, Fadi reported to his mother (and uncle who also came to visit) that the soldiers mistreated him and kept him in isolation. He was very angry, very sad and frightened.

What is the crime this young man of 16 is to have done? The reason given was "throwing stones". His family thinks that someone turned in his name (often, under interrogation, the boys are pressured into giving the names of their friends. Some do so, just to make the questioning stop). Fadi's father doubt that his son would throw stones at soldiers since he's afraid of them and of what they can do.

The family supposes that the real reason that Fadi was arrested is because he took part in a non-violent demonstration in Hebron several months ago. Soldiers usually take pictures of the people participating in the demonstration as evidence that they are there. Since Fadi was at this demonstration and may have had his picture taken, the army may be retaliating for his presence. But, nobody really knows.

The imprisonment is not just for Fadi anymore, though. His younger siblings are fearful every night. They do not want to go to bed in their own beds; they want only to sleep with their parents. The expenses of the lawyer are more than this family can afford; they hope that friends and neighbors will help them. Fadi's father, who works at a nearby Israeli settlement as a construction worker for 100 NIS (about $27) a day, has not been allow to returned to work since Fadi was arrested. Thus far, he'd lost 2 weeks worth of work and he had no idea when (or if) he'd been allowed to return. Of course, since his work permit expired on May 1st, there's a very good chance that he won't return to that job at all (the Israeli employer must apply for the work permit for the employee).

As of the day of our interview, Fadi had not had his case heard in court (the trial date was delayed three times). If things go as they usually do, he will end up with 6 -7 months in prison with a 5000 NIS ($1350) fine.

For a boy on the edge of manhood, the price for being the age, gender and nationality that he is is so high, not just for him, but for his family and community.

Boys in jail

"I thought that it was an earthquake," said Mariam, a mother of one of the boys arrested in one of the villages surrounding Bethlehem. The night that the army came for her son, the barrage of noise created by the army made her think that a natural disaster was occurring. Except this disaster was not natural; it's a reality of life under military occupation.

This past week, we talked with three families who experienced night incursions and who had sons taken into custody by the army. These were just three families of the seven in this village who have had sons arrested in the past two weeks. Of the eight boys (two sons from one family), only one has been released; the rest await a court date.

Lo'y is 16. He's a studious kid who is smart and who wants to go to the university to study engineering. He's been in 11th grade this year and was getting ready to take special classes this summer to get ready for his last year in school which includes the difficult exams one has to take in order to have a chance for University.

On Thursday morning at 2am, four army jeeps came to Lo'y's house, and the soldiers surrounded the house. They banged on the front door and fired off sound bombs (or "stun grenades": the noise is so loud that it stuns you). Then, they fired tear gas canisters at the house breaking the window of the bedroom of the younger brother of Lo'y and damaging the stone facing and some of the doors in an effort to evacuate the family (since the family wasn't getting out of the house fast enough for the army). The tear gas in the house was so noxious, that they had to stay outside until morning to allow the tear gas to dissipate.

Once they were all out of the house, the soldiers grabbed Lo'y, handcuffed and blindfolded him and hit him in the back of his head with the butt end of a machine gun. The soldiers demanded that Lo'y give them the address of one of his friends, but he refused, earning himself another beating.

The charges against this young man? Throwing stones at army jeeps. Lo'y's mother and father both asserted that Lo'y is too afraid of soldiers and their repercussions. "He's a serious student!" Yet, because of this charge, he's been taken to one of four Israeli military jails to be held for at least 18 days - the same day as his court date - before he can even see a lawyer, much less his family. The boy who dreams of university courses will likely end up missing too many days of school (because of this arrest) at the end of this year to be able to advance to the next grade. Depending on the sentence that will be handed down in a trial that will not permit evidence from the defense, a sentence that could be up to 6 months with a 5000 NIS ($1,345) fine, Lo'y will also miss the beginning of next year's classes.

And his family? In a family of four sons and three daughters, the next to the last child is the first to be arrested, but the whole family feels the anguish, the anger and the frustration of the arrest. Lo'y's mother said it best, "we are all exiled."

Bread

This was a feast of bread and more bread (the high stack of bread has za'atar on it (a spice mixture of thyme and sesame seed).
Another day, we had bread made for us as we visited a family in a small village. I got to go with the daughter-in-law of the house into the stone oven where she formed the bread and laid it on the hot coals to cook. The finished product is, by far, the best bread I've ever eaten and it's unavailable in stores. You have to have sources!

Some geography basics, politically speaking

This is a picture of our particular area: Bethlehem. The upper left hand corner is part of Israel. Hopefully you can discern the "Green line" (it's a dotted green line) that goes from about the center of the top at an angle down towards the middle of the left hand side. This is the 1948 UN Armistice line for the West Bank.

The darker yellow areas of the map are the urban areas that are part of "Area A" (Oslo Peace Accords of 1995); the slightly lighter yellow color areas (hard to distinguish) are part of "Area C". We don't have much Area B in our area of Palestine.

The dark pink color indicates the established Israeli settlements; the lighter pink color shows areas that built up areas around Israeli settlements (for example, where construction is taking place, where agriculture is happening, location of outposts). The important thing to note is that anything pink (no matter what shade) is off limits to Palestinians.

You can also see lines squiggling around the map: the dark red ones show where the separation barrier (around here, we call it "the wall", since we mostly see the 8 meter high monstrosity) already exists; the light red is where the separation barrier is being constructed; the black is planned construction of the barrier. The grey lines are roads.

Finally, you may be able to discern dots. The red dots with the "x" are the checkpoints; the black dots are on the "settler's roads" and are tunnels or underpasses.

Please note:

• The red line of the separation barrier (and the sections under construction or planned) are deeply within the area that was designated as part of the West Bank in 1948;
• There are several villages which are isolated from the city of Bethlehem (the little yellow areas that are in a sea of grey -- which means that the Palestinians in the villages are not allowed to go in the grey areas, except with permission);
• In addition to the established Israeli settlements (some of which have been around since 1967, YEARS before the building of the separation barrier, but built at the time the territory was transferred from Jordanian military occupation to Israeli military occupation), there are planned settlements. For the most part, the planned settlements are actually extensions of the existing ones.
• It's hard to tell from this map, but Bethlehem is almost completely encircled by "Israeli only" areas. The pink settlement areas are easy to discern, as is the separation barrier. What's harder to see is that on the east and southern sides of the city, there's an "Israeli only" road. At this point, Palestinians are allowed to drive on parts of it. But, road construction is underway to build roads for the Palestinians to use instead. Two notes about that: guess whose land is used to build the road (without financial compensation, of course)?, and why have two completely separate sets of roads that essentially parallel each other? Ne'er the twain shall meet! The Palestinian set of roads goes under the Israeli roads when the two cross. Of course the Palestinian roads are below! If they were above, then those "terrorists" could throw stones on the Israeli cars. (I'm not kidding. This is how the settlers and policy makers think.)

There's much more to say, and you may have questions. Please post them below, but I'll also be writing again (and probably posting the map again for reference) about the political geography.

BTW, this is a United Nations - Office on the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) map of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). They have great maps. So does ARIJ (Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem).

Good Shepherd Sunday

Psalm 23 (NRSV)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff--
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.

Living in a place where you may encounter sheep grazing in the fields right next to your house or where a flock might be trotting down the street to be let into another field by their Bedu shepherd sure gives a new depth of meaning to this psalm.

Even with that new visual, I'm not sure I have a sermon in me today [I wrote this sermon last Sunday, but it's apropos for today as our lectionary calendar has us read this psalm this week]. I'm exhausted, on the edge and lacking resiliency. But, if I'm at this state after only 5 weeks in this area, can I even begin to fathom what life is like for people who have to live in this every day with no escape (or desire to leave the land that is home). As for me and my well-being, I would leave if I had the opportunity.

And, honestly, true confession time!, I avoid preaching on this text if I can. I don't really like it; it feels so overused that it has become trite in my ears.

But, here it is. God (and the creators of the lectionary cycle) have put it before me to hear, wrestle with, be spoken to and dwell deeply in the words, rhythms, images and grace that are this psalm. These particular phrases resonate deeply within me this time:
--I walk through the darkest valley, yet fear no evil
--[God] prepare[s] a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
--Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

Early on in our time as a team in Bethlehem, we decided that we needed to be honest with each about the work we were engaging in and our limitations. We all 'fessed up at least one thing (that was expected of us as a team) that we did NOT want to do. Mine was "going to demonstrations". I've never liked demonstrations or protests. It may be in part because I don't want to be too public about my politics or ideas (says the preacher lady!). It may be because there's an element of danger in it (I like to be a rule follower and most of the time demonstrations are technically illegal, at least here in Palestine). And, I'm sure that a large part of this is that I don't want to be caught in any sort of cross-fire -- even if it's just words being thrown.

Whatever the reason, I don't like demonstrations.

But, they are a part of what we do each week. As a team, we are to participate in at least one demonstration each week (actually, that's now three. AHHHH!).

Talk about the darkest valley.

I've wondered sometimes if there is an entrenched cultural difference (made deeper in the past 43 years): if I'd lived under occupation for my whole life, would I be used to it? If I was raised under occupation and if there had always been less of my life that I had oversight for, would it be easier for me that the Israelis had tremendous control over me?

Then, there's the image of God preparing a table for me in the presence of my enemies. What?!?

My time here as radically shifted how I hear this portion of the text now: when one has enemies, real enemies, not just ones from petty griefs, who are wanting to destroy you (by bullets, policies, prisons, threats and/or prejudice), this image of God preparing a table for you in the presence of those enemies is incomprehensible.

It scares me.

It humbles me.

It even angers me. I do not want to eat with my enemies.

But, surely, God's mercy and goodness are with me all the days of my life. God's mercy invites me to the table to sit with and break bread with my enemies, to look beyond their bullets, policies, prisons, threats and prejudice. God's goodness brings light and hope into those darkest valleys of fear, even the fear that rises in me when I consider the danger that may come from standing in solidarity with someone.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. For you, O Lord, have walked in the darkest valleys and have eaten with those who are your bitterest enemies. And, through it all, you are compassion, goodness and mercy for all who need it.

Amen