06/22/2007
315 days later...
Well, our year in Jerusalem has drawn to a close. We leave tonight around midnight for the airport to begin the long journy back to the States. Before heading back to Madison, however, we're going to spend some time with our families. For those of you who are interested, here's our next couple weeks in outline:
June 23: Tel Aviv > Zurich > Chicago > Seattle
June 24-27: with Jessica's family in Bellingham, WA
June 27-July 2: with Tim's family in Portland, OR
July 2: Seattle > Madison
This year has been a very rich experience for us. We've learned alot about ourselves, the Middle East, and our world. We've been happy to share all of this with you on our blog over the year; thanks for your many comments. I hope the blog has been as interesting for you to read as it was for me to write. For those of you in Madison, we'll see you soon!
02:15 Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
06/10/2007
40 years and counting
I have a friend who has worked for many years here in Jerusalem with World Vision's peace-making efforts. He once told me that every single decision one makes in Jerusalem has political implications: the stores at which you choose to shop, the busses you choose to ride (there are separate bus systems for Palestinians and Israelis), even the gum you chew forces you into a choice between whose economy you will support.
As you can imagine, then, an Israeli state-sponsored holiday celebrating the 40 year anniversary of the Six Day War of June 1967 cannot escape this complex mingling of ethnic and political tensions. From mid-May up until this week, there has been a city-wide commemoration of the crucial war of early June 1967, when Israel succeeded in fending off Syria in the North (seizing the Golan Heights), Jordan to the East (seizing East Jerusalem and the Old City), and Egypt to the South (seizing Gaza and the Sinai peninsula). This war also led Israel to impose a military occupation over Gaza and the West Bank, the lands assigned to the emerging Palestinian state by the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1967. These four decades of military occupation have shattered the Palestinian people, their culture, economy, and any aspirations they had of becoming a unified state. Such effects of this occupation have been the subject a number of my blogs in previous months. 
Thus, this "holiday season" has been a very controversial one in Jerusalem to say the least, and has seen a tennis match between Israeli state-sponsored events, and anti-occupation demonstrations put together by many international peace organizations. Such a time brings to the surface the tension and anger felt by so many, but which usually boils just below the surface. Fortunately, there have not been any large outbreaks of violence amidst any of these demonstrations; but this is not to say that people do not hold their opinions with passion. We've captured a few pictures from things we've seen and been involved in over last couple weeks; to see them Click Here.
08:00 Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
06/02/2007
high adventure with the Mackie-Haddon's
Some dear friends from our Portland days, Brian and Gelayol Haddon, came to visit us last week. It was essentially nine straight days of conversation, with some sight-seeing attached. It gave Jessica and I a chance for one last trip to our favorite places in the country before we head back to the States in 3 weeks, and we also got to see some new places. 
Brian (aka Buddy) and Gelayol live in Bakersfield, CA, so the weather was essentially the same for them. It was definitely one of the highlights of our year here, and so, of course, we have to share some photos with you. To see Buddy's rocker hair-do travelling all over Israel-Palestine, Click Here.
01:40 Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
05/19/2007
wilderness wanderings
"David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands" (1Samuel 23.14-15).
It is astounding just how short a distance it is from Jerusalem to the deserts referred to in this story. Just a 15-20 minute drive East of Jerusalem, and you are in an isolated wilderness. Last weekend, we got together with some friends and planned a hike in these very hills, along a dry river bed called Wadi Kelt. Our driver dropped us off at a trailhead in what felt like the middle of nowhere, and we began our journey down the wadi until we reached our destination: the isolated desert monestary of St. George. Had we continued along the wadi we eventually would have emerged from the hills into the Jordan valley overlooking Jericho. It was a unique afternoon of becoming acquainted with the climate and atmosphere of the desert wilderness. To see a bit more, Click Here.
02:20 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
05/13/2007
a weekend away
The countdown to our departure back to the U.S. has begun. We have just 6wks left here in Israel-Palestine, and we're trying to take advantage of every moment of being here. Jessica and I decided to plan a weekend away, to spend time in our favorite part of the country, the region of Galilee and the Golan Heights. 
This region is filled with amazing national parks, hiking, camping, and outstanding natural features, especially waterfalls. We stayed at a small hotel near the waterfront on the Sea of Galilee and spent 3days hiking and adventuring. The last day we spent exploring the Mediterranean coast and hanging out at our favorite beach spot, Caesarea. It was really nice to get out of the city, and into the Galilee area where it is much less developed, and the scenery is breathtaking. This was definitely the greatest number of waterfalls I've seen in one weekend since I lived in Oregon. So then, for a small sample of the outdoor adventure we had, Click Here.
13:35 Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
05/08/2007
the west bank, walls, and settlements
There is nothing simple about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Each side has its own story and rhetoric, and we’ve often found it very difficult, if not impossible, to get to the bottom of things. Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned this year about the conflict is that nothing is really as it seems, and that you have to constantly question what you’re told in the media, and check out things for yourself. Jessica and I have had some great opportunities to spend time in the West Bank this year, and we’ve been saddened and scandalized by the things we’ve seen and the stories we’ve heard. I’d like to share about two of these experiences. (1) The cycles of violence at work here are tragic, and the people in power on both sides do precious little to counter the real forces generating the problems. However, for westerners, the actions and policies of the Israeli government that have called forth such violence are much less well-known. 
Even though the media often portrays the nation of Israel as the underdog, beset by enemies on all sides, if you take time to drive around the West Bank, there is no question who has military dominance over this land. One of Israeli's primary efforts in “solving” the conflict has been the erection of a 436 mile-long, 20ft high separation wall that is supposed to divide the West Bank, i.e. the Palestinian state, from the state of Israel. The stated purpose of the wall is to prevent the uncontrolled entry of Palestinians into Israel for security reasons. However, if one actually does some research into the history of the wall’s origins, and takes a day or two to follow the wall through its many twists and turns, you’ll find that ‘security’ is merely one of its functions: it has also become a tool for confiscating Palestinian-owned land, and for cutting off Palestinians from social or economic development. For more information on the wall, check out this Israeli organization trying to expose the wall for what it is (www.btselem.org); and for a helpful map of the wall in relation to the 1967 UN agreed borders Click Here. (2) Closely related to the wall, is the existence of the many Israeli settlements inside of the West Bank. Since the war of June 1967, the state of Israel has been a military occupier of the West Bank, and they have total control over all roads, entrances and exits to Palestinian cities, water resources, etc. Thus, even though these lands have by international agreement been given to the Palestinian state, the Israeli military is the one in power. 
The government funds or promulgates Israeli-exclusive settlements inside the West Bank, and then surrounds them with massive military protection as they grow and swallow up the land and villages around them. There are today almost half a million Israelis living in settlements inside the West Bank; i.e. inside the very lands that Israel is offering to the Palestinian state in the “land for peace.” You can see why this is a raw deal. It’s like someone confiscating your house, taking up residence in the upper story, and then asking you for peace by giving the lower story. These settlements are often built on land that has been confiscated from Palestinians, who have no legal recourse to get back their lands. For more basic information on these settlements from an Israeli-run human rights organization, click here.
While the media often makes careful note that many Palestinian groups in power have not “renounced terrorism,” the other side of the coin is rarely addressed: the Israeli government actively engaged in land-grabs, and is occupying and settling in the very lands it is supposedly offering in exchange for peace.
My goal in offering pictures and stories is not to be pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli, but pro-justice, and to inform my friends in the U.S. of an under-represented voice: that of the Palestinian civilians, whose lands and livelihoods have been utterly destroyed as the powers scheme against one another.
We’ve had the opportunity to hear some of their stories and see the realities they face, and I’d like to share some of the experiences with you: just Click Here.
12:55 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/12/2007
holy week in jerusalem
Christians have been coming to Jerusalem to remember the events surrounding Jesus' passion week for over 1,700 years, and last week, Jessica and I had the privilege of participating in this ancient tradition. Because the church we've attended this year (Lutheran Church of the Redeemer) is in the middle of the old city, we were right in the heart of things all week long. And to make it even more special, an old friend from Portland days, Nate Meenan, has been with us and added to the fun, new experiences. Holy Week began with the Palm Sunday procession on April 1. A procession of thousands of Christians from around the world retraces Jesus' path from Bethpage and Bethany on the East side of the Mt. of Olives, over the Mt., down the Kidron Valley, and into Jerusalem's eastern gate (see Mark 11.1-11). This was thrilling. There were songs and shouts of "Hosanna" in every language you could think of as we walked from Bethpage to Jerusalem. People celebrated and waved palm leaves. The streets are pretty narrow, and were totally packed with people. As you can imagine, it was an amazing scene.
The next event was four days later, Maundy Thursday ('Maundy' is from Latin 'command', derived from Jesus' words in John 13.34), commemorating Jesus' Passover meal with the disciples the night before his betrayal (Mark 14.12-25). We met at our church for a Communion service and read the gospel narrative, and then just as Jesus and the disciples sang songs and went to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mt. of Olives, so did we: we sang songs along the half-hour walk to Gethsemane where we read the narratives of Jesus' horrifying night in the Garden (Mark 14.33-52). The next morning at 6:30am, our church met again to walk the Via Dolorosa and retrace Jesus' steps from Pilate's quarters to Golgotha. This was also amazing: there were hundreds of people walking the narrow streets of Jerusalem doing the same thing: praying and singing in every language, carrying crosses. There were eastern Europeans, Palestinians, American, Koreans, Russians, and more. I have never felt so part of the international body of Christ before; if one could look past the tourist shops and distracted people, there was a powerful movement of the unified people of Jesus taking place as we reflected and remembered his road of suffering. It was very cool.
To cap it all off, our church held a sunrise service on Easter morning on the East side of the Mt. of Olives, where one can look East all the way to the Dead Sea (on a clear day, that is). We got ogether, retold the resurrection narratives, sang songs, took communion. As if on cue, the sun rose above the clouds just as we finished.
It was truly a privilege to experience the tradition of Holy Week here in Jerusalem. To see some pics and a video, Click Here.
09:15 Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
04/06/2007
high desert adventure
South of the Dead Sea, but before one gets the Red Sea, lies a gigantic range of desert land called the Negev which makes up about 1/3 of the entire county. It's a high desert, full of ranging hills and lone trees, not the sandy, dune-like deserts one usually thinks of when you hear the word "desert." Perhaps "wilderness" is a better term, and that is truly what the Negev is. 
There are, however quite a number of cool things to see there, and after a few months of rainy Jerusalem spring, Jessica and I teamed up with our friends Mike and Kim and took a weekend trip to explore the Negev. Our first destination was a gigantic crater in the desert, many miles long and wide. It was created by some very unique geological forces, and made for great exploring. We also happend upon an ancient desert fortress city built by the same people responsible for Petra in modern Jordan. Last of all went for a hike in a huge canyon-fissure carved out the desert floor by millenia of flash-floods. It's not every weekend one gets to cruise around in a middle-eastern desert, and we were very impressed by the amazing sights to be found there. To see more, Click Here.
11:50 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/01/2007
who have we hung out with this year?
Friends are truly one of life's greatest gifts. And, while we came to Jerusalem only knowing two people, we have been blessed with a great community of friends this year. 
We started going to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City, and have met some truly outstanding people there, most of whom are either students or representatives of Christian organizations working for peace and social justice in the midst of the conflict here. One family in particular, the Browns, who live up on the Mt. of Olives, have been the hosts of many BBQ's and potlucks where we've developed many good friendships. We've also made some other friends in random ways about town, and thought you may like to meet some of them. So then, meet some of our wonderful friends by just Clicking Here.
13:15 Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
03/27/2007
Cairo redivivus
After two weeks of being on the go, we came back to two final days in Cairo before heading back home. It is a great city, bustling with the activity of 20million people. Given that Cairo has been a major Egyptian city for over 2,000yrs, there's plenty of history to see that has nothing to do with ancient pharaohs and temples. 
We spent a day in the section of 'Coptic Cairo' home of one of the most ancient Christian centers in the East. We also saw a bit of 'Islamic Cairo', i.e. the part of town built up in the period of Egypt's great muslim sultans. Even though Cairo is the quintissential Middle-Eastern city, it's modern character felt much more familiar to us than the small Nile towns we had been in for the previous week. We spent our evenings reading at the "Cafe Americane", or along the waterfront of the Nile. It was a great way to round off the trip. We've documented our last couple days for you to get a feel for Cairo. Click Here.
10:15 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this