in the middle east

Akko is a small coastal town about a half hour north of Haifa, and 45min south of the Lebanon border. This large peninsula juts out into the Mediterranean, and has been a strategically important harbor town for over 3,500 years. Before the ancient Israelite were ever around, it was an Egyptian port, and in Judges chapter 1 it is mentioned as a place that Israel was never able to get a foothold. It was an important Roman port city until well after Jesus' time. In the mid-600's it came under Arab rule, and only in the 1100's was it captured by the Crusader, by Richard the Lionheart no less. After the crusaders it was under Arab and Muslim rule, though Napolean did once besiege the city. The Arab rule lasted up until the war of 1948 when it became a part of the modern Israeli state. The population, however, is mostly Palestinian. Because port cities were so important in the ancient world, it has had a long series of possessors, and dispossers who become possessors, and so on. However, to come upon such a place today, means that at every turn in this quaint coastal town you can learn all about it's amazing history, just by looking at the buildings. To see a bit of Akko, just Click Here.

Hebron represents one of the saddest and most harsh realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is one of the larger cities in the West Bank, and is the major industrial production city in the Palestinian state. After the 1967 war, Israel took control of the city, and in 1979 Israeli settlers seized and moved into the center of the town. The Israeli military then divided the city into two sections: H1 the larger expanse of the city (about 150,000 Palestinians) and H2, the city center (about 50,000 Palestinians) came under Israeli military control to 'protect' the 400-500 settlers who refuse to leave the city. Thus, the city that was home to many thousands of Palestinians for centuries past has been turned into a place of hostility and violence (for a quick overview of the city's history, Click Here). We recently took a day long 'political tour' of Hebron with a guide from Jerusalem. He and his family have been threatened by Israeli 'security' officials because he gives these tours to Westerners, and so I cannot mention his name. We walked all around the city center and our guide showed us places and introduced us to people that epitomized the problems here. All the while, we walked along the border of the Israeli settlement that was heavily guarded. I could see heavily armed soldiers peering at us through camouflage nets and fences; it was rather eerie. The whole experience was quite disturbing: you could feel the tension in the quiet streets. Life in the H2 part of Hebron has become quite miserable for Palestinians: their children have rocks thrown at them and their homes are vandalized by the settlers (Click here for more info). The violence that has taken place here has even caused many Israeli soldiers here to band together in protest to the way the Palestinians are abused; their organization is called Breaking The Silence (see their website by Clicking Here). I really don't have much else to say, except that the Western Media does not typically represent what is actually happening in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation. The recent stirrings about re-engaging the Israeli-Palestinian peace process may be a cause of hope for some, but until the severe human-rights abuses taking place under the occupation are brought to an end, the effects of any peace-agreement with remain totally theoretical. To see more, Click Here.

Jessica and I are continually amazed at how many interesting things there are to discover here. One day when Jessica's parent were here, we spent a day cruising around some of the older layers of the city. After church Jack and I went to what is called the "City of David", a recent tourist attraction that holds layers and material from the oldest area of Jerusalem, i.e. pre-Israelite Jebusite Jerusalem and the Jerusalem of the kings of Judah. Here is the famous Hezekiah's tunnel: an aquaduct of 1/4 mile's length hewn out of bedrock in the late 700's BC. (I've incorporated some pictures from when Jessica and I went there in the late summer as well, so she makes a star appearance). After that Jack and I met up with Jessica and Joyce and we wandered into the ancient valley of Kidron (known as the valley of Jehoshaphat "Yahweh judges" from Joel chaper 3) where you can find remains of 2,000 year old rock tombs. After eating some snacks of beef Jerkey and nuts in the graveyard (somewhat surreal) we headed back up into the city for a 5pm tour of the Western Wall tunnel. This is an archaeological site where a tunnel has been dug out along the length of the original Western wall of the temple mount. It was long, impressive, and full of interesting tidbits about the city's history. So, follow our adventures in old Jerusalem and older Jerusalem, Click Here.

Just last month we were able to take a day trip to Ramallah, one of the largest and economically prosperous cities in the West Bank. A friend I met at school lives there with her family. She took us downtown where we walked about and saw the sights. It was bustling with people, markets, cars. We had a great time there and people were super friendly.
It was especially disturbing then, to hear that two days ago the Israeli Defense Force launched a full-scale military raid to salvage an undercover mission to arrest what they say were "top level" officials. The original mission was conducted by IDF personnel in plain clothes. When they were found out a gun battle ensued, and reinforcements were called in: at least 12 military Hummers, armored personnel carriers, 2 gigantic military bulldozers and helicopter gunships blazed right into downtown. The bulldozers went ahead, literally scooping up cars and store fronts and tossing them aside to clear a path for the brigade. The helicopters were strafing fire along the path of the procession, and all of this in middle of downtown. 4 civilians were killed, more than a dozen wounded. And for me personally, what was perhaps the most disturbing, was to watch the CNN video footage (click here to see it) and see the very place where we stood, downtown Manara square, desolated and overrun by military vehicles. The fact that we were recently there, when the streets were full of people, brought the reality of the situation to bear in a personal way. I can't imagine what it would feel like to know that your neighborhood could be overrun by military vehicles wreaking havoc and literally destroying the downtown of your city.
Now, because I don't have all the facts, I should say that the real causes for the debacle are likely very complex. But this pattern of the Israeli military is very typical: responding with way more military power than is really necessary (recall the 1,000,000 people who had to flee from Beruit last Summer). Regardless of one's view of the conflict here, these kinds of situations are tragic, and unfortunately, all too familiar here. Note: the Israeli military today (1/7/06) that the Ramallah raid was a "mistake" (click here); a pretty costly mistake.

December is a unique month here in Israel/Palestine because each of the three Abrahamic religions has a major holiday: Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, "The Feast of Sacrifice' a holiday commemorating Abraham's binding of Isaac; Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah to commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple after gaining political independence from Syria in the Maccabean revolt (167-165 BC); Christians celebrate Christmas to remember the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. On the Israeli side of town, you would never know it was Christmas; while there are many lights (although, not green and red) and decorations, they are all for Hanukkah; in Bethlehem you would never know it was Hanukkah, all the decorations are for Christmas. Such is life here. We got to experience the full range of holiday festivities in Jerusalem, and I've tried to represent a small sample of it all. And to top it off, I've included some photos and video of a very interesting group of Orthodox Jewish peace-enthusiasts. The disciples of Rabbi Nahman Me'uman believe that peace, love, and dancing are the key to Peace in the Middle East. You have to see it to believe it. Click Here.

We got the chance to take a tour of the Judean hills and Jericho. Because of the Israeli military occupation, Jericho is not always a welcome place for tourists, but we found a guide who would take us for the day and it was well worth it. We saw a number of cool places in the desert hills on the way to Jericho, some very old monestaries and mosques. The most memorable thing was Jericho itself. It is one of the oldest cities on the planet; humans have settled in this area dating back to 8,000 BC. It's significance in the Bible is well-known: the battle of Joshua and Jericho, the tax-collector Zaccheus climbs a tree to see Jesus. However, the modern city is under quite alot of duress due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli military has trapped the city's population by road blocks and demolitions, and controls the only entrance in and out. The city's inhabitants are allowed to leave into the West Bank (their own country) only under limited permission. This has created what is practially a large ghetto within the city limits. It was very clear driving around that life is hard here, for the economy has little room to grow, and work is limited due to the conflict. It was hard to be there and know that there was nothing immediately relevant I could do for these people. Their hope lies in the international community awaking to the serious oppression taking place here by the Israeli government. I will be showing more about this in other places we've been recently, but for now, take a look for yourself at the wonders and tragedies surrounding Jericho. Click Here.

We've been blessed to have Jessica's parents, Jack and Joyce, with us here for the holidays. Because Christmas is not celebrated in Judaism and Islam, and because this makes up the majority of Jerusalem's inhabitants, it's been a challenge to feel festive. No Christmas lights or trees or anythings except in a few Western hotels. We did, however, go to a Christmas eve service in Bethlehem at a Palestinian Lutheran church just up the street from Manger Square. It was surreal to celebrate the birth of Jesus with our Palestinian brothers and sisters whose families have lived in Bethlehem for over 1,000 years and who are suffering so much due to the apartheid wall being built around the West Bank. For more about their situation, Click Here. With Jessica's parents here, we've been walking our legs off all around the city, and have taken some shorter day trips to Bethlehem, Jericho, and Hebron. We leave tomorrow for a 5-day adventure up north: Nazereth, Galilee, Golan Heights, Haifa, and more. So, I won't be posting for a little while, but I've been collecting some really interestings things for future blogs: Apartheid in the West Bank; Peace, Love, and Hannuka in Jerusalem; Christmas Eve in Bethlehem; the Economic stranglehold around Jericho, and more. Stay tuned and I'll try to keep things coming in future weeks. Merry Christmas!

The second of my Albright field trips took us up the furthest northern point of the Israeli territory: the Golan Heights. The 6-day war of 1967 could actually have been the 4-day war, but Israel pressed on to gain more territory than it previously had, namely, the Golan Heights. The precious water resources of this land could then be directed towards their agriculture. The region is directly above the Sea (Lake) of Galilee, and boasts some of ancient Israel and Canaan's best preserved cities. We first went to to the gigantic mound of ancient Hazor. There was a large Canaanite temple and city here, and later the Israelites built a major fortress city as well (see 1Kings 9:15). It was strategic because it controlled a main road from the norther hill country to the fertile Hula Valley below, where the Jordan river supplies the area with irrigation. Our next stop was to the city of Dan. The major period revealed by excavations is the fortified city from the time of Ahab, the mid-9th cent. There was a marvelous stone plaza, a city-gate gate courtyard, and the ancient sacred temple area that Jereboam constructed to rival the temple in Jerusalem (see 1Kings 12). It is housed in the Tel-Dan Nature Reserve; a beautiful haven of a park. In the middle is a natural spring that is one of the largest sources of the Jordan river. Last of all we went to Banias, known in antiquity as Caesarea-Philipi. This is a huge rock wall, along which was built a large temple complex in the last centuries BC. A natural spring issues from the base of the rock producing a series of cascading pools. As we traveled about, the border with Lebanon was just a few kilometers to the North-West, and the Syrian border to our North-East. This is truly one of Israel/Palestine's most beautiful regions, so see some more by clicking here.

The last two weeks I've been able to take some outstanding field trips with the Albright Archaeology Institute. I know some of you may not be interested in ruins and dirt, but I think it's fascinating and thought you may be interested. The first trip was to the central coastal hills, where we saw two sites, ancient Gezer and Gath. Gezer was a major Canaanite and later Israelite city, built high on a hill that overlooks the entire coastal plain. Here was found the oldest complete Hebrew text (the Gezer Calendar, to see it click here). The city of Gath was an ancient Canaanite, later Philistine, and later Israelite city. It is most famous as the home town of Goliath. Last of all, we went to the ancient city of Ashkelon. It was a major port town in the Canaanite and Philistine periods, where they exported purple-dyed cloth, wine, olive oil. It was apparently the Paris of ancient Canaan. All three sites were large, impressive, and filled with ancient history and significance. The views that these large Tels (tel = mound) offered up and down the coastal plains were outstanding. Take a peek if your interested. Click Here.

While the modern city of Jerusalem has expanded far in all directions, at the center lay the old city itself, built along a series of hilltops which have been inhabited for some 4,000 years. The shape of the old city today is defined by its tall walls, which date from the mid-1500's when the famous Sultan Suleyman of the Ottoman empire captured the city and fortified it. Over the past few months, Jessica and I have been piecing together the city's "biography" by means of the walls and gates. There are today 8 functioning city gates, and two others that are no longer in use. You can also pay a small entrance fee to gain access to the Ramparts Walk, which takes you along the the parapet of the wall almost all the way around the city. It's a great way to see everything. So, here is a tour of the wall and gates of the old city, starting on the West side, and circling clockwise all the way around. Enjoy. Click Here.