From the Desert to Jerusalem

Yesterday we traveled to the south, from the city of Jerusalem, through the beautiful mountains, lots of green vegetation, to the desert of Negev. Even saw some camels grazing in the the fields along the way. We visited the land of the Bedouins', a native people who have lived there for hundreds to thousands of years. The Bedouins' have been refused recognition by the state of Israel. For the past 50 years the Israeli government has been trying to force them from their land. We visited three unrecognized villages. What was common to all three was their gracious hospitality - inviting us into their homes, sitting us on the floor making sure we had enough cushions, serving water, then tea, and something to eat (fresh food, fresh baked bread). It didn't matter whose house you visited or how many homes in a specific village. They wanted to share their stories.

Another commonality of the villages was the utter poverty the people have been forced to live in because of Israel's failure to recognize them - denying them access to running water, electricity, basic services, and demolishing many of their homes.

In the second village we visited we stood next to a home which had been demolished by the government just a little over a week ago, two days before the owner's wedding. The home he had just built for the start of his new family. It was destroyed because he did not have a permit to build, but the residents of the unrecognized villages cannot obtain permits to build.

At the Al Arakib village, the third village we visited, the leader, Sariah Abu Medigem, pleaded with us to share their story with the rest of the world because they had just received an evacuation order, to be executed sometime between July 15 - Aug. 15. They asked us to stay with them for the rest of our trip to witness the possible destruction of their entire village by the state. Many in the group were torn between doing such or continuing on with the schedule already set for us. Recognizing that this is just one example of many of the abuses that are taking place throughout Israel, whether it be in the Bedouins' land, East Jerusalem, or the West Bank where we will be traveling to on Tuesday, the group decided to move on with the journey previously set for us. The words of our guide yesterday, Amos Gvirtz, an Israeli Jew who has taken up the human rights cause for both Palestinian's and the Bedouins', that which he repeated
over and over again, "the aim of the Zionist movement from the beginning was to take the land for the Jews only. One people took another people's land. That is the essence of the conflict, whether it be with the Bedouins' or the Palestinians."

This morning there were church bells in the air and most of us went off to worship at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer here in the Old City. A wonderful church service where we met many other Christian workers from throughout the world who have come to Israel/Palestine, including several workers from Mennonite Central Committee. I couldn't help but think of those that will be worshiping back home in a few hours. My thoughts, prayers, and spirit are there as well. I also couldn't help but think of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, "you claim peace when there is no peace at all."

Just finished my fresh baked chocolate croisant and coca-cola. "Oh, it tasted so good!" A little time to relax this afternoon before heading off to Bethlehem for the next couple of days, the second stage of our journey.