The Land of Living Stones

Saturday January 3rd I returned home from dinner out in Jerusalem and clicked on the TV. The news was terrible–Phase two of “Operation Cast Lead,” i.e. Israel’s War on Gaza was in progress–Israeli troops were now beginning to invade the Gaza Strip by land with tanks, artillery, and thousands of soldiers. I was greatly distressed by this and turned off the TV again, unable to stomach more pictures of death and destruction. The next day, my birthday, January 4, I went to my church, the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City and there we heard a wonderful sermon by our friend and pastor-in-training Mike on the subject of Jeremiah 31:7-14. Often quoted as a Zionist text, we were asked to consider it as a promise to all God’s people who have been suffering, to take comfort because the Lord will (has) redeem(ed) us. We also had a guest officiant who reminded us at the Eucharist of those who are hungry and thirsty such as the innocent children dying in Gaza and it made for a profound time of worship.

After that I went back with the five girls here with the Lutherans (YAGM program) and they treated me to a pizza lunch. Yum! I was delivered to my apartment which is quite chilly and thought, I really don’t want to stay here all day. Bible study had been canceled and my day loomed empty  and depressing. So I decided to go for a very long walk around Bethlehem, and stopped at my favorite cafe, Cafe Sima and had hot chocolate and a chocolate cupcake to honor the occasion of my birth. It was delicious. Later on, I met up with a friend who was gracious enough to spend time with me so I wouldn’t be lonely and we got dinner together. I came back to my refrigerated living space and baked some cookies for the school teachers and chatted on Skype with some friends back home. 

Due to the absence/general busyness of most people I know around here, my birthday happened to extend for the whole week. Monday I went to my MCC colleagues’ place where Jessie had made me a beautiful cake. We ate together with their Palestinian neighbors who make great stuffed grape leaves and stuffed zucchini and then I blew out 23 candles. It’s getting to be a fire hazard! Trey told one of the relatives that I was 15 and he believed it! Several times this week I have been told I look 15-18 years old.

Tuesday I went back to Cafe Sima with a couple other friends I met through the Bible College and they treated me to a salad (I’ve never missed good, fresh veggies so much!). Then I had a two hour conversation with the SALT coordinator in Pennsylvania–we hadn’t talked really since I left the US. Also on Tuesday I became aware that the Hope Flowers School would be closing for the Orthodox Christmas and so I didn’t have anything to do Wednesday. I made a trip into Jerusalem and collected several Christmas packages and cards that made me very happy! Gifts included some great books, some jewelry, The Office Season One, candy, and comforting words. Thursday at the end of the school day Hope Flowers brought in a little cake with five candles and some strange decorations (paper umbrellas and a chick and a clown.) Small pieces made the cake last for 20 something teachers and staff who then had to rush off quickly.

I’ll never forget my 23rd birthday when Israel marched into Gaza, increasing the bloodshed substantially and making it difficult to celebrate my own wellbeing. It’s also going to be harder than ever to convince people of my true age…

In other news, MCC Palestine has a blog that’s being regularly updated by all of us (including yours truly) about the Gaza war. http://mccpalestine.blogspot.com

I woke up startled from a mid-afternoon nap yesterday (Saturday) when I heard shouting and sirens from the street outside. I quickly opened the window, only to realize that this house has a high stone wall as a backyard, protecting it from the road and giving no view of the current situation. Texting my friend, I decided it best to stay inside until I figured out the problem. A little while later, a call from Tyler who had been across the street playing frisbee relieved my anxiety. There had been a car wreck but fighting had not broken out and calm was more or less restored. I waited a while longer and then was invited to go over to the Brown’s residence. Mark Brown oversees things at Augusta Victoria (Jerusalem) with the Lutheran World Federation. So I walked across the street to find Tyler and company gathered at this house where we often met for volleyball games, advent meals, and a good time. Susanna Brown and some helpers were working on nachos and I went upstairs to see folks who had come. It was quite a few of us altogether.

Then I noticed the TV. Airstrikes in Gaza. It had begun. Everything started making sense. I was in shock but I could now understand the problem outside: a Palestinian Jerusalemite had run his car, presumably deliberately, into an Israeli police officer who was stopping vehicles just outside the hospital. Originally, I thought this was a sad, isolated event, but then I realized that it was quite likely related to the bombing of Gaza by Israel’s air forces. We were transfixed by the news a long time, distressed and saddened by the ever more gruesome stories unfolding. Over 200 dead and many many wounded. Of course, since the hospitals in Gaza had not been allowed any supplies for weeks, they were ill equipped for the injured. I too was surprised by the Sabbath day attack which coincided with the Muslim New Year’s Eve.
What could we do? I realized anew the helplessness I often feel in light of such enormous situations. We all knew Israel was planning a military response to Hamas’ rockets in southern Israel. But what aggression! 100 tons of bombs in only a few minutes. Schools were letting out. A Gazan rocket hit and killed a woman in Israel while many Israeli bombs killed hundreds of Gazans. Such senseless loss of life. Innocent people dead, people I now come to identify with in this beautiful land. I heard that a march was going on in Bethlehem and from what I could tell many Palestinians in the West Bank were responding to the Gazan attacks.

So Sunday came after a long night and I headed to church at Redeemer on what is known as “Dead Sunday” for its lack of attendance. There were a fair number of us though and I soon discovered that the day is known as the day for “Commemoration of the Holy Innocents”–a memorial of the Massacre described in Matthew, where King Herod orders all babies in Bethlehem and around killed to eliminate the threat of a Jewish Messiah figure. I am not sure what sort of historical basis, if any, there is, but Pastor Mark suggested that about 20 infants or more may have been killed. This theme, which gets recognized on a Sunday once in 7 years, struck an extremely emotional chord in me today. How fitting that we remember those who die as a result of indiscriminate violence today when bombs and rockets rain over Gaza/south Israel. Hundreds of Gazan Palestinians are dying and I imagine more Israelis will die before it’s all over.

The liturgy, though recited by sympathetic figures who know the pain we feel today, is almost unbearable. How could it be okay to God for so many people to suffer and die innocently? The first reading centers on Rachel crying for her children who will one day be avenged and return to their country–the psalm emphasizes the victorious Israelites who declare that God is on their side. Such scriptures (read here)
are impossible for me to reconcile to an all-loving God. How can God be only on one side? How can only one group be chosen? The Bible remains a mystery to me in this regard, especially since many are more than happy to use such passages to determine whose side God is on!

Pray with me for the people here–all the people Israeli, Palestinian, and others who are intricately connected to this place. Pray for an end to the bombing, an end to rocket launching, an end to the violence. Pray that ground troops are not sent in, that medicines and food do get in to Gaza. Pray that people’s actions in solidarity do not bring more violence. I am not in danger. I am not sure how Palestinians will continue to react to the crisis in Gaza but for now it means marches and strikes. While I am far from the bombing, the pain feels close at hand. Pray that the pain and suffering will be over soon.  Remember the Innocents who are dying today and everyday.