Monday, January 27, 2014

Monday 27 January 2014 Negev

We delivered school kits to Sidreh in Laqiya, Negev. Blaine loaded about 230 boxes in the van in the morning, and Sidreh employees formed a chain to unload them when we arrived.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to load, and about 15 minutes to unload. 
 




After we unloaded the boxes, Khadra invited us to have lunch with her.  It was a delicious meal of rice, vegetables and beef.  The beef was tender and the rice was delicious.
 
Khadra has pictures of Jill Biden and other well known people on her wall and a picture of a woman selling her products in Virginia. She is a very engaging and energetic Bedouin who helps Bedouin women in several ways. Two of her projects are a weaving center where she sells Bedouin made products to tourists and a community school for Bedouin women to learn to read and write Hebrew and Arabic. She has spoken at the Knesset and is well known and respected in the Negev. She sleeps only 4 hours each night.
We met Margaret Elwanger there.  Margaret is a Mormon who lives in Galilee.  She does humanitarian outreach in Israel.  She introduced the Jerusalem Center to Sidreh several years ago. Their philosophy is to fund people who have projects that will help them become self-sustaining so Elwanger's help is no longer needed. One of the best ways is to create employment opportunities for people.
Her husband, Russell, left a secure job with an American company 10 years ago to move to Israel and take over a company that was on the edge of going out of business. He successfully turned it around and now they employ 3000 people in Israel. He is the only non-Jewish CEO in Israel.

After lunch, we went with Margret to see Mariam, a Bedouin woman who sells herbs, lotions, and soap.  Ingredients include camel milk and herbs. Mariam studied marketing at an English university.

 Mariam dries 11 different herbs.  They teach children to develop their sense of smell so they aren't repulsed when they encounter different smells as they grow older and because it is part of their culture.  The Israeli army uses Bedouins as trackers because they have a highly developed sense of smell.


Margaret, in the white blouse, arranged for a Bedouin meal. Darrell is from New York and lives with his wife who teaches at an American International School in Israel. Freeda (?), in the orange sweater, is a Palestinian Israeli who knows Margaret. We ate Bedouin style on the floor. We each had a pillow to lean on and cushions to sit on.  The food was served on a tablecloth spread on the floor among the cushions.

We talked about the plight of Bedouins and Palestinians.  The government wants all Bedouins to live in recognized communities.  It is an interesting transition because Bedouins are traditionally producers.  They produce what they need and go to the market only a couple times a year.  If they move into a recognized community, they become consumers and need the market to supply their needs. They are used to a pastoral life. If they live in a recognized community, they have no land and are often unemployed.

If a Palestinian cannot produce a land document showing ownership, the government assumes the land is Israeli property and confiscates it.  It doesn't matter that the family has had the land for 300 years.  During Ottoman rule, a family member had to serve in the military if he recorded his property. Many people bought land but didn't record it so they wouldn't have to serve in the Ottoman military. As a result, many families who own land can't prove ownership, so it ends up being confiscated. In other cases, there are documents on file in Istanbul, but people lack knowledge and finances to recover the documents and preserve their land.

If a case gets to the Israeli Supreme Court the Court is seen as treating Palestinians fairly. The Israeli government wanted to confiscate land from a Palestinian family. The owner had fled the country during the 1948 war and he was not allowed to return. His brother was still in Israel and contested the government's right to confiscate the property. He said he had the right to buy the property from his brother. He had the knowledge and finances to contest it.  He found the documents in Istanbul and appealed his case to the Israeli Supreme Court, who ruled in his favor. 

The government doesn't recognize the Bedouin property rights in unrecognized villages. However, to entice the Bedouins to move, the government offers to buy the property for peanuts or exchange it for property that is valued much higher in a recognized village.    
  
Mariam married a Bedouin man about 3 months ago.  They are building a new home for themselves in an unrecognized village. They cannot get a permit for the home, so they are taking the risk that the government will bulldoze their home.  They are looking at it as a temporary home, anticipating what could happen.

There are about 6 million Jews in Israel and about 1.6 million Palestinians.  In the West Bank, there are about 3.9 million Palestinians.  Palestinians tend to have larger families, so the Palestinian population in the combined West Bank/Israel is expected to outnumber Jews in the future.

Mariam is a religious Muslim.  When the prayer sounded, Mariam said she needed to pray.  She prays 5 times per day. That led to a discussion about voices.  The voice on the call to prayer was not a pleasant voice. Mariam said when it is not a pleasant voice, she recoils a bit about praying.  Some callers are volunteers, so the voice can't be screened.  Others are paid and can be screened.  She told a story of Mohammed who chose the person to give the call to prayer because he had a good voice.  Someone asked 3 times to be allowed to call for prayer, and Mohammed turned him down, finally telling him he chose the person based on his pleasant voice.

Freeda is a secular Muslim and does not wear the traditional Muslim dress. Mariam said there are also  Muslims who are secular, but who wear the traditional dress so they fit in culturally. 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sunday 26 January 2014 Beit Safafa Elementary School

We went with 11 students from the Jerusalem Center to practice English with 6th graders at Beit Safafa Elementary School.  Beit Safafa is a Palestinian neighborhood between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Their teacher had prepared several pages of questions in English about various subjects - seasons of the year, healthy food, vacations, etc. She divided us into groups so we each had 3 students. We spent about an hour talking to the students about the questions on the paper.  Then Linda led everyone in "A too ah tah" and "head, shoulders, knees and toes" .  The school provided us juice and sweets as we left. 





Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Wednesday 22 January 2014 Eran's birthday party

The staff held a birthday party for Eran today.  He has worked at the Jerusalem Center for 20 years, and he has been the Director since 2007.




Monday, January 20, 2014

20 Jan 2014 Jerusalem Center, Bethany and the Old City

Four Homes of Mercy in Bethany is a home for handicapped adults. Four Homes has been waiting a long time for payments that were committed by the Palestinian Authority to help them function financially.  

 Usama did his dissertation on corruption within the Palestinian Authority and we talked about corruption in government, especially in the Palestinian Authority. It is not whether there is corruption in government, but how it is dealt with.  There is plenty of money within the PA from international sources, but it is not used properly.  The European Union gave the PA 2.5 billion Euros.  During a recent audit, the PA could not account how the money was spent. It is easy for Palestinians to blame their troubles on the Israelis. It is not all Israel's fault- the Palestinians need to get rid of the corruption within their own government.

The relationship with Israel is becoming more difficult.  Checkpoints, for example, are harder even compared to a year ago. Even though he disagrees with what Israel does to the Palestinians, Usama admires their government because they are dedicated to providing security for their people, whereas the PA is not.

Rose of Jerusalem provides day school and therapy for handicapped children up to the age of 17.  He started it because 4 of his siblings are handicapped.  Many problems come from inter-marrying.

We spent the afternoon getting ready for family home evening tonight.  We will invite a student group to our home each Monday night this semester until all of the students have been here.

Below are some random pictures we took today.

  Eighth level hallway in the Jerusalem Center, outside our offices

Typical means of transporting goods inside the Old City

Selling vegetables, fruit, and herbs inside Damascus Gate

Neatly stacked strawberries, outside of Damascus Gate




Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sunday 19 January 2014 Na'amat and Teachers Village Society

Na'amat is a Jewish pre-school for ages 3 months - 3 years that serves single parents, low income families, and working parents.  It was started in 1921 in Palestine and has 250 locations. The children come 5 1/2 days per week from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm. The cost per child is 600 - 2400 NIS per month, depending on the age ($170 - $680). The staff is trained and certified by the Israel Minister of Education. Private donors fund Na'amat. The children and staff seemed happy. They accept Jewish, Muslim, and Christian children.
  
 Children learning songs

 Judy, Linda, Vadra (director) and Stew. Judy and Stew made aliya to Israel 30 years ago. She was national vice president in the US prior to moving to Israel and she has volunteered for 44 years. 

Playtime

Snack time

Little Van Goghs in the making

 Outdoor playgound

The cook at Na'amat fixed brunch of eggs, fruit, vegetables, and bread.


Teachers Village Society is a 6 year-old organization of retired school teachers and administrators.  They meet once/month and discuss how they can improve Jerusalem. One of their projects is teaching women to cook. After learning to cook, the women can sell their products.  They have one cook who teaches them to bake sweets, and one cook who teaches general cooking. The classes are given over a 3 month period, 2 times each week, 10 lessons for each course.  They train on Saturday and Sundays from 10 am - 3 pm.  They also have 9 computers they use to teach computer skills to teachers.  The retired teachers contribute to the organization and solicit donations from their friends. The group of women seemed like people who just want to help people improve their situation, just like good school teachers do.


They served the best cheese and zatar filled baked roll we have had, and delicious macaroons.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Monday 13 January 2014 The Old City


This pyramid of spices in the Old City is always in perfect shape.

 The Jewish quarter of the Old City is newer and cleaner.  This street leads toward the Western Wall.

Friday 10 January 2014 Dinner at Telmans

Judy and Stu Telman have come to concerts at the Jerusalem Center since 1995.  They invite volunteer couples to dinner to express appreciation for the free concerts. 
 
Jewwish Sabbath begins before sundown on Friday night and ends at sundown on Saturday night.  
 They light candles and read a prayer as part of the weekly ritual. They read a prayer to bless the bread and wine (homemade lime aid for us). We ate bread, yams, mixed vegetables, cauliflower, chicken, cookies, brownies, and lime pie. Everything was homemade.
 
 
Counter clockwise:  Stu, Gary and Alexis Nickel, John and Jan Clayton, Judy, Gil and Neomi (she was taking a phone call), and Linda.


Sunday January 5, 2014 Bible Lands Museum and Supreme Court

We visited the Bible Lands Museum and the Supreme Court.
 
The Bible Lands Museum has artifacts from many time periods. The founder believes everyone is part of Adam's family and civilizations live with and are influenced by other civilizations. For example, stories of the flood are found in more than one civilization, not just the Old Testament.
 
Bible displays include a page from the Gutenberg Bible and manuscripts from the 5th century. A few displays have Bibles side by side to illustrate copying or translating errors. The same verse in Ruth reads "she" in one Bible and "he" in another.  A New Testament verse has a comma in one Bible and no comma in another, which changes the meaning to 'Jesus was a malefactor'.
 
There are 15 Supreme Court judges.  They are chosen by a committee of lawyers, judges, politicians, and citizens. They serve until they are 70. The system is designed to pick the best people rather than have political appointees. They hear 2000 cases per year. The US and Canadian Supreme Courts hear only 100 cases per year and have only 9 judges. There are 3 levels - magistrate, district, and supreme court. There are no appellate courts. Normally, only 1 - 3 judges hear a case. Only once have all 15 judges heard a case - a woman wanted to have her ex-husband's sperm bank. The husband objected because they were no longer married.  There are no juries.  They believe common people don't understand the law, so cases are best decided by judges rather than juries.
 
Hall which leads to the courtrooms.
 
 Most light in the building is natural. People sit on these benches to wait for their case to be heard.

 In the courtroom,  judges sit in the front and attorneys for each side face the judges.  In the US and Canadian Supreme Courts, judges do the questioning. In the Israeli system, attorneys do the questioning and the judges do the listening.  The people whose case is being heard sit on the right and the media sit on the left. There is no jury box because the judges decide all cases.
 
A Menorah behind the judges honors Jewish history and does not represent a religious symbol. 

A Mesusa on the doorpost at the entrance to the court reminds Jews to remember God. It is probably there for historical rather than religious significance, since most Jews are secular.

  Architectural straight lines symbolize strictness in the law.  If I steal, I receive the punishment for stealing.  Round designs symbolize flexibility for the law to consider circumstances. For example, if I steal because I am starving rather than for personal gain,the law may judge me differently. 

Monday December 30, 2013 Al Aqsa, Jewish Cemetery, Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Anne Marie, Kevin, and Blaine walked into the Old City.

On Al Aqsa, we visited with a group of Muslim men who were studying the Koran.  They study every day until about 2:00 pm. They were very friendly and willing to talk with us.


 We walked through the Jewish cemetery on the hillside opposite Al Aqsa.

  A little too bright for Kevin.

Let's try a different pose

 Ok, we can see Kevin peeking through those eyelids now.

16 years after Anne Marie and Jon studied there and Linda, Scott, and Blaine visited in 1997.


Shaban took us to the roof of the Greek Orthodox Church overlooking Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
 
 Bishop Garn and Char were visiting  Belnaps, so we all had the opportunity to be on the roof. Shaban is Muslim but he has good relations with the Greek Orthodox Church. He walked us right in.


Entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The bell ringers started ringing the bells in the tower right next to us.  They were wearing ear mufflers. 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Friday December 27, 2013 Galilee



We took a  picture of the Old City from the Jerusalem Center before leaving for Galilee.

We stopped at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee where the Sea enters the Jordan River.

This is the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus, according to tradition.

Several years ago, during a dry season when the water at the Sea of Galilee had receded, this boat was discovered in the mud.  It dates from the time of Jesus.  It had been preserved because it was encased in mud.  To excavate it, they had to keep it moist. If the wood dried out, it would disintegrate. To move it, they encased it in foam, like that used to seal openings around pipes, etc.

Josh and Ben preferred the fish in the pond rather than the historical site.

There are two churches at Tabgha near the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes.  One celebrates the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and one honors Jesus' command for Peter to "feed my sheep".


On the Sea of Galilee where Jesus served breakfast to his disciples after his resurrection.

 This stairway probably dates to the time of Jesus.


The remains of Peter's home in Capernaum.