Amanda in the UK

Dear friends and family,

February was quite an eventful month. I’ve been busy at work trying to fill David’s role, the other gap year volunteer who finished his service in January. I now find myself leading the sessions and realizing how lucky we were to have David around. Furthermore, the schools broke up for half-term in February, and I ended up chaperoning a junior high retreat. And in the midst of all of this, I took a week off to travel to the Holy Land. I am therefore finding it rather difficult to squeeze so much experience into one newsletter! Please forgive me if I get a bit carried away.
The opportunity to visit Jerusalem came up in November, but I actually didn’t purchase my tickets until January. I hesitated, not because I was apprehensive about going, but because my mother was quite worried. It seems as though all we Westerners ever hear about Israel is suicide bombers and terrorist attacks. Even the U.S. State Department highly cautions everyone who is thinking of travelling to Israel. So my mom had reasons to be worried. But being young and reckless, I was still eager to go; and so, after much thought and prayer, I bought my tickets. My friends encouraged me not to pass up such an amazing opportunity.
My friend Eric, another ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission volunteer, has a college friend who is living and working in Jerusalem. Eric had been planning on visiting him and invited me along. We would stay with this friend, Paul, at the Lutheran World Federation headquarters on the Mount of Olives. It was an ideal situation. I had recently been more interested in Israel and Palestine and quite eager to travel there; and now it seemed like my chance had come.
I tried to prepare for my trip by reading memoirs on pilgrimages, as well as familiarizing myself on the history. Nonetheless, I was still unsure what to expect. If I anticipate a spiritual experience, will I be disappointed? Do I instead focus on the historical sites? Is Jerusalem still a “Holy City,” or is it completely corrupted by warfare? My head spinning with such questions, I decided to leave my expectations behind and let God show me what He will.
My first impression, after landing in Tel Aviv, was that this is not a land of fear-stricken people. Israel may suffer from violence, but people also call it home. This is the Israel we don’t see on the media: the ordinary lives of individuals. I guess it’s sort of like when my young people ask me if everyone in America carries a gun. They are always surprised to hear that I don’t know anyone who’s ever been shot. America has a gun problem, but we don’t walk around in constant fear; so why should we expect Israelis to?
The other “Israel” that we don’t often see is that of the ordinary Palestinians, who live under the rule of the Israeli government. The history of the State of Israel is a complicated subject that I don’t think I’ll ever understand. Very simply, the British took control of Palestine from the Ottomans after World War I, and soon opened up the borders for immigration by Jewish people. Jews from all over Europe and beyond relocated in Israel to escape anti-Semitism, as did many Holocaust survivors after World War II. However, native Palestinians had been occupying the land for nearly 2,000 years. The British displaced many of them from their farms and homes to make room for the Jewish settlers. In 1958, the Jewish people declared their independence from British rule and the State of Israel was born.
So right from the start, Israel was an unstable country with conflicts stemming from displacement and religion. Fast forward to the present, and you have a strong Israeli government that not only controls Israel but also occupies the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Israeli citizens live in a Western society of shopping malls and night clubs. Palestinians, however, have limited rights to own land and to move around in their own country. And the ugly truth is that the Israeli government is trying to force even more Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank.
Paul drove us through an Israeli settlement just outside of East Jerusalem. It was a gorgeous oasis in the desert with large homes and palm trees, reminiscent of southern California. Yet its construction meant that many Palestinians lost their homes, as well as access to the precious water supply on which the settlement was built. Driving past the security guards at the gate takes you to a completely different world, with Bedouin shepherds living in shacks.
It is not my intention to turn this newsletter into a soap box and preach to you about politics. But I can’t help but share the stories of the ordinary Palestinians I met. One of Paul’s co-workers has a permit to work in Jerusalem, but he has to cross several checkpoints just to reach Jerusalem from his home in the north. His 60-mile trip turns into a four-hour ordeal. As a result, he must live in Jerusalem during the week and risks the journey back on the weekends to see his family.
Other Palestinians living in East Jerusalem must only cross the security wall to get to work. Nonetheless, these permit-holding Palestinians line up as early as 4:30 a.m. to cross the wall and be to work by 8 a.m. The security wall, built in 2004, attempts to stop illegal movement in the border and thus keep out prospective terrorists. But it also functions to humiliate and further complicate those Palestinians who have genuine passes. We went through such a security point after accompanying Paul on a work trip to the West Bank. Only two or three people were let through the gate at a time. They showed their IDs and answered quite a few questions before being allowed to pass through. And they must do this each day, just to get to and from work.
Not all Palestinians are even this lucky, though. The ones who are unable to get work permits are not allowed any movement between Israel and the West Bank. We met Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem who cannot travel to Jerusalem for the Easter Festivals. Paul also told us of a Palestinian man whose father was dying of cancer. They live on opposite sides of the wall. Paul’s hospital applies for a medical pass to visit their hospital, just so that the father can come through for a day and see his son.
The persecution of the Palestinian people has led some to extreme action, who revolt against the Israelis through terrorism. You probably heard about the shooting at a Jerusalem rabbinical school last week that left eight people dead. The Israelis are justifiably concerned about preventing such attacks, and the security wall is an attempt to keep out potential terrorists. And so terrorist attacks such as these only causes the Israelis to take more precautions and to further restrict the movement of the Palestinian people.
So, as you can see, the situation in the Holy Land is anything but peaceful and, furthermore, represents a long and complicated struggle to which there is no clear solution. My visit opened me up to the Palestinian perspective, which the media scarcely highlights; yet it is clear that both sides contribute to conflict and violence. I just wanted to share what I learned and to give voice to those whom I met. Hopefully, my narrative will help you see more of Israel than is shown on the news.
I just realized that I’ve filled two pages without talking about the holy places. This was also a pilgrimage, after all! I’ll end with a few reflections about what I saw.
Israel is teeming with holy sites. It seems as though you can’t walk a block without stumbling into some important site, such as the birthplace of Mary or the site of the Last Supper. Some sites are quite questionable, such as the stone from which Jesus blessed the loaves and fish. Other events are commemorated in more than one place; there are, for instance, two churches of the ascension that both claim to be the authentic place where Jesus ascended into Heaven. One quickly learns that the event itself, not the precise location, is what is important.
Other sites seem to have more credibility. The Garden of Gethsemane, for instance, has been replanted; yet it still contains two olive trees that are more than 2,000 years old. And the Garden Tomb, discovered in the late 19th century and preserved by British volunteers, has very convincing evidence that this empty tomb could have been where Jesus was laid to rest.
On my last day in Jerusalem, I wandered around the Garden Tomb for a second time, to contemplate Jesus’ death and resurrection. I sat silently in the tomb, looking at the empty room and trying to let it all sink in. I imaged that, just perhaps, this site was authentic; that the glorious resurrection of Jesus occurred in that very room. Yet my mind kept wandering back to the events of the past week and all that I had been exposed to. Suddenly, it felt as though God was speaking to me, whispering the words engraved on the tomb’s door: “He is not here; He has risen.” It was then that I finally realized it did not matter whether or not this was Jesus’ tomb, or whether he blessed the loaves and fishes on that particular stone or gave the Sermon on the Mount on that particular hill. For our Lord Jesus rose from the grave; why do we look for him among the dead? Jesus is everywhere and with everyone, and he is especially with those who suffer.
I left Jerusalem with my head still swimming and with quite a heavy heart; but I no longer felt the burden of having special encounters with Jesus in the Holy Land. Instead, I was reminded in the Garden Tomb that we are to look for Jesus in our neighbors, and to proclaim him through promoting love and reconciliation. My heart still aches for the endless conflict in Israel and Palestine. But I have faith that Jesus will not abandon it forever, that peace can still be found among such violence and hatred from both sides.
Please forgive me for such a long newsletter, and for not speaking of my work here at St. Mary’s. I commend you for getting this far! Please continue to keep our ministry in your prayers, as I also pray for you back home.
Also, please note that we youth workers must submit a blog each month for St. Mary’s. If you haven’t had enough of my ramblings, feel free to check it out. Go to www.stmaryscentre.org.uk, and click on “What we’re thinking” at the top. Then look for the picture of me as a pirate.
That’s all for now! Take care, and I hope you have a blessed Easter,
Amanda