Nablus

I have been in Nablus for the last couple of weeks. My first few days were spent attending various lectures on Middle East politics at An-Najah National University. It was very interesting to get the Palestinian perspective on liberalism, realism, orientalism, and human rights. Walking around the campus I felt extremely exposed. Nablus is a city that is pretty fundamentalist. When I say that I don’t mean extremist, I simply mean that they follow the Islamic religion very closely. This means that the vast, vast majority of the women here cover themselves entirely except for the face. The usual choice of coverage is the ever flattering hijab. I was wearing trousers that showed my ankles, and a shirt that showed my upper back and a large portion of my upper arms. In addition to this I wore flip flop type sandals. I have never felt so exposed in my entire life.

The flat that I have called my home for the last 2 weeks is on the southwest outskirts of Nablus. It is huge with its 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 3 terraces. My favorite thing about it is that just to the north of the flat is a mosque, so the call to prayer can be heard very clearly. The call to prayer is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard – I just love that it is a live person every time (no recordings) and that they are just singing their hearts out for the love of their god. Beautiful!

The view from my terrace is a neighborhood mosque.

The other day I saw a funeral. I heard a commotion outside and what sounded like moaning. I went to the window and across the valley I saw a large crowd of people gathered. The men seemed to be separated from the women and children and some of the women were sobbing and flailing their arms. I then saw the crude wooden coffin being lifted into the air and an Islamic flag thrown over the top. Carrying the coffin, the men headed towards the mosque. Once they neared the mosque the call to prayer began, but this time it was different. Although it was the same words that are normally sung, it sounded so mournful and disheartened. The men went into the mosque and about 5-10 minutes later I saw 5-6 children coming towards the mosque carrying what looked to be palm branches high in the air. Another 10 minutes after that the women finally went into the mosque. It was saddening as I wondered what happened. Was it a child? An adult? A mother? A father? A son? A daughter?

Jerusalem - Day Three

Saturday 23.Aug.08

We went to Askadinya again for lunch. I had pizza with goat cheese and fresh tomatoes and herbs. Once again this place is fantastic and has wonderful service and ambience. We then dropped Kherieh’s car off at her apartment in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem where Hanni was waiting to pick us up. He drove us via a back way (no proper checkpoints) to Bethlehem. It only took maybe 20 minutes to get there and almost seems to be a slight suburb of Jerusalem. Bethlehem was beautiful with its winding streets and old majestic buildings. At some point we had turned down a street that was swarming with pedestrians who had no regard whatsoever to the cars that were trying to drive down the street. I loved every second of it. The citizens of Bethlehem are beautiful and I was so overwhelmed at points that I couldn’t help but just smile.

We made our way to the Church of the Nativity where we all had to bow upon entering. The church was not like any church I had seen before. It was old and the lanterns and lights that hung from the ceiling were distinctively Middle Eastern (much like the lights I had seen at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher). I have to admit that I didn’t know what to expect in the birthplace of Jesus. In the section of the church that we entered there was a mass being held by what seemed to be Greek Orthodox (don’t quote me on that). There was a chapel next door that was actually used for weddings. Can you imagine getting married there? The downstairs of the church is where the “grotto” is located; which is the spot where Jesus was actually born. There is another section just a few feet away where Mary was said to have placed Jesus after his birth. It was hard to picture how things were back in the day since the current-day church was built around these holy spots – not to mention they have been decorated so extensively that they are hardly recognizable.

Me and Vicki at entrance to Church of Nativity------->

<-------Me at the "grotto" where Jesus was born

The manger where Jesus lay after his birth------->

<-------Church of the Nativity

Inside the church------->

After the church we went across the street to the Bethlehem Peace Center. In the square was a tree that was called the “Tree of Peace.” Mind you the tree was in a cement “planter” and was looking rather dead as that branches were cut off and no green was to be seen. Quite the statement if you ask me; however upon looking closely at what the Is written on the planter, the idea changes drastically – “I am 500 years old, I was uprooted without my permission from my original site (The Khamis Land) in Bir Ona – Beit Jala along with thousands of trees all over Palestine to build the apartheid wall…”

The gift shop inside the peace center was great. It had some really good books; novels as well as academic books. I didn’t purchase any; however I now wish I had as I am still without a book to read during my spare time here. After our visit here we drove around the Bethlehem area looking at settlements, the separation barrier, and refugee camps. Our way back to Jerusalem took us to the south side of the city and the Richard and Rona Goldman Promenade; which is a hilly section of the city that has amazing views of the old city, Mt. Scopus and the Mount of Olives. It is here that the original location of the British Mandate is – a place which now seems to be used as some sort of Israeli military outpost. We then took a drive towards Mount Zion and the south side of the old city. We then drove around in East Jerusalem looking at the various cemeteries and where the separation wall was cutting off the Palestinians from their olive tree groves.

The Dome of the Rock is visible just to the right of my right ear.