Saturday People, Sunday People Seek Peace

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

Should I have changed my travel plans? “It was a stifling and dusty Thursday afternoon,” writes Gilbert. “My face was dripping with grimy sweat and I was standing on a dun-colored hill overlooking Gaza. On my right soared a sleek, grey surveillance tower. On my left, Israeli Defense Forces artillery pounded away, the constant, earsplitting thunder shaking the earth beneath my feet, sending deadly rounds across the infamous security barrier. Beyond the “fence,” Gaza City stretched out in a monochromatic sprawl, broken up by random antennas, assorted minarets and a sad looking collection of scraggly trees. Somewhere, hidden among Gaza City’s buildings, automatic weapons answered each other in bursts of fire and chatter. Smoke and dust plumed upward here and there as the Israeli shells homed in on their targets. It was August 3, 2006 – my third full day in Israel. My lifelong dream of visiting the Holy Land had finally come true, albeit not quite in the way I had imagined. I had arrived in the middle of a war…"

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

What happens to Israelis during a war? Gilbert continues: Once the Lebanon War’s ceasefire had held for more than a week. I was eager to see with my own eyes what had happened in northern Israel, so I visited Kiryat Shmona – one of the cities hardest hit during the war. If you look at a map, you’ll find Kiryat Shmona very close to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. It is a small city, with a population of 24,000. During the conflict it endured more than 1,000 of the 4000 total Katyusha rockets that struck Israel in about a month’s time. Around 2,000 homes were damaged in Kiryat Shmona alone, 150 people were wounded and twelve were killed. One family I was with saw their devastated house on television. We rushed back to find nearly half of their home in ruins. We walked, very carefully, around the interior and saw for ourselves the sorry remains of the kitchen, laundry area, and children’s bedrooms. A little girl’s dresser and mirror, with a red, heart-shaped box containing tiny bottles of cologne, nail polish and hair spray was scorched and covered in ashes. We also looked into the outbuilding where the Katyusha was still firmly embedded in the floor – it had made a direct hit on the house, then ricocheted into the outside storage building.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

One of my favorite places to pray… HaKotel – the Western Wall. The first time I went there – and every time since – the very sight of it stopped me in my tracks. A montage of gold-hued blocks of stone, massive at the bottom, growing smaller toward the top, the Wall is punctuated here and there by tufts of brush, and by birds that perch alone or in pairs. Some of them seem to be nesting – making themselves very much at home, recalling Psalm 84: How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

Why can’t Jews and Christians pray or sing on the Temple Mount? A visit to the Temple Mount Plaza is revealing and, honestly, a little shocking. This is the holiest Jewish site in Jerusalem, but it feels like a spiritual no-man’s land. Tour guides inform their groups that all non-Muslim prayer is forbidden. After passing through two security checks, a quick survey of the plaza reveals no vestige of Judaism. This is nothing new. In 1217, Spanish pilgrim Judah al-Harizi was deeply distressed when he arrived on the Mount. “What torment to see our holy courts converted into an alien temple!” he wrote. Indeed, from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, until June 7, 1967 when the city was retaken by Israel in the Six Day War, the Temple Mount was never once under Jewish authority. It has always remained, however, the ultimate destination in the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Christians, too, have an attachment to the Temple Mount based on Jesus’ words and deeds as recorded in the Gospels. It seems outrageous that Jews and Christians are not permitted to read their scriptures, sing praises or pray aloud on the Temple Mount. But even that is not the greatest scandal: During the Camp David Accords, PLO Chairman Yassar Arafat denied that any Jewish Temple had ever existed on the Temple Mount.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

How would you describe an Israeli “settlement”? "I think of a village with uniformly white walls and red tile roofs – kind of like a California gated community – and distinguishable from the surrounding towns by the absence of a mosque," writes Gilbert in Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner. "But that’s not the only description that applies. From rundown trailers to wisteria-covered villas, the size, character, appearance and reputation of the various cities, towns, regional councils and neighborhoods labeled “settlements” vary significantly. There is, however, one kind of settlement that really seems to embody the gun-toting, Wild West stereotype of “Israeli settlers” that inhabit the world’s imagination. These are called “outposts,” and they are populated by the most unruly of all the settlers - the “hilltop youths.” What does an outpost look like? The central feature of one such outpost, Givat Olam, is a light-filled community center with a spotless kitchen, dining room and outside tables that provide a gathering place for the 50 young and industrious residents who build its structures and tend to its animals. After a cup of coffee laced with goat’s milk and sugar, I went out to see the place.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

Galilee for Christmas? The scenery surrounding the Sea of Galilee is more conducive to my own pilgrim’s quest than the congested streets and alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City. And so it was with great joy that I was able to travel with family and friends to Tiberias, Capernaum and the surrounding countryside one holiday season. For us, as we talked and laughed and remembered other holidays gone by, “Peace on Earth, goodwill to men” was a reality – for the time being. Because there are not so many tourists in Galilee during the chilly winter season, it was possible to wander along the pebbly beach and so easy to believe that Jesus and his followers had walked there too. It’s no wonder His words still touch hearts in today’s troubled world. …do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

Bomb shelters for kindergartners? At a kindergarten near Ashkelon, I stared as a bomb shelter was lowered by a crane and situated next to the nursery school. Little boys and girls, colorfully dressed and wreathed in delighted smiles, giggled with excitement as they watched what looked like a giant cement Lego being lowered to the ground. They were less than five years old and had little to no idea what that thick-walled concrete block was for. They only understood that it had been brought there just for them, and for that reason, it was a very special day. Doubtless their teachers were relieved to have a place of shelter when the ‘red alert’ siren sounded. Now they could run just a few steps and be relatively safe. How did those teachers explain the bomb shelter’s purpose to such innocent little children? I’m not sure. When I asked one of them, she simply smiled, “They know we want them to be safe.”

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

The ugly face of terrorism. It was New Years Eve 2008, and my son Dylan and I had gathered with close friends for our annual Christmas and New Years festivities in Mumbai, India, where, thanks to our hosts’ generosity, our gala was to be held at the city’s beautiful Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. We checked into our exquisitely appointed rooms a couple of days before the party. The Taj Hotel was especially lovely, overlooking the harbor, its fairy-tale architecture serving as a beloved landmark both to tourists and the local population. We, too, fell in love with it. Soon we were sparkling in holiday finery and eagerly anticipating the beginning of a new year in an entirely unfamiliar setting. The photographs of the evening are colorful, capturing the carefree mood we all shared on rather spectacular evening. Of course it never crossed our minds that in less than a year, we would be seeing the very setting of our conversation and celebration destroyed by terrorists.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

What do Arab-Israelis fear most? When I asked Arabs this question in Bethlehem, Ramallah and even Jerusalem, they all said the same thing: Hamas. Hamas is indeed a threat to many Palestinians in the West Bank – Christians, moderate Muslims and non-believers. And it is difficult to assess how active and powerful the organization is within those cities or how much influence they undetectably exert on the governing PA bodies, such as the police. On one occasion, my son Colin and I visited a refugee camp in Bethlehem. As we left, we passed a group of six- or seven-year-olds playing “war,” cheering and shouting about their imaginary conquests. One of them was proudly carrying a small Hamas flag, and he smiled broadly and waved at us as we passed. He was a jovial little guy with a friendly face. He was delighted when Colin took his picture.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

Is there hope for the future? “You shall dwell in sukkot (huts) for seven days . . . so that you will know, for all generations, that I had the Children of Israel dwell in sukkot, when I took them out of the Land of Egypt; I am God, your God” (Leviticus 23:42–43. During the Jewish Feast of Sukkot – sometimes known as the Feast of Tabernacles – the fragile roof of the sukkah is fashioned by interweaving palm fronds, through which the sky – clouds, starlight, sun and moon – can be seen. Jews and Christians believe that God will stand with His children. One of the primary purposes of the Sukkot tradition of building and dwelling in vulnerable, insubstantial booths is to remind Israel’s people of their radical dependence on God during their 40-year trek through the desert.

Through the eyes of a sojourner …

Only God’s hand saw them through. Today, Saturday and Sunday people alike trust that His power and glory will shield them yet again – accompanied by the sounds of their praise and celebration. The promises spoken by the Prophet Ezekiel offer the people of God even greater hope for tomorrow: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and will have compassion on all the people of Israel… When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies… they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(Ez. 39:25-29).