Beit Shmuel Hostel Jerusalem

... to intimidate the community. The official reason: he was picking olives on the land that had been taken by the settlers. A friend has been held in prison for ten months. One of his brothers has been beaten to permanent disability.
Sami himself was threatened that some "lost bullet" would hit him if he didn't cooperate and spy on the people in his village. He refused of course and has been harassed by the Israeli police ever since.
Now THIS MAN is initiating Groups for ...

... peace. What a mess.

Connecting with all the places in the Bible is hard to describe but we spent a whole day touring Jerusalem and could barely scratch the surface. The highlights to me were the visit to the tomb of David and visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian quarter.

This is the site of Calgary (originally outside the city but now inside it) where Jesus is believed to have been crucified. Because of ...

... we were out searching – and the kids both had their donkey rides. Though happy with their rides, they both preferred camel riding, because camels are higher and bumpier.

From Bat Ayin we headed off in our little red Mazda – a colour not modest enough for Bat Ayin – to Modiim, which exists in a different universe from Bat Ayin. In Modiin we had a very pleasant supper with Michael Hollander and his family. It was all so sophisticated and ...

... geen geld. Jericho lag vroeger een uurtje van Nablus verwijderd; door de muur is het een reis van een dag geworden, ALS je al de juiste papieren hebt om Palestina te mogen verlaten. Majd droomde van werk in Zwitserland, Salah was al ' ontsnapt'  en doet een theateropleiding in Syrie.

En toch.. beschreven ze hun kamp als een gezellig klein dorp, een familie bijna, waar iedereen mekaar kent en helpt. En Nablus zelf als een ongezellige verzameling mensen, waar iedereen ...

... Gleichzeitig ist ** d** Begruend** d** zwoelf Staemme Israels, was sein Grab - das "Grab d** Patriarchen" - zur zweitheiligsten Staette des Judentums macht.
Heute ist das Grab in einen muslimischen und einen juedischen Teil, in Moschee und Synagoge, aufgeteilt. Grund dafu** ist d** v**meintliche Hoehepunkt des Konfliktes in Hebron, als ein schw**bewaffnet** Siedl** 1994 ins Gebaeude stu**mte und 29 betende Glaeubige nied**schoss, bevor ** von den Ueb**lebenden ueb ...

... drove down a ways to Masada. I had a very vague notion of what was there, but I was quite surprised by what I saw. It was actually a retreat and palace built by Herod to use in case of emergency. It's high on a cliff. In fact, when you go there, you can choose to climb up the hill (no thanks), or you can take a cable car up. At the top are very well-preserved remnants of the palace, stables, warehouses, etc, that Herod and his ...

... kind of retreat from the world they were looking for. I'm not much of a desert person. It's harsh and hot. But God clearly is present in the desert. Moses, David, Elijah, even Jesus had transforming moments in this desolate but somehow rich place. It's important to expand our sense of where God is and of how God can provide refuge or retreat in unexpected places and times in our lives. Qumran and Masada, in different ways, are superb examples of that.

... Since then, they have added on another whole building which has allowed them to add a lot more information to learning about the holocaust. It was truly amazing. This site was not only comparable to the one in DC, but I think even better. The new site was amazing. It had a ton of different rooms that explained each part of the holocaust from the upraising to the fall of Hitler. It was great. They had many videos playing of testimonies videotaped ...