Wednesday, November 28
National Geographic article
A great article from National Geographic on what life is like here and why. Good reading! Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 13
Security or Other Reasons?
I wanted to point out this clip I saw on the website of one of the large Israeli newspapers. I'm not as concerned with this specific incident as I am with the principle of things.
When the Israeli government does things to protect its citizens I think that that's absolutely fair (and necessary). When they do things that are extraneous to this, it's hard to watch. When I fly out of Tel Aviv and go through 2 hours of being asked questions and having my luggage looked through (and I'm not exaggerating, sometimes it is 120 minutes) that's ok, because they want to make sure n
o one is going to harm people on the plane. When they do things like the clip talks about, or won't let people travel from one place to another to farm a field or see Jerusalem, those are the things that I think are unjust and ultimately hurt Israe
l as a country. What purpose is served by not allowing them into Jerusalem? These are just a few of the people we know from Bethlehem that aren't allowed to pass through the checkpoint and go to Jerusalem. Do you think they're a security risk to the state of Israel? I don't, but maybe I don't know enough yet.
Sure, search their cars or make sure they aren't bringing knives, guns, or explosives into Jerusalem (terrorists have used children to smuggle explosives in the past here; just as an aside, if you have the time to read this article, make sure you read the whole thing; it brings up the whole issue of lack of credibility and distrust on both sides and how that affects the situation, and both sides distort facts on a regular basis), but to completely deny them entry at all seems to be serving an entirely different purpose than ensuring the safety and security of Israeli citizens. What do you think?
When the Israeli government does things to protect its citizens I think that that's absolutely fair (and necessary). When they do things that are extraneous to this, it's hard to watch. When I fly out of Tel Aviv and go through 2 hours of being asked questions and having my luggage looked through (and I'm not exaggerating, sometimes it is 120 minutes) that's ok, because they want to make sure n
o one is going to harm people on the plane. When they do things like the clip talks about, or won't let people travel from one place to another to farm a field or see Jerusalem, those are the things that I think are unjust and ultimately hurt Israe
l as a country. What purpose is served by not allowing them into Jerusalem? These are just a few of the people we know from Bethlehem that aren't allowed to pass through the checkpoint and go to Jerusalem. Do you think they're a security risk to the state of Israel? I don't, but maybe I don't know enough yet.Sure, search their cars or make sure they aren't bringing knives, guns, or explosives into Jerusalem (terrorists have used children to smuggle explosives in the past here; just as an aside, if you have the time to read this article, make sure you read the whole thing; it brings up the whole issue of lack of credibility and distrust on both sides and how that affects the situation, and both sides distort facts on a regular basis), but to completely deny them entry at all seems to be serving an entirely different purpose than ensuring the safety and security of Israeli citizens. What do you think?
Friday, November 9
Holding a Trust
This week we held a workshop with all of our local partners. We wanted to gather everyone so we could talk about more efficient ways to use MCC's resources here and find better ways to network among partners. Things went really well. Lots of both our M
uslim and Christian partners showed up, and everyone offered a lot of helpful insights 
into how MCC can better work here in Israel and Palestine.
One of the projects MCC has been funding is wastewater treatment. ARIJ, one of our local partners, has developed units to treat wastewater that can be put on the roofs of houses; they have one at their facility and they wa
ter their garden with it. Water as a resource in general, and access to water in light of the policies of the Israeli government, are both issues on the minds of a lot of people here. Being able to assist in providing water to communities meets a direct need.
One of the biggest impressions we left the workshop with was the sense that we are taking care of a trust here as MCC's representatives. We broke into working groups to discuss MCC's strengths and weaknesses working with the partners. One of the main themes that came out of the working groups was that MCC's workers here always interact with others with humility and kind-heartedness. Since we've only been here two months, I'm sure they weren't talking about us; we understand that we are enjoying the reputation of those that have worked here before us, and we're laying a foundation for whoever will c
ome after us. It's one of the most beautiful things to be told that one of MCC's greatest strengths here is that representatives always come with humility and a willingness to follow the lead of the local partners. Multiple times it was mentioned that the people here appreciate the transparency of MCC and the fact that we don't send workers with an agenda, but rather with instructions to help wherever we are able; it's powerful to see the affects a mutual exchange of knowledge has as opposed to imposing our values and methods on our partners.
uslim and Christian partners showed up, and everyone offered a lot of helpful insights 
into how MCC can better work here in Israel and Palestine.One of the projects MCC has been funding is wastewater treatment. ARIJ, one of our local partners, has developed units to treat wastewater that can be put on the roofs of houses; they have one at their facility and they wa
ter their garden with it. Water as a resource in general, and access to water in light of the policies of the Israeli government, are both issues on the minds of a lot of people here. Being able to assist in providing water to communities meets a direct need.One of the biggest impressions we left the workshop with was the sense that we are taking care of a trust here as MCC's representatives. We broke into working groups to discuss MCC's strengths and weaknesses working with the partners. One of the main themes that came out of the working groups was that MCC's workers here always interact with others with humility and kind-heartedness. Since we've only been here two months, I'm sure they weren't talking about us; we understand that we are enjoying the reputation of those that have worked here before us, and we're laying a foundation for whoever will c
ome after us. It's one of the most beautiful things to be told that one of MCC's greatest strengths here is that representatives always come with humility and a willingness to follow the lead of the local partners. Multiple times it was mentioned that the people here appreciate the transparency of MCC and the fact that we don't send workers with an agenda, but rather with instructions to help wherever we are able; it's powerful to see the affects a mutual exchange of knowledge has as opposed to imposing our values and methods on our partners.
Tuesday, November 6
You Won't Miss it until you Need it
We had a great opportunity this past week; we were able to host a couple of people from the States who are working for an organization called Cure International. They do great work; they locate places around the world that aren't able to provide adequate healthcare and build hospitals in those places that specifically target children with disabilities. For example, here in the West Bank, children with disabilities often aren't able to receive treatment for conditions that are easily curable like club foot or cleft palette, even though adequate healthcare is available in Israel (the children aren't able to cross into Israel).
While Dale, the man from Cure, was here, we were able to help connect him with the type of people that would benefit from a Cure hospital here in the West Bank. We connected him with the local YMCA, which works with children with disabilities. While speaking with the YMCA director, Dale shared an impactful story. "Cure currently has a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. While there, one of Cure's surgeons was able to perform a procedure to fix the son of a tribal leader who had cleft palette. The boy was four years old. The procedure took 45 minutes and went well, and when the son came out of the operating room with his corrected palette, the tribal leader walked over to the surgeon, hugged him, and began crying. He told the surgeon that until now he had never accepted his son, and that at that moment the surgeon had given him his son back." Dale went on, "These are things that are easy to fix if they are caught at birth, and after Cure builds this hospital here in Bethlehem, club foot and cleft palette will cease to exist in the West Bank." Needless to say, we were happy to help him get whatever he needed as he looked to connect with people here who would benefit from Cure's hospital.
Another problem here in the West Bank is lack of adequate health care in general. We took Dale to interview one woman who lost a son at birth. She was 7 months pregnant with twins one night when Israeli troops entered Bethlehem. As they we
re conducting operations she heard a gunshot, started running, and tripped and fell. The resulting trauma induced labor, and her twin sons being premature, one of them was not able to survive on his own. She left one at home and began going from hospital to hospital, trying to find an available incubator. At one hospital in Bethlehem she was turned away because they only had one incubator and it was already in use. She tried to take him to Jerusalem but he died before she was able to cross the security checkpoint. This is the son that survived. While Dale was interviewing them this boy told Dale, "I hate the Jews. My brother is dead because of them.
His mother turned and told him that he shouldn't hate anyone.
Obviously, sometimes things here are very complicated. This boy is too young to figure out hate on his own. Who's teaching him to hate Jews? Who's telling him the story in a way that makes him feel that way? At the same time, sometimes things here can be pretty simple: if there had been adequate healthcare, this story wouldn't have had such a tragic ending. That's why Jess and I were glad to help Dale while he was here; so that the chance of families like this one experiencing similar things becomes less likely...
A hospital in Bethlehem won't make the checkpoint go away; it won't give the Palestinians Israeli citizenship or their own viable state; it won't force the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to sit down and negotiate a peace agreement; and it won't solve the economic problems that plague the West Bank. It will help more than a few people though, and bring direct relief to the physical and resulting emotional suffering that some families in this part of the world experience. We're glad to be able to help Cure move forward with this project. Check out some of the other things they're doing around the world.
(Both photo credits in this post go to the photographer that was here with Cure, Bryce Alan Flurie.)
While Dale, the man from Cure, was here, we were able to help connect him with the type of people that would benefit from a Cure hospital here in the West Bank. We connected him with the local YMCA, which works with children with disabilities. While speaking with the YMCA director, Dale shared an impactful story. "Cure currently has a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. While there, one of Cure's surgeons was able to perform a procedure to fix the son of a tribal leader who had cleft palette. The boy was four years old. The procedure took 45 minutes and went well, and when the son came out of the operating room with his corrected palette, the tribal leader walked over to the surgeon, hugged him, and began crying. He told the surgeon that until now he had never accepted his son, and that at that moment the surgeon had given him his son back." Dale went on, "These are things that are easy to fix if they are caught at birth, and after Cure builds this hospital here in Bethlehem, club foot and cleft palette will cease to exist in the West Bank." Needless to say, we were happy to help him get whatever he needed as he looked to connect with people here who would benefit from Cure's hospital.
Another problem here in the West Bank is lack of adequate health care in general. We took Dale to interview one woman who lost a son at birth. She was 7 months pregnant with twins one night when Israeli troops entered Bethlehem. As they we
re conducting operations she heard a gunshot, started running, and tripped and fell. The resulting trauma induced labor, and her twin sons being premature, one of them was not able to survive on his own. She left one at home and began going from hospital to hospital, trying to find an available incubator. At one hospital in Bethlehem she was turned away because they only had one incubator and it was already in use. She tried to take him to Jerusalem but he died before she was able to cross the security checkpoint. This is the son that survived. While Dale was interviewing them this boy told Dale, "I hate the Jews. My brother is dead because of them.
His mother turned and told him that he shouldn't hate anyone.Obviously, sometimes things here are very complicated. This boy is too young to figure out hate on his own. Who's teaching him to hate Jews? Who's telling him the story in a way that makes him feel that way? At the same time, sometimes things here can be pretty simple: if there had been adequate healthcare, this story wouldn't have had such a tragic ending. That's why Jess and I were glad to help Dale while he was here; so that the chance of families like this one experiencing similar things becomes less likely...
A hospital in Bethlehem won't make the checkpoint go away; it won't give the Palestinians Israeli citizenship or their own viable state; it won't force the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to sit down and negotiate a peace agreement; and it won't solve the economic problems that plague the West Bank. It will help more than a few people though, and bring direct relief to the physical and resulting emotional suffering that some families in this part of the world experience. We're glad to be able to help Cure move forward with this project. Check out some of the other things they're doing around the world.
(Both photo credits in this post go to the photographer that was here with Cure, Bryce Alan Flurie.)
Friday, November 2
A Cup of Water and a Helping Hand
"For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are Christ’s, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. " Mark 9.41We had a chance to do a different version of passing out water here; we were able to pick olives for people that usually aren't able to.
As you probably know, the Israeli government has built a 'separation barrier' between Israel and the West Bank. More often than not Palestinians are not allowed to cross this barrier. They have to apply for permits to be allowed to cross the separation barrier. Well, lots of Palestinians own olive orchards, and often this is a major source of income for the entire family. What happens when families aren't allowed to cross? They lose their h
arvest for the season. Not good.The local YMCA here has an Advocacy Office that tries to help remedy the situation (for more on the olive picking program click here; it's pretty interesting and worth reading about. You can also visit the homepage for MCC's partner, the Beit Sahour YMCA). For one week during the harvest season people from all over the world come to help pick olives for the families that usually aren't allowed across. The problem is that generally the entire extended family will come help pick olives, turning a job that would take one family a week into a kin
d of family reunion for the day. The day we went some of the family members received permission to cross with us. As you can see, they lead a pretty different lifestyle than we do...Overall it was a great experience. At the end of the day we were a little tired, but it was great to be able to actually DO something for people that are so in need. A lot of times it's frustrating to be here and see all of the injustice and indignity that Palestinians are forced to deal with every day and not be able to do anything about it. It's great to be able to meet a need in such a tangible way for this one family. At the end of the day, there were plenty of olives off of the trees and in the family's buckets. That was the main goal for the day.
But it was also great to be able to connect with people and let them see that the situation they live in every day isn't being completely ignored by the rest of the world. Often people tell us that if the world really knew what
was happening here, the international outcry against the situation would put a stop to it in a matter of months or even weeks. Keep track of what's happening here and we have no doubt that God's Spirit will move you to concern (and eventually action) for the regular people here who would just like to live a normal life in such an abnormal situation.
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