June 29th - The Holocaust

We spent the entire morning at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem It was a very emotional morning. Room after room of personal items, personal stories and history, taking the viewer from the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor, to the liberation, displaced person camps and repatriation of the survivors. The most meaningful exhibit is the Children's Memorial. You enter a dark room, lit by dozens of candles reflecting into hundreds of mirrors. As you stand there, a voice is reading the names, ages, and countries of birth of every child documented to have died in the Holocaust. To say I got chills is putting it mildly. We then went for a visit ot Sabeel, a liberation theology center. When we arrived, they had just started a communion service, which we were invited to join. After the morning we had just witnessed, it was a welcome event for many of us. Lunch was a traditional Palestinian meal with members of the Christan Peacekeeping Team from Hebron, then two members of the Sabeel board gave us their inspirational stories of how they came to be part of the Center. From there, we visited an NGO, ANERA. We spent time discussing the problems they were encountering as a result of the US crackdown on aid coming into the Palestinian territories. When we returned to the Hotel, we were thrust into the middle of the current events of the day. The Jewish settler, whose body had been found outside of Ramallah early this morning, was being buried in the cemetary just below our hotel. We had to walk the last 1/2 mile to the hotel from our bus - they wouldn't let the bus down there. Military everywhere and settlers were coming in by the busload to pray, attend the funeral. It was an experience I won't soon forget - hundreds of people coming out in support of the family. What an end to a very emotional day. News Muse note: Beth Sullivan is the bookkeeper for DisciplesWorld and has served as board member of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago. Sullivan is visiting Middle Eastern holy sites on a trip with her alma mater, Earlham College, located in Richmond, Ind.

June 28th - The Settlements

Today has been spent learning about the settlements in the West Bank. We started with a gentleman this morning who goes by the nickname Mikado (not explained to us). He gave us a current history of the settlements in and around Jerusalem, then took us on a tour of various locations. What he really wanted to get across to us is how the settlements are currently being structured. He took us to this gas station, really out in the middle of nowhere as an example. There were several hills around us. On top of three of them housing had been built. On a fourth, a commercial complex is being built. And we were in the gas station in the valley below. By building this way, hilltops, then one gas station in the valley, the settlers are laying claim to all the land in between. It is a lot of land - pretty much as far as the eye could see. The settlements are spread out this way to claim as much land as possible. In the evening, we had a meeting with Gershom Gorenberg, an author and journalist, who has written an extensive history of the settlements, going back to 1947 and 1948. How all of this started and what the motivations were behind those first settlements is amazing. Our second speaker was turned away at the front desk. She is a former deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset. When she arrived, she was told that there was no group at the hotel from Earlham College - even though we were in a conference room not 50 feet away. So she left - and we missed out on another perspective of the situation here. News Muse note: Beth Sullivan is the bookkeeper for DisciplesWorld and has served as board member of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago. Sullivan is visiting Middle Eastern holy sites on a trip with her alma mater, Earlham College, located in Richmond, Ind.

June 27th - Ramallah

After listening to media reports about Ramallah in the US, you would think that the city was bombed out, with people hiding in their homes amidst the rubble. What a misconception! Ramallah is a vibrant city, crowded with people. The main streets are filled with shops, businesses and restaurants. There was even a "Stars and Bucks Cafe", complete with the green sign and a similar logo! The vibrancy of the city really touched me. We started our visit at the Friends Schools. We were given a tour and brought up to date on their situation. Since the election of Hamas, they have seen a dramatic reduction in the payment of tuition as more of the parents of students go without receiving their salaries. It is beginning to put a real strain on their cashflow. The director said that by August, they are looking to only pay half salaries to their faculty and staff, unless the embargo on funds being paid into Palestine is lifted. On the plus side, they have some wonderful programs and have been able to do some fund raising to update their facilities, primarily from alumni - something they really haven't done in the past. Next, we met with representatives of the American Friends Service Committee. They gave us an overview of their programs including two very inspirational success stories of people overcoming the odds of this region to accomplish goals of education, community activism and support of others. We then walked from the Friends School, down through the center of town to the Friends Meeting house for lunch. This is where I became amazed at how "normal" everything seems. We listened to two women tell their story. One is a Palestinian married to an Israeli citizen. She explained how difficult it is for their relationship to survive. She is not legally allowed in Jerusalem nor is her husband legally allowed in Ramallah. They have no idea what they will do once the wall is completed. In the afternoon, we toured Birzeit University, meeting with professors and students. The university is located on the edges of Ramallah, so we drove past areas we have seen on TV, such as the rubble that was once Yassar Arafat's compound where Israeli tanks surrounded him in a stand off several years ago. The university has a student population of about 7000, 52% of which are women. They have several programs of study - adding more as is feasible. They are the largest Palestinian university and as such have seen their share of problems from being shut down for 4 years in the late 1980's/early 1990's, to checkpoints being set up about a mile away so that students and faculty cannot get to classes, to the Israeli army coming to their gates on the day of their student council elections, firing tear gas and rubber bullets onto the campus to disrupt the elections. The overwhelming message we received there is one of active resistance to the occupation and hope for an end in their lifetimes. A great day, full of images of people, color, hope. News Muse note: Beth Sullivan is the bookkeeper for DisciplesWorld and has served as board member of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago. Sullivan is visiting Middle Eastern holy sites on a trip with her alma mater, Earlham College, located in Richmond, Ind.

June 26th - Jerusalem

We had a wonderful walking tour of the old city this morning. Our guide is an Armenian who lives in the Armenian quarter of the Old City. He gave us a brief intro, then we walked through all four quarters of the Old City - Armenian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim. What amazed me was how as we wandered through the back streets, it would be so quiet, then come out to the streets leading to one of the gates, and there were vendors and people everywhere. We spent a short time at the Western wall (wailing wall). It was crowded, with several bar mitzvahs occuring on the men's side, with the women watching over a fence. We visited the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of the Holy Seplechure - but mostly walked around and took in the widely varying atmosphere of the different quarters. For instance, in the Muslim quarter, music is played in the streets all the time, so that the settlers won't be tempted to try to move in. Gave that area a very different atmosphere. We also spent time in the afternoon at a home that had been demolished four times and rebuilt after each demolition. The family owns the land, but since the Israeli government does not permit Palestinians to build without a permit (and permits are never granted), the government issues a demolition order for each structure built without permits. This man and his family tried three times (taking close to five years and $15,000) to get a permit. They finally went ahead and built. The government has used his house as an example, by demolishing it each time they finish building and move in. The house is now used as a peace center, a place for people to come, learn and discuss. The thing that struck me was the family. No feelings of revenge, just an overwhelming desire to be able to build on their own land, live in their own house and have their rights respected. Just amazing..... Tomorrow we will be in Ramallah. News Muse note: Beth Sullivan is the bookkeeper for DisciplesWorld and has served as board member of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago. Sullivan is visiting Middle Eastern holy sites on a trip with her alma mater, Earlham College, located in Richmond, Ind.

June 25th - Arrival

After about 24 hours of traveling, we have finally arrived in Jerusalem. Our hotel, The Seven Arches is in East Jerusalem on Mt. Olive. The view is spectacular of the Old City - especially the Dome of the Rock. Just below the hotel is the main Jewish cemetary in Jerusalem. It is the one featured at the end of Schindler's List, where the List survivors place a stone on Schindler's grave. Hopefully someone knows which one it is. The trip was very uneventful, other than the flight attendant getting on the plane in Indianapolis to ask if Elizabeth Sullivan was a passenger - they wanted to know whether or not to put my luggage on the plane. Makes you a bit nervous...... I can now say that I have been to Europe - if only at the airport in Paris. It was rainy and cold - not conducive to doing anything but staying at the gate. Then, after all the warnings and worries of getting through customs at Ben Gurion airport, everyone breezed right through. No hassles, no questions. We had dinner at the hotel this evening. I'm not sure of everything I ate, but all was delicious. I've decided not to ask what is in things, just eat and enjoy. Tomorrow is our first full day - I can hardly wait. News Muse note: Beth Sullivan is the bookkeeper for DisciplesWorld and has served as board member of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago. Sullivan is visiting Middle Eastern holy sites on a trip with her alma mater, Earlham College, located in Richmond, Ind.