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(Mar Elias Mosaic)
Father Chacour told us how his vision of the schools at Mar Elias began:
In 1982 out of the 8000 people in the Ibillin village, only 19 people went to high school. He applied for a building permit to begin a school for the children of the village. It took two weeks to receive an answer, and the answer was no. He decided to provide himself with what he needed and began the project anyway. Thirty-two times, Father Chacour was called to court for his violations. The police came to him and asked how he could build without a permit, to which he replied, "I don't build with permits but with stones." Nine months later the first building was finished and 80 children, ages 14-15 began school, with water but without electricity and telephone.. Father Chacour was called to court again as they pondered whether or not to destroy the building. Father Chacour threatened to take pictures and show what Israel does to schools if they were to demolish his building. Then he'd get the money to begin ten more buildings once the world saw the injustice. They promised Father Chacour the permit, and he agreed to educate good citizens in Israel. The building permit did not come, but neither did an order of destruction. Two years later, a man padded his own pocket with $1000 for the permit, so the school is currently legal and sixteen years later there are 3115 students and 250 faculty members. 85% of the faculty have Ph.D.s; all religions, mostly Muslims are represented in the school, with thirty-two Jewish teachers. Five years ago, Father Chacour realized that so many of the Palestinian Christians were immigrating, creating a huge brain drain among the Christian Palestinian population. So he began a university which began with 100 students and has 750 as of 1999.. Most of the students are involved in technology classes to be able to compete in a hi-tech society. Today he hopes to build a dormitory for women students.
We learned from Father Chacour about the plight of Palestinians, particularly the plight of the Palestinian Christians who are leaving Israel at such a rate (75% are in refugee camps or in self exile) that there will be no Palestinian Christians in Israel within the next forty years. This is a fact which struck us as sad and ironic since Christianity was born in Israel. It's ironic also in light of the fact that so many Christians take pilgrimages/tours of Israel, observing the silent stones of ancient shrines without ever speaking to a Palestinian Christian to discover his/her situation. Palestinian Christians, as the minority religion in Israel, are often forgotten as they are caught in between or ignored in light of the Muslim/Jewish conflicts in Israel.
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During our first week in Israel, we traveled the four hour drive from Ibillin to Jericho in the West Bank to meet with the leading Palestinian official in Jericho, Sammy Musalam. Sammy spoke to our group along with another American group from a Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. He emphasized that the Palestinians are hoping that the new prime minister Ehud Barak will begin to implement the Wye River agreement which has heretofore been ignored for the most part. He emphasized the need to:
1) Withdraw Israeli forces from the Occupied Territories
2) Release of Palestinian political prisoners who are in Israeli jails up to the time of the Oslo
accords in 1993 (He emphasized that 250 of the promised 750 prisoners had been released but that only 80 of them were Palestinian political prisoners, the rest were traffic violators, people without passes, etc. There are 3000 remaining political prisoners.
3) Sign agreement on free passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. there is uneven economic and social development between the West Bank and Gaza strip. He remarked that Gaza is a virtual ghetto: 45 x 8 km it is a virtual prison with 1.1 million inhabitants in 360 sq. km. compared to 1.8 million inhabitants in the 5000 sq. km of the West Bank
4) Allow the Palestinian authority to build a sea port and another airport in the West Bank
5) Closure should be lifted to provide for free passage of people and products
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(Look mom, no hands!)
In addition to the meetings with Father Chacour and other religious and political leaders, we had several opportunities to enjoy the beauty of Israel's natural environment which can be quite a study in contrasts. During our first visit to Jericho and a subsequent visit two weeks later, we checked out the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth, a sea that is literally Dead, as the mineral content prohibits any life to thrive within it. On our first visit, several of us just touched it and admired its beauty. Later on we would jump on in with our swimsuits to feel ourselves bobbing around in the water at one of the many Dead Sea resorts. It is impossible to sink in the Dead Sea, as the mineral content enables you to float without any effort. Unfortunately, there will be no more Dead Sea within the next 40 years because the Dead Sea is gradually shrinking. This is due to three main factors: evaporation, the ways that waters which feed into the Dead Sea are being diverted for other uses, and the amount of industry that has arisen in the last 10 years which markets Dead Sea beauty products (creams, mineral baths, etc.) I had originally intended to bring these products home to friends as gifts until I learned of the environmental destruction that this industry is supporting.
(Nicole, Rudi, Shelly)
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