My tablemate, a young woman I'd just met at Sunday dinner, was glowingly happy and described how her move to Jerusalem had encouraged her so much that her family back 'home' was also increasingly happy as a ripple effect. Of course I rejoiced with her, but I also probed a bit, asking why she was so content here. She mentioned her proximity to various neighborhoods, from the Old City to East Jerusalem to West Jerusalem, and even more, her nearness to key religious sites like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (another tablemate calling it 'the belly button' of the Church). She feels like she's living in the center of the world.
When I asked her and her friend about how much they rub shoulders with folks from East Jerusalem, and what they're learning from them about life as second-class residents, they responded with blank faces. They admitted that they avoid asking questions about 'stuff like that' and don't really have any 'political' experiences or conversations here.
I was stunned.
Just a few hours earlier, I'd been visiting with an American friend who's lived in Bethlehem for the past 2 months. He'd been telling me about his two new Palestinian friends who struggle to support their families despite owning souvenir shops. A brand-new baby girl -- a firstborn -- had in fact just been born that very day to one of the friends, and yet David told me that this fellow doesn't have the money to pay the hospital bill, required to get the mother and child home. His other friend is suffering from unexpected doctor bills from his daughter being hospitalized last month.
David had also said, "You probably don't get to hear about the violence on the other side [of the Separation Wall] but in the last few days, there have been a number of incidents." He went on to describe a 17-year-old medic (wearing visible clothing showing his 'medic' status) being shot and killed by an Israeli soldier for no apparent reason. He also told us of a couple in a car in the refugee camp who needed help, and of the thirty-something-year-old man who was walking away from having helped them when he was shot by a soldier in a tower at the Wall. For no apparent reason. And of groups of Israeli settlers who have been attacking a couple Palestinian schools. And these are all just a week after another few senseless shootings of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in Bethlehem.
I am heartbroken.
And confused.
How can someone live here and not have these conversations? How can we joyfully live 'in the center of the world,' happy to be only minutes from the location of Jesus' death and resurrection, and not just as equally be gut-wrenched about the suffering around us? How can we not be 'political'?
When I asked her and her friend about how much they rub shoulders with folks from East Jerusalem, and what they're learning from them about life as second-class residents, they responded with blank faces. They admitted that they avoid asking questions about 'stuff like that' and don't really have any 'political' experiences or conversations here.
I was stunned.
Just a few hours earlier, I'd been visiting with an American friend who's lived in Bethlehem for the past 2 months. He'd been telling me about his two new Palestinian friends who struggle to support their families despite owning souvenir shops. A brand-new baby girl -- a firstborn -- had in fact just been born that very day to one of the friends, and yet David told me that this fellow doesn't have the money to pay the hospital bill, required to get the mother and child home. His other friend is suffering from unexpected doctor bills from his daughter being hospitalized last month.
David had also said, "You probably don't get to hear about the violence on the other side [of the Separation Wall] but in the last few days, there have been a number of incidents." He went on to describe a 17-year-old medic (wearing visible clothing showing his 'medic' status) being shot and killed by an Israeli soldier for no apparent reason. He also told us of a couple in a car in the refugee camp who needed help, and of the thirty-something-year-old man who was walking away from having helped them when he was shot by a soldier in a tower at the Wall. For no apparent reason. And of groups of Israeli settlers who have been attacking a couple Palestinian schools. And these are all just a week after another few senseless shootings of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in Bethlehem.
I am heartbroken.
And confused.
How can someone live here and not have these conversations? How can we joyfully live 'in the center of the world,' happy to be only minutes from the location of Jesus' death and resurrection, and not just as equally be gut-wrenched about the suffering around us? How can we not be 'political'?
1 comment:
People don't want to know the truth because the truth is uncomfortable. It's unsettling. It makes them think outside their comfort zones, outside of what they've grown up hearing and believing.
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