el Khalil [Hebron]

So much to tell today. I started out as usual, answering emails, making calls, running errands, etc. I picked Karam up and headed out to Hebron. There was a lot of fog and boy did that bring back memories from the last time I went back and forth to Hebron.

The road to Hebron is simply beautiful, with the exception of the settlements spreading down some of the hills. Posting some pictures here. All along Route 60, the hills are dotted with grape vines. el Khalil is known for it's grapes, pottery, and quarries. Once in the city, Karam took some pictures driving through the souq because it's utter chaos. I love it! there is only one rule: whomever gets there first has the right of way, whether in a car, on foot, a donkey, a horse, whatever; we're all on the street together fighting for space to move. Of course, horns sometimes blare and occasionally you might hear a curse here or there; otherwise, it's quite civilized and exciting. Vendors with fresh fruit and produce and just-out-of-the-oven bread and other baked goods line the street.

We were supposed to meet M. at 10 am, but he was a no show for a while. I was worried because he wasn't answering his phone, but he got hold of us eventually.

In the meantime, I drove into the Old City of el Khalil, near the Ibrahimi Mosque. I was pleasantly surprised to remember how to navigate my way through the maze of narrow corridor streets [pictured here].

Karam and I went into the offices of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee to say hi to some folks and see about getting some equipment to Beit Anan. I spent some time talking with Emad Hamdan [director] about new locations, the equipment, and some recent issues in Hebron with the settlers. He gave me a couple of presentations that he had prepared and I'd like to show you a couple of pictures from those slides depicting the demolition of 500 year old Arab homes in the Old City so that settlers in Kiryat Arba can have a shortcut to the Ibrahimi Mosque [which they've pretty much taken over]. Some of you might recall Dr Brauch Goldstein, a settler from Kiryat Arba, who walked into the Ibrahimi Mosque in 1996 while worshipers were praying and he sprayed them with bullets until some were able to overpower him. Goldstein is revered in Kiryat Arba for this heroic act of killing Arabs in cold blood. Since then, the Ibrahimi Mosque has a metal wall running down the middle of it: one side for Jews, the other for Muslims. Anyone except settlers wishing to enter the mosque must go through the usual searches. In effect, the mosque has a checkpoint at the door!

[HEY GUYS..I'M REALLY BEAT. IT'S AFTER MIDNIGHT HERE AND I HAVE AN EARLY START TOMORROW TO NABLUS. I'M GOING TO SIGN OFF FOR NOW AND WILL TRY TO GIVE THE REST OF THE UPDATE ABOUT TODAY AND EXPLAIN THE REST OF THE PICTURES IN THE MORNING. I NEED FIVE HOURS OF SLEEP AND WILL BE READY TO ROLL.]

Back! It's about 6am here and I've had a couple of cups of coffee; life is good.


Oh, by the way, if anyone is actually reading this blog, will you please leave comments after the posts? So far, it appears my friend Naife is the only person seeing this [Thanks girlfriend! for leaving messages].

Jesus, i forgot that Sonia is coming in today; so, I have to talk to Shaher to see if we can go to Nablus and Jenin tomorrow. I think Sonia will enjoy going there too, anyway.

Back to yesterday. While I was in Hebron, I was able to get hold of a couple of guys who had helped me build the playground there and also the one in Nablus. Haitham is now working in Israel and can't help out this time, but Hamza [pictured in the baseball cap] is happy to oversee the installation of the playground in Beit Anan. He made a very good point, though: It's too damn cold to do it now! and he suggested we wait until March to put it together. I have to agree with him, but will talk to Sonia when she gets here.

[I just got off the phone with Shaher and was able to change our trip until tomorrow. He's going to talk to the NGO in Jenin to let them know. This is good also because I haven't been able to hold of Sol Jones and I want to pick her up in Nablus because she asked to meet people in Jenin. So, SOL, if you're reading this, call me! 52-68-20-393]


M. showed up at the HRC office and we went to his hometown village of Ezza. The landscape pictures I have here were taken on the way there and back. It's a remote village on the outskirts of el Khalil [Hebron] with rolling hills and lush valleys. I'm told that when the weather is clear in the Spring, from their house, you can see clear to the Mediterranean Ocean on Gaza's shore. Nice, eh?

Esperansa called while I was there and I had forgotten that we had agreed to get together. So, I had to bail out on her. This is another reason why I'm happy not to go to Nablus today. We can meet up today in Ramallah or Jerusalem.


So, on to M.'s house. His family home is a series of three or four houses [more like small mansions] where his parents, uncles and siblings live just on top of a hill. His family owns that whole area, but they aren't allowed to build anything on it. Instead, they can plant it; so they have fields of crops and grape vines cascading down all sides of the hill. Must be really something to wake up to that every day.

His mom had made Kabseh for us and she seemed very impressed by how much food I was able to shovel down my throat. I could have eaten more, but at some point, when everyone else was done eating, I got a little shy about filling up yet another plate full. But let me just say in my defense that it was my first meal of the day. M.'s little nephew is like a mini-me old man. Really funny kid. He let me take a picture of him after I begged several times then threatened to take a bad one and show it on the internet. I got to meet most of M.'s family and had a fantastic time. Once again, I had the pleasure of meeting more wonderful people and making new friends. Additionally, I got to see more of the countryside and visit a place I'd never been to before. This might not sound like such a big deal, but I seem to derive great enjoyment from this, and from driving through these hills of God.

On the way back, I called Muayad and we made a date to meet at the Ambassador Hotel. Karam was loving all this running around, btw. The previous day she had called into work with some excuse and yesterday she got someone else to take her shift. So, around 7pm, we all met up at the Ambassador. Muayad is a talented filmmaker who grew up in California. We came up with a pretty cool plan for a short film about PfP, the impact of playgrounds, and the general psychological state of children who live under military occupation. It'll be a while before we can pull it all together. But we have a plan and shall proceed accordingly.

The rest of the evening had little to do with PfP. There are a couple of people that I haven't gone to see yet, and I've been terribly embarrassed that I've been here this long without showing proper respect and visiting soon upon my arrival. So, as soon as i dropped Karam off, I stopped by my uncle Sasoon's house and had a nice time at their house. I actually lived with him and my aunt Intisar for one summer when I was young. He's my dad's cousin [and my mom's too - my parents are cousins]. Anyway, I was really happy to have that time with them. Uncle Sasoon is full of stories from the old days, before Israel conquered the West Bank and Jerusalem. And he has pictures of his grandfather [who would be my great great uncle]. He also has a couple of family birth certificates from the Ottoman Empire. Really cool stuff. More and more, I want to end up living here some day.

I also stopped at my cousin Mohammad's house. He has 7 kids and was in and out of jail during the first intifada for throwing stones. Once when we were young and he was walking me back from Dar el Tifl, he got into a fight with a soldier who decided to pick on me. He took a good beating so I could run off and hide. I thank him for that every time I see him.

So, after uncle Sasoon's house, we went to my cousin Kholood's. She has 6 kids and the youngest is a little terror. A really cute little terror who was still wide awake as I was falling asleep around 11:30pm. It had been a long day.

I'm going to get ready to go pick up Sonia from the airport. She has decided to have her own trip blog and i'll post that link later on. More to come...