1

32

Me

ss

ag

e

Do you tend to start a new year with resolutions? I am doing it for the first time (honestly!), and with high hopes − because it simply makes no sense to embark on them in any other way. But in thinking about personal goals, I pondered the larger ones. And among them is the question: What would it take to make this year, finally, the year when some form of justice for Palestine and Palestinians is achieved?TWiP’s editorial team was curious about which themes our authors would propose when they learned about the free-themed issue, and it turns out that Jerusalem and Gaza and their people are foremost in their minds. In addition, authors were inspired to write about resilience through sport, health, empty promises, and Palestinian philanthropy, as well as winter traditions and food – not necessarily in this order. You might be smiling now or have raised a regretful eyebrow − eating delicious food is, after all, a favorite winter activity, especially during the holidays. But let’s remember that the ones who consider food a primary concern are less likely to submit an article to TWiP. As support programs are closing down and jobs and food aid are being cut, philanthropy will become increasingly important in Palestine. As will a just solution that allows Palestinians the freedom of movement to conduct trade as they wish and build up productive sectors that decrease the dependency on foreign monies and aid. Let us hope for and take action towards positive solutions wherever we can!Thanks go to our authors Dr. Harry Hagopian, Dr. Ali Qleibo, Simon Azzazian, Louise Brown, Walid Nammour, Dr. Bernard Sabella, Ahmed Masoud, Dr. Akram Ijla, Dr. Najwa Abdulhaq, Samia Khoury, and Federica Marri. Our personality of the month is radio host Rawan Asaad, our artist of the month, Safaa Khateeb. Looking for something to read? You might enjoy Love and Loss, a collection of poems from the Gaza Poets Society, or Kumi Now: An Inclusive Call for Nonviolent Action to Achieve a Just Peace put out by Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. In our exhibition of the month, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy presents works by amateur photographers from all over Palestine in a new exhibition space in Ramallah; Where to Go leads you to hidden treasures in the Hebron area, and in TWiP Kitchen, the Palestine Hosting Society presents a dinner titled “From My Mother’s Pantry,” put together by Suzanne Matar. Enjoy the events offered in January. The entire team of TWiP wishes a Merry Christmas to everyone who is celebrating this month, and a happy, healthy, prosperous, and peaceful New Year to all of you.

Sincerely,

M e s s a g e f r o m t h e E d i t o r

Tina Basem

54

co

nt

en

ts

dvisory Boardorthcoming IssuesMinister Ziad BandakAdviser to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Committee for the Restoration of the Nativity Church

Sliman MansourArtist

Amid MasriAgriculturist

Mahmoud MunaThe Bookseller of Jerusalem

Carol SansourPoet, Communication Specialist

Fida ToumaDirector General of A.M. Qattan Foundation

February 2019:The Communication Sector in Palestine

March 2019:Women Entrepreneurs

April 2019:Staying Healthy in Palestine

Cover Photo: Rukab Street, Ramallah. Photo by Nayef Hammouri.

WiP Team

Publisher: Sani P. Meo

Art Director: Taisir Masrieh

Graphic Design: Tamer Hasbun

Editor: Tina Basem

Telefax: +970/2 2-295 1262info@turbo-design.comwww.thisweekinpalestine.comwww.facebook.com/ThisWeekInPalestine

The views presented in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.Maps herein have been prepared solely for the convenience of the reader; the designations and presentation of material do not imply any expression of opinion of This Week in Palestine, its publisher, editor, or its advisory board as to the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or the authorities thereof, or as to the delimitation of boundaries or national affiliation.

6 42

64

76

92

12 46

66

78

20 52

68

79

28 58

70

82

30 60

72

86

36

74

98

90

88

Armeniansin Palestine

In this issue...

Personality of the Month Events

Restaurants

Artist of the Month

Cultural Centers

Attractions

Exhibition of the Month

Book of the Month I

Accommodations

Travel AgenciesTour Operators

Maps

Book of the Month II

Where to Go

TWiP Kitchen The Last Word

The Loneliness of an Exiled Palestinian

Palestinians in Winter Gazan Cuisine

The Ladder at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

A Spotlight on Vaccinations

Cycling the Wall Words

The Art of Giving Food in Town

My Friend and Neighbor

Printed by: Studio Alpha,Al-Ram, Jerusalem.

Maps: Courtesy of PalMap - GSE

January 2019Issue 249

p

fT a

76

any moons ago, I used to travel frequently to the United States for ecumenical events that addressed conflicts blending secular issues with church-related

concerns. Invited by different American churches, be they Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran, or

Baptist, I oft-times found myself not only in the well-known hubs of the East Coast − New York or Connecticut, for example − but also in places such as Texas, Indiana, or Colorado. Those heady days of my younger years were also eye-openers for me. But why?

In most places I visited, I introduced myself as “an Armenian from Jerusalem” and I could see the questions welling up almost instantly in the eyes of many men and women in the church halls or public places. Whether Winter Texans in Austin or Hoosiers in Evansville, the inevitable − almost hesitant − opening questions to me were, “Did you say you are Aramean?” or “So you have Arabian blood?” and to cap it all with an insult to most indigenous Christians who hail from the Levant, “Did our missionaries in the West convert your family to Christianity?”

Aramean? Arabian? A convert? Moi? No! I am Armenian. So once I had explained my roots in a few words, and dispelled some of the more nebulous ideas that were astir in the audience, the real discussions took off.

As the world celebrates the season of Christmas this year, it is inevitable that the eyes of the world will turn at some stage toward Bethlehem, the little town that has become so iconic in our carols. Whether because of spiritual reasons or touristic curiosity, we talk about this town in Palestine

and refer not only to the birth of Jesus in a lowly manger, but also to the forbidding walls that surround it and turn the season of peace, hope, and forgiveness (or more loftily, salvation) into one of tension, injustice, and bleakness.

And Armenians are very much part of this fabric of society − be they in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Beit Sahour, or Jaffa. I know this not only from the history pages but more pointedly from my own grandparents who fled both hearth and home and settled in these hospitable Levantine lands over a hundred years ago as they fled the Armenian genocide that took place in Ottoman Turkey in 1915.

Most Armenians in Palestine speak their own native language. The Armenian alphabet consists of 38 letters and was originally developed in 405 AD by St. Mesrop Mashdots who was an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader. But most of them also speak fluent Arabic and − increasingly – Hebrew, given the occupation by Israel of Palestinian territories that has now lasted for 51 painful years.

Armeniansin PalestineA Longstanding Reality or Geographical Aberration?

By Harry Hagopian

The northern districts of the Armenian Quarter, Old City of Jerusalem.

Map of Jerusalem’s Old City with the Armenian Quarter at the bottom left.

Arm

en

ian

s

98

Armenians are also Christian by faith and belong in their majority to the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) tradition, although there are a few Armenian Catholic and Evangelical families interspersed in these biblical cities too. In fact, a pilgrim or tourist need only go to the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem to come face-to-face with the realities of an Armenian centuries-old presence. The monastery of St. James, which doubles as the seat of the patriarch (or leader) of the Armenian Church, is a constant reminder of the hands-on relevance let alone contribution of the Armenian Church, institutions, and community to the Land of the Resurrection. And if any wayfarer follows the Stations of the Cross (or the Way of Sorrows), the space between the third and fourth Stations (where Scripture tells us that Jesus fell for the first time as he carried his cross) is where one comes across the Armenian Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Spasm that is quaintly known as an exarchate (from the Greek for ruler). In fact, the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem,

one of four quarters, contains its own school, museum, and seminary for theological students, as well as ceramics and copper crafts shops and restaurants or bakeries that serve Armenian foods. I am sure that many of our TWiP readers will have tried an Armenian pizza or lahmajoun with its spicy smell!

Armenian language and Armenian Christian religion: so does this mean that this community is tucked away in a neat corner of Jerusalem and has no relevance or significance to everyday contemporary Palestine? Were the Americans who listened to my talks across the United States correct in raising their eyebrows or squinting their eyes when I said that I am an Armenian from Jerusalem (part of Jordan when I was born)?

Nothing could be further from the truth. In my opinion, Armenians are very much an inerasable part of the fabric of the overall Muslim-Christian Palestinian society. In fact, to repeat one of my all-too-familiar mantras, Armenians are also Palestinians by culture. This is often overlooked by many commentators, observers, or tourists. Armenians are not a

ghettoized “minority” (I dislike this word, even when it refers solely to numbers, because of its negative socio-political connotations!) but rather part and parcel of other Palestinians who share aspirations for peace, freedom, justice, equality, success, and prosperity.

Let me consolidate this statement with some family stories. My paternal grandfather, Vahan, was the first pharmacist in Palestine. His chemist shop was near the Latin-rite Catholic church of The Holy Family in Ramallah. His most famous product was − wait for it − an ointment to treat facial acne that he prepared with his own pestle and mortar and then filled into small waxed boxes for sale. I was practically in diapers when I used to accompany him to the pharmacy and watch him prepare his pharmaceutical concoctions.

My maternal grandfather, Ohan, was one of the richest businessmen of his time in Jerusalem. His shop, a landmark for those interested in buying handmade Persian carpets,

was opposite the Lutheran Church and a stone’s throw away from the Church of the Resurrection (or Holy Sepulcher) in the Old City of Jerusalem. My olden memories remind me of how I used to “get high” from the smell of those piles of carpets in his shop. As you might have guessed already, my granddad was also the paragon of my younger years.

And if we roll the pages of history forward and stop with the Oslo chapter of the 1990s that was once a ray of hope but ended up being a sad tragedy, four Armenians were instrumental in the public life of Palestine at the time. One was Dr. Manuel Hassassian, who worked with the late Faisal Husseini on the Jerusalem file of the Oslo negotiations. Another was Dr. Albert Aghazarian of Bir Zeit University, who also accompanied Dr. Hanan

How do Armenians fit into the mosaic of different communities or ethnicities living cheek by jowl in Palestine? Do they feel part of the Palestinian topography and culture, or were they unfortunate to have found themselves willy-nilly there? This article echoes the author’s personal views about the Armenian presence in Palestine and underlines the rootedness of this small community to lands that have welcomed them for centuries. For them, this is simply called home.

The Armenian Catholic Church of our Lady of Sorrow

An Armenian Ceramic plateby the Balian Studio of Jerusalem.

1110

Ashrawi during the Madrid phase of negotiations. And then there was George Hintlian who was a media wizard and a facilitator for many journalists visiting the country. Add to those Yours Truly who was involved in second-track negotiations on behalf of all 13 traditional churches of Jerusalem. You can perhaps surmise that Armenians were not only an indelible component of the Palestinian reality but were − to be honest − punching above their political weight too.

But Armenian numbers are dwindling fast in Palestine − let alone in other parts of the Middle East albeit for arguably different reasons relevant to each country. Dr. Bernard Sabella, a noted Palestinian sociologist in Jerusalem, often refers to the drop in Christian (and by analogy Armenian) numbers across Palestine. Many Armenians have left Palestine not because they hate the country or dislike its inhabitants or are afraid of a rising tide of Islamist radicalism. They left largely because they faced the same challenges as other Palestinians, namely, that the political realities were becoming increasingly cumbersome, and their prospects were being smothered out as jobs vanished and employment became scarce.

With a presence that dates back many long centuries, and despite the economic woes that are visited upon Palestinians, Armenians still celebrate their history, presence, and witness in these lands − even if at times from afar. And no matter that some quirks in the Christian liturgical calendars mean that Jesus’ birth as well as Resurrection are celebrated by local Christians more than once every year, the fact remains that many Armenian households maintain their attachment to these lands both in terms of a symbol and an identity.

So at Christmastime, when strolling down those cobbled stones across Palestine, or when rambling up its mountains or down its valleys, remember that the scenic land where the prophet Jesus walked, taught, performed miracles, and slept, is one of hospitality for all peace-loving peoples.

And now it is time for me to warm up my own Armenian pizza in the oven! Merry Christmas to All!

Dr. Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer and a regional ecumenical consultant based in London. He is the author of The Armenian Church in the Holy Land, and many of his writings can be accessed via www.epektasis.net.

The Armenian Orthodox Church of St. James.

1312Win

ter inter is bleak, dark, and dank. It is cold, grey, and

dreary. In December and January, known in Arabic as al-kawaneen, it rains, and the wind is never weary;

“Darker than Kanun” is proverbial. Daylight hours are short and chilly. Cloudy, overcast sky drowns the

landscape in lead-blue shades that are dark and moody but warm and rich. Al-kawaneen, plural of kanun, is the period of freezing darkness. This is the time of year when the kanun, the fire brazier, moves into the hearth, and the earth’s northern axis is tilted farthest from the sun.

“There isn’t much work in winter,” Mohammad from Kharbata Misbah stated flatly, against all evidence to the contrary. I had already learned from other interviews with acquaintances from various Palestinian villages that most of the spring and summer legumes and fruits must be planted “bil kawanin.” In fact, December, January, and February are the most labor-intensive months for the Palestinian peasant. In Kanun lies the promise, the proverb says, of either a thriving spring or drought, باالربعينية يا بتربع يا بتقبع . Palestinians divide winter (al-shita’), literally the rainy season, into two periods: al-marba’aniyeh, the first 40 bitter-cold days, from December 21 until January 31. The second phase, al-khamsiniya, refers to the 50 cold days stretching from February 1 to March 21, known as Shbat and Athar. The Arabic names of the Julian months are of Aramaic, Assyrian, and Babylonian origin. Though they provide the basis for the Greek Orthodox liturgical calendar, they continue to punctuate the agricultural year in greater Syria and Mesopotamia.

“On the contrary, winter is the most strenuous work period for the peasant!” Haifa from Abu Qash countered Mohammad’s statement that there is no work in winter. “All vegetables, legumes,

Palestinians in Winter

Challenges, Tradition, and Faith

By Ali Qleibo

olives, and fruit trees are planted in al-kawaneen.” Some Palestinian proverbs discourage peasants from either travelling to visit relatives during this period or holding weddings that would squander the time necessary for work in the fields. Other sayings enjoin the peasant to work in winter and warn that should they not plant in winter they would be begging for food in the summer .اللي ما بزرع في الشتوية بشحد في الصيفية In addition to all the agricultural work, livestock and chickens must be tended. The fruit trees and vines are pruned in this period. The rainwater conduits to the olive, apricot, and fruit trees, including the troughs around the trees, must be constantly maintained. Abu Ahmad, from Bet Suriq, supported his argument with the adage, “كانون سيل من الزيت ”سيل (the oil of the olive is contingent upon its being watered during Kanun.

“Slippery sludge seeps between the stones of the mountain terraces that invariably tumble down and must be rebuilt to protect from soil erosion,” Khalil from Dura added.

The myth that there is no work for the peasant in winter outraged my friend Khalil. Further international phone calls from Kyoto, thanks to the internet, confirmed that winter represents the most exacting months of the year. Most legumes and vegetables, namely, spinach, leeks, okra, zucchini, fakous, lupines, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, beans, broad beans (fuI akhdar), tomatoes, etc. are planted in al-kawaneen.

Bedouins, who lead a more leisurely life than peasants, have an equally challenging time. My Bedouin Ta’mari friend Aziz, from Al-Ma’sara, explained the hardships of winter.

“First of all, we would have to dismantle our tents from the valleys and low places and move to higher locations close to cliffs with caves as protective measures from flashfloods. There we would set them up, each family tent next to its cave.” In response to my silence, he explained, “For Bedouins live in caves in winter.” He continued, “however, the majority prefer to stay in their

Photo taken on December 7, 2018 in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. The area is considered the poorest in the city, called the Nahr al-Bared area. The residents suffer from extreme poverty and difficult living conditions, and their area is located below a landfill. Photo by Abed Zagout.

1514

goat-hair tent and reserve the caves for the livestock, mostly goats, where it is warm. Kanun is also the period for sowing wheat and barley seeds.”

“When do you begin to prepare the earth?” I inquired.

“We don’t. My father and the entire family used go to the wheat field, marsat (the plural of maris), which is the field for planting cereals. Each member of the family would follow the furrow of land ploughed the year before. After the seeds are sown, we would shovel the soil to cover them. This is for bread and for fodder the next year.”

“We would stay in the tent should it be rainy and wet, otherwise we would take the goats out to graze…but never too far.”

“Coffee drinking, the fire, the coffee pot, and huddling under the wool abaya (an overcoat of camel or goat hair) are the main male activities. So imagine these gatherings on rainy days when they could not wander far away from the camp! They would sit

around chatting, telling stories, and bragging of their deeds. Women and children bore the brunt of the work. They fetched the wood for the brazier, al-kanun, from the desert, tended the sheep, milked the goats, made the cheese, and sold the dairy products in the city.”

“In the villages, the land could not be abandoned.” Haifa described the hardships of winter work. “As the days grew shorter and as the cold grew bitter, they would return home early in the afternoon. Hungry, beat, battered, and cold from the labor expended in the land in inclement weather. They could barely make the effort to eat, warm themselves around the brazier or wijaq (fireplace with chimney), before retiring to their respective mattresses.”

“Grown-up married sons and their offspring shared the common room with the parents,” Ala’ from Kufr al-Deek told me. “Each individual family – father, wife, and children – were singled out to share one common comforter among them!”

Haifa described the daily fire-kindling ritual to heat the humid, dank, freezing sleeping room. “The kanun would be prepared in the afternoon. The wood would be set on fire outdoors on the kanun. Only once the wood became glowing embers and the smoke diminished would they carry it indoors.”

“In those days, they slept inside the room together with all their animals,” Abu Ahmad added.

“It was a two-level room; the ox, mules, donkeys, sheep, and chickens were kept downstairs, and the family members would huddle around the kanun in their living-cum-sleeping quarters upstairs,” Haifa detailed. “Should their residence be a flat cave, they would sleep in the elevated mastaba and leave the sheep below….to protect the animals from the cold.”

The life of the peasant was very hard with constant work. Fields and crops could not be left untended. Vegetables and legumes had to be not only planted but constantly visited and weeded. Then they had to contend with the fear of the frost and snow in February and March, once the new saplings started to sprout, which would lay all their labor to waste.

Surviving winter was itself a major challenge, with no fresh products from the field except the dry cereals in the pantry, lentils, toasted wheat (freekeh), cracked wheat (burghul), and flour with which porridge known as fatt, the daily staple, was made. To that soup would be added leeks, spinach, stored pumpkin, or any vegetable that might be found and a great quantity of bread that thickened it enough to be eaten with the hand from one big common plate, al-batya.”

“When snow fell or when it became extremely cold, they would say, today is a day of maftul, اليوم مفتول. A rooster would be slaughtered and cooked with chickpeas in homemade tomato concentrate from the pantry. The stew would be served with maftul, homemade pasta the size of rice kernels, on the side.”

Winter nights with howling wind outside trigger imagery of warmth, intimate and joyous family life indoors. Everyone huddles bikan’kinu’ sitting still around the kanun, the only source of heat, with its glowing embers and the kettle of simmering water or chamomile infusion sweetened with dried figs or lentil soup spiced with cumin slowly brewing. Wafts of aromatic toasted orange rind, chestnuts, and bread fuse with that of burning firewood, charcoal, and jift (the dried cakes made of leftover pressed olives) to impart winter with its character. The howling wind, the thrashing rain, and the thunder and lightning outdoors contrast with the sounds of merriment indoors. Images of women of yore bent on knitting wool sweaters and darning socks, dresses, and trousers come to mind. They would exchange jokes, recount boastful tales of personal bravura, and discuss the necessary work in the fields and various chores of the coming days. A fairy tale would signal the time to sleep and alleviate the long winter nights and help them unwind from the intensive labor of al-kawaneen.

Palestinian cabbage and broccoli.

1716

Kawaneen is derived from the three-letter Semitic root KNN. In Assyrian, Aramean, Nabatean, and Arabic, the word knn means to hide, to take refuge, and to protect. As such, the daughter-in-law, adopted and protected by her new family, is referred to as kinna. In Hebrew, kin, as in other Semitic languages, refers to the coop where chickens are kept warm, sheltered from the cold, and protected from coyotes and foxes. The familiar idiom kin ya walad is often used to admonish a young, restless, hyperactive child who should sit still. On a more introspective level, the word al-maknun has a symbolic meaning and refers to what stirs within but remains hidden from view.

In fact, in Kanun all seeds except wheat, barley, and lentils remain dormant under the ground. Life does not return to the listless grey trees until late February, hence the necessity to plant them during the period of dormancy.

The winter solstice heralds the realignment of the earth’s axis and its movement around the sun. Ancient civilizations proffered the celestial event as a mystery. Among the Canaanites, the return of the sun was seen as the rebirth of Baal of the Sun, and the event was celebrated. The opening Christmas liturgical verses, according to his eminence the erudite Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus, are derived from these celebrations. In Kanun, al-maknun, the great mystery of life and death found expression.

The period following al-marba’aniyya is known as al-khamsinyya. The warming trend begins with the month of Shbat. This is attested by the saying, bishabbet u billabet wi rihat el sef feeh, which translates as “It thrashes rain and churns mud, but it carries the promise of the summer warmth.” The month Athar, March, is still cold and treacherous, Khabby

fahmatak al-kbar la ‘ammak Athar, “Save the big pieces of charcoal for the month of March.”

The anxiety of Palestinian peasants concerning the success and survival of their crops is expressed in Canaanite Ugaritic mythology. Baal, the god of rain and fertility, had to fight against the two major enemies that could lay to waste the fields. Whereas the God Mot represented drought, Yam, the god of the sea, represented the danger of snow, frost, and heavy rainfall and flooding that would destroy the crops. Even when al-kawaneen are over, danger remains an ever-present possibility. After the middle of February, plants begin to sprout and life seeps back into the grey branches; frost, snow, and heavy rain could destroy everything.

Towards the end of February, the season of the legumes ushers in lettuce, spinach, leeks, carrots, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, and chamomile, to name a few crops, and wild plants such as hindibah, akkube, etc. flood the market. Spring is on its way back. By early March, green sour almonds appear in the market, an omen of the return of spring. The peasant now harvests the crops for cash; the labor of al-kawaneen has been rewarded.

The common myth that winter reprieves and relieves the peasant from the arduous labor in the fields persists, notwithstanding all evidence to the contrary. It underlies the urban romantic idealization of winter in the countryside and has no bearing on reality.

“Rather exhausted and fatigued by the arduous work under challenging weather conditions, they return home seeking refuge from the inclement weather and sleep very early,” Haifa commented.

Layali al-samar, whiling away the night singing and telling folktales takes place exclusively in the summer in the field house during the period of transhumance. It takes place during the season when the legumes and fruits that were planted in winter are harvested to be sold in the city. This is the period when the peasants tend their ploughs, picks, and shovels, but this is also the period when they are happiest to see their labor rewarded; their field produce as commodities acquire cash value in the market.

Growing winter produce in the Jordan Valley.

1918

“In the classification of work شغل,” my introspective analytical friend Haifa explained, “many individuals do not see the process as a whole; rather, they tend to partition. They separate the concept of labor and effort expended from work that has market value from the preparatory stage. In this semantic context, work denotes an economic transaction whereby the produce becomes cash, income generating.” Haifa summarized the underlying logic of Mohammad’s surprising statement.

In winter there is no work in the sense that there are no economic transactions and there is no cash flow. There is nothing to sell and nothing to buy. Raising one’s expectations for a good season with profit and presumptuously including the profit in the effort expended is a risky affair that is contingent on many factors beyond individual control and as such averted. But labor they must; the effort must be expended in accordance with the Palestinian proverb, “All is with hope except for income that is earned by effort.” .(كل شي باالمل ما عدا الرزق بالعمل)As I was proofreading this article, I received a morning greeting from Mohammad.

“Kifak?”I wrote back, “How is work?”

“It is still, الحركة واقفة, al-hamdillah, as God wills it.” He wrote back.

For, in accordance with the Arab dictum, complaining to anyone but God is self-humiliating, .الشكوى لغير هللا مذلة

Anthropologist Dr. Ali Qleibo has lectured at Al-Quds University, held a fellowship at Shalom Hartman Institute, was a visiting professor at Tokyo University for Foreign Studies, and is currently visiting professor at Kyoto University, Japan. As a specialist in Palestinian social history and through his work at the Jerusalem Research Center, he has developed the Palestinian Social and Muslim Tourism Itinerary. Dr. Qleibo has authored numerous books on Jerusalem and its history. A renowned oil painter, he has held numerous art shows. He may be reached at aqleibo@yahoo.com.

Home-grown okra.

Spinach grown in Palestine.

2120La

dd

er he Church of the Holy Sepulchre is among the most

magnificent religious monuments in Jerusalem. Christian pilgrims – both locals and foreigners –

come here in search of a spiritual experience because the church is believed to be the site of Jesus’ crucifixion,

burial, and resurrection. The size, splendor, and architecture all contribute to the church’s historical significance. Within the compound are also the Church of St. Helena and the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross. The separate sections of the compound were built in different periods and in different styles, but together they form “a large, sprawling, and rather confusing complex” known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.i

The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian churches all have the right to worship in this church, yet under an agreement known as the Status Quo, nothing can be moved or changed without the agreement and permission of all three denominations. As a result of the Status Quo, a wooden ladder has been standing in the same location above the entrance of the church for around 200 years, an inexplicable outcome of religious stubbornness. The exact date on which the ladder was placed in its present position is unknown, but its first evidence comes from the mid-1800s.

To shed some light on the mystery of how it was placed there, let me recount some of the events that took place over the last two millennia in the history of this holy site. While today the church is located at the center of the Christian Quarter of the Old City, Golgotha hill was originally located outside Jerusalem’s city walls. In 135 AD, Jerusalem became a Roman colony (Aelia Capitolina), and emperor Hadrian built a temple for Aphrodite in this location, which made it easier for Christian tradition to mark the place as the credible location of Golgotha. Not until Helena, the mother of emperor Constantine, came to Jerusalem in 326 AD was the first church built on the site. In 614 AD, Constantine’s basilica

The Ladder at the Church of theHoly Sepulchre

By Simon Azazian

was destroyed by the Persians under Khosrau II, but in 630 AD, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius marched triumphantly into Jerusalem and rebuilt the church. Under Muslim rule (starting in 637), it remained a Christian church until in 1009 the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered its complete destruction.

Almost a century later, the church was restored to a lower standard by the Crusaders, and it has suffered severe damage since then, caused by fires, earthquakes, and general neglect. In an attempt to repair it, the Franciscans conducted significant renovations in 1555, yet in more recent times, a fire (1808) and an earthquake (1927) have done extensive damage. Today, the church is a result of programmed restorations carried out in 1957 and again in 2017 – only after long-awaited agreements had been reached among the six different Christian denominations. The Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Syrian Jacobite, and Ethiopian Orthodox faiths all have the right to worship in this Church, yet according to the Status Quo nothing can be moved or changed unless all of these agree and give their permission.

“The Status Quo has referred to the customary set of arrangements regulating possession, usage, and liturgy at the holy places. It allows rivals to live and worship alongside each other in a confined space. Without it there would be a free-for-all. Because the major communities realize this, they insist on its strict observance, though it includes many inconvenient provisions. The Status Quo is a seamless web: if you pick and choose, it will fall apart. Change is not completely ruled out, however, provided the parties can amicably agree.”ii

Over the centuries, the Catholic and Orthodox churches − known in Jerusalem as Latins and Greeks –drifted apart for cultural, political, and theological reasons. Their rivalry for control of the Holy Sepulchre has reflected the wider conflict. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they appointed a Latin Bishop to the vacant Jerusalem patriarchate, traditionally occupied by an Orthodox archbishop. The consecration of a new Holy Sepulchre in 1149 marked the high point of Latin primacy. When Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1187, he restored the patriarchal throne to the Greek Orthodox. During the Ottoman era (1516–1917), the Greeks and Latins contested control of the edifice. “They fought on three fronts: in the church with stones and staves; through the local Moslem religious courts with ancient deeds, sometimes

2322

forged; and in the corridors of power in Istanbul, where bribes and diplomatic pressure were used to obtain imperial “firmans” bestowing rights of possession and usage.”iii

This rivalry required the establishment of the Status Quo, and the rule was imposed by the Ottoman Turks in 1757 and reaffirmed in 1852.

The holy places affected by the Status Quo and its general principles are: 1. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre with all its dependencies; 2. The Deir al Sultan Ethiopian monastery located on the roof of the church; 3. The Sanctuary of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives; 4. The Tomb of the Virgin (near Gethsemane); and 5.

The Church of the Nativity. The Milk Grotto and Shepherd’s Field near Bethlehem are also generally subject to the Status Quo.

In all matters of principle relating to the Status Quo in the Christian holy places, only the Orthodox, Latin, and Armenian Orthodox rites are considered. This follows the arrangement established under the Turkish Government and corresponds to the administrative organization of rayahs, the non-Muslim Ottoman nations, into millets that correspond to these denominations − the other Orthodox Eastern rites being grouped with the Armenians.iv

Given that the immovable ladder is a result of the Status Quo and its affirmation that nothing can be moved or changed unless the three denominations involved in the agreement reach a consensus, its presence and the surrounding discussions reflect the seriousness and obscurity of this matter.

A five-stepped wooden ladder rests on the ledge of the right window above the main entrance and can be seen by anyone coming into the plaza of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. No reliable source of information regarding who placed the ladder seems to exist. We do not know for sure when it was placed or why it sits

in this particular location. Yet there are many interesting narratives that have been circulated over the internet. Only a few people have gathered as much information as James E. Lancaster (PhD) who, since 1998, has been engaged in revealing various stories related to the ladder. But in the following pages, I will present new information not mentioned previously or by Lancaster.

The first and earliest known documentation of the ladder’s existence comes from the painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (December 3, 1793–May 18, 1867), who was a prominent English marine painter. His painting, dated 1834, shows the exterior of the church with a ladder placed on the right window ledge, exactly the same location where it appears today.

The second earliest documentation comes from the famous painter A. David Roberts (Fig. 1). The cover page of his lithograph album titled The Holy Land Vol. 3, published between 1842 and 1849, clearly shows the ladder standing on the window ledge, the same way it is seen today.

Pictorial proof of the presence of the immovable ladder reaches back to the nineteenth century. The ladder cannot be removed, yet it seems to have been replaced a few times (due to deterioration), existed in different versions, and moved from one window to the other. It even disappeared for a few hours at one point.

The famous ladder at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

2524

Another picture I was fortunate to stumble upon in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem dates the ladder back to 1857. During my search for information, in the section displaying the original marble lintels of the church doors, I found a picture that displays the church’s façade with the lintels above the doors prior to their removal. The ladder can be clearly noted, positioned in the same location as today (Fig. 1). Other nineteenth-century images of the ladder have been included in Dr. Lancaster’s paper and are dated 1840–1870s.v

Thus, as the earliest documentation seems to date the ladder back to 1834, the ladder is at least 178 years old, and it appears that it has not been moved since. However, comparing the different pictures of the ladder, I would like to suggest that the ladder has been renewed about every fifty years because it wears out. Pictures

have shown ladders with five and six steps. Fig. 2 shows the six-stepped-ladder picture to the right dated 1840.

So let us take a look at the various narratives. During the data collection for this research, I noted many different explanations for the existence of the ladder. However, none could be verified as accurate.

Simon Montefiore in his bestseller Jerusalem: The Biography describes it as:

“… a little ladder belonging to the Armenians on the balcony outside the right hand window in the façade of the church which tour guides claim can never be moved without other sects seizing it. In fact, the ladder leads to the balcony where the Armenian superior used to drink coffee with his friends and tend his flower garden; it is there so that the balcony can be cleaned.”vi

The author refers to the ladder in a footnote while writing about disputes that took place during the Holy Fire ceremony in 2005. But he does not give any citation or reference for his information on how he concludes that the ladder’s function is to allow the Armenian superior to tend to his flowers!

Yet what seems to be agreed upon in most narratives I researched is that the windows belong to the Armenians, while the base or porch belongs to the Greek Orthodox. According to an article published in the Biblical Archaeological Review in January/February 2010:

“…the ladder must not be removed because it sits on property of the Greek Orthodox … but leans on property of the Armenians…; neither group therefore controls the ladder, nor may either remove it.”vii

Older narratives claim that the windows belong to the Armenians and that the ladder is used to access the porch during the “washing of feet” and other ceremonies. In the article “The Status Quo in the Holy Places,” we read:

“Above the doorway runs a classical cornice, a relic of the Byzantine buildings. This is reached from the windows of the Armenian Chapel of St. John, and this Community has the use thereof on the occasion of the festival ceremonies that take place in the Courtyard. The upper cornice is used in the same manner by the Orthodox.”viii

While searching for additional information, I made a number of visits to the church in an effort to interview clergy and priests on what they know about the ladder. These attempts have not been very fruitful! Fr. Alkimos, a Greek Orthodox priest who was guiding a pilgrimage group from Greece, said that he had no knowledge of why the ladder was

there or what its origins were; his only response was: “Status Quo.”

A Coptic priest was surprised to know that this ladder had significance, he said, “I never paid attention to it!”

Inside the Armenian section of the church, a young Armenian priest with broken English seemed relaxed and willing to share his limited views after identifying me as a fellow Armenian: “This ladder is very old; it is very historical and very important…lots of history…”

My final hope was to get an accurate answer in the Orthodox section, St. James Church. I had received guidance from the patriarchate’s spokesperson, Father Issa Misleh, who insisted that the best people to give answers would be the Arab Christian wardens ministering there. Yet this inquiry was also without success as no one was able to comment or give information. I was then advised to interview Fr. Aristarchus, the patriarch’s secretary − who was out of the country.

I returned to written sources in my attempts to collect information on the function of the ladder and seemed to have better luck. According to Aviva Bar-Am in Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem: “the ladder... was used over a century ago for hauling food up to Armenian monks locked in the church by Turks.”ix

Various narratives exist regarding the immovable ladder’s origin.

Fig. 1 The portal of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in an illustration by David Roberts, 1830s.

2726

In order to verify that the function of the ladder was to haul up food for locked-up monks, I had to find out why monks were locked up inside the church. Lancaster’s document notes: “The ladder was first introduced at a time when the Ottomans taxed Christian clergy every time they left and entered the Holy Sepulchre. The clergy who served the church reacted by leaving the church as rarely as possible. They set up living quarters within the church.”x The ladder was placed on the balcony to allow the clergy to get fresh air and sunshine, and to grow vegetables!

In an interview, the late Kevork Kahvedjian, owner of the Elia Photo Service and son of the famous photographer Elia Kahvedjian, told me that the detailed story of the ladder was passed down from one generation to another, and this is how he narrated it to me:

“During the Ottoman period, constant clashes between the Armenians, Orthodox, and Catholics became very irritating to the sultan who ordered that the church doors should be closed and all the priests remain locked up inside until they agreed to settle their differences... This resulted in a three-month-long closure of the church because it seemed impossible to reach an agreement ... During those three months, the ladder was placed by the Armenian priests and a rope

was brought down to haul food and supplies up into the Church... The Orthodox had their own ladder in the back side of the Church... When the agreement was reached, everything had to remain in its exact place, and so remained the ladder.”

It seems, therefore, that ladder’s origin is related to a kind of “lock-up” that was directly or indirectly imposed by the Ottomans on the church, and thus its function begins to make sense.

In some of the stories around the Status Quo, I seemed to detect disappointment regarding the general dispute among various Christian denominations. Many, if not all, describe a desire to see the Christians more united and to witness a change towards mending the currently broken relations. Yet even if relations seem to be frozen, the ladder has almost certainly been moved!

On February 4, 2009, a student in an Israeli tour guide licensing course noticed that the ladder had been moved from its location under the right window to the left window. His camera captured the ladder in its current location (Figs. 3, 4).xi The ladder was moved back to its standard location later on and sits there today untouched and unmoved. There has been no source of information as to what happened and who moved the ladder.

The ladder even disappeared for a few hours. Lancaster, in his article “The Church and the Ladder: Frozen in Time,” mentions a unique and bizarre event: in 1997, someone named Andy took the opportunity to sneak into the church and pull the ladder inside. The picture in Fig. 5 shows an unnamed accomplice hauling the ladder through the window. After this act, a new solid frame with a lock was placed at the window to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

In conclusion, we apparently can be sure of three points:

The ladder is there because of the Status Quo agreement. It reflects the seriousness and significance of this treaty.

The windows belong to the Armenians; but because the ladder stands on a cornice that belongs

to the Greek Orthodox, no one has the exclusive ownership. Thus, a decision regarding its fate needs the consensus of all denominations.

The function of the ladder is most probably related to a “lock-up” that was imposed by the Ottomans during their rule in Jerusalem; it facilitated access to the outer section of the church in order to haul up food for the priests.

Finally, despite the many years of disagreement and quarrel, the Status Quo provides a reasonable solution for the complex issue of sharing a sacred space. In my opinion, such a system could work between Palestinians and Israelis when it comes to the sovereignty of political territory. Using the Holy Sepulchre as a model, I believe that conflicting ideas could be settled peacefully if an agreement such as the Status Quo were applied in the final negotiations on Jerusalem.

Simon Azazian is the Director of Information and PR at the Palestinian Bible Society. He is the chief editor of Jerusalem Unites Us magazine and is also a talented musician. He also holds a BA in English language and literature from Bethlehem University, and a master’s degree in Jerusalem Studies from Al-Quds University.

i Rivka Gonen, Biblical Holy Places: An Illustrated Guide, Jerusalem: Palphot Publications, 1999.ii Raymond Cohen, Saving the Holy Sepulchre: How Rival Christians Came Together to Rescue Their Holiest Shrine, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.iii Cohen.iv Lionel G.A. Cust and Abdullah Effendi Kardus, The Status Quo in the Holy Places, London, H.M.S.O, 1929.v James E. Lancaster, “The Church and the Ladder: Frozen in Time,” 1998, available at http://coastdaylight.com/ladder.html.vi Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2012.vii Danny Herman, “Strata: Who Moved the Ladder?” Biblical Archaeology Review, 36:1. viii Cust and Kardus, The Status Quo.ix Aviva Bar-Am, Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem, Jerusalem: Ahava Press, 1998.x Lancaster.xi Herman, “Strata.”

Fig. 2 - 5 Various photographs of the ladder at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

2928Cy

cli

ng he girl on the bike in front of me is freewheeling down

the road, her arms outstretched like the wings of a bird in flight, her face shows pure delight and love

of life. If freedom is a state of mind, Palestine is free. Nima faces many restrictions and obstacles to be able to

enjoy this moment, but like many Palestinians I have met, she overcomes them with quiet resilience and strong determination. As a third-generation refugee, she lives in the cramped, violent conditions and poverty of the refugee camp in Nablus. Her parents forbid her from cycling because they believe that cycling affects women’s reproductive organs. She cycles every day.

Cycling the Wall

By Louise Brown

I arrived in the West Bank on September 22, 2018, with a bike, a tent, and a map. I had thought of many reasons for cycling alone along the 700-kilometer separation wall in Palestine from Badala in the north to the desert in the south: to try to understand the wall and its true effect on the people who live nearby; to see for myself how the restrictions on the basic human right of movement affect everyday life in the West Bank; to counter the media portrayal of the Palestinian people as violent and dangerous; to explore and to feel a country I had fallen in love with from a distance.

A month before leaving Spain, I contacted Cycling Palestine, a cycling group, to ask for advice about my planned route, and we arranged to meet in Ramallah to talk. Our shared love of sport, sense of adventure, openness, and belief in human nature meant that within an hour we became a team and ended up doing the entire ride together. Although I carried my tent the whole way, the Palestinian

culture of warm hospitality meant that Sohaib, a co-founder of Cycling Palestine, found a family in every town who were willing and proud to share their house with a complete stranger. “My friend’s house. My friend’s house,” he would reply to any suggestion of putting up the tent or staying in a guesthouse.

By cycling so close to the wall and thus in an area of heavy military presence, my Palestinian friends were in danger of being strip-searched and detained for the simple act of cycling. However, the Israeli soldiers didn’t want to give a bad image of themselves in front of a foreigner and so backed down every time we were stopped when they realized that I was English. At first, I was worried about putting my friends in danger by insisting on following the route, but I soon discovered that, in a way, my presence was allowing them to do what they loved without experiencing the usual problems from the Israeli military. On the second day, we had set off at 7:00 a.m. but got lost, and so at 9:00 p.m., Raed and I were wearily cycling up a long, dark hill that seemed eternal, and we both just wanted to get to our host family and sleep. A huge military vehicle and a police car stopped us, and an Israeli soldier with an AK-47 approached, shouting at me in Arabic. As it was dark and we were wearing “Cycle Palestine” vests, they thought I was Palestinian. When I replied in English, the soldier changed his tone of voice completely and said that he had been sent to check whether we were alright cycling in the dark. Although my British passport made my journey through Palestine a lot easier, I felt embarrassed and angry that I was frequently treated in such a different way from my Palestinian friends simply due to my nationality.

Cycling through the desert.

3130

The act of cycling over the impressively hilly terrain gave me time to process the examples of the injustice that I had heard of and seen during the ride. One family was building a kitchen onto their house when a construction ban was imposed, thus preventing them from completing the roof. The homes of their three sons had all been demolished by the Israelis while their farm overlooks a growing illegal Israeli settlement. Access to quality drinking water is jeopardized due to the frequent water cutoffs by the Israeli authorities. The justification that the wall is a security wall is rendered ridiculous by the huge gap at the Adullam Grove Nature Reserve, which is a popular place among Israeli families. The night we were mistaken for lost, Israeli cyclists and a Palestinian car stopped to help us.

The most emotionally overwhelming moment of the journey was seeing the Palestinian solidarity, support, and peaceful protest to save the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar from demolition. To an outsider like myself, the village is a dusty group of tents where scruffy kids invent toys out of the rubbish lying around. However, I had the privilege to see how and why these nomadic people are treated as a national treasure. On the first day of my bike ride, a Bedouin shepherd welcomed us into his tent, served us tea and water, and explained the local history. He laughed

at me in disbelief when I asked how much we owed him for the drinks. Although they live in such precarious conditions, the Bedouin generosity and hospitality are legendary, and Bedouins have a special place in the heart of the Palestinian people. From all over Palestine, Palestinians and internationals, many of whom represented various NGOs, had come to spend the day at the village to show their support. It was incredible to observe all this energy being invested into what many would see as a group of dusty tents but that are actually homes, livelihoods, and a school for many families. A journalist I met said, “In Palestine, your problem is everyone’s problem. You’re never alone here.”

On the last day, we reached the hypnotic beauty of the desert, its extensiveness and the uninterrupted subtle shades of rock and sand that stretch away from the eye. It is here that the ugly solidness of the concrete wall seemed at its most surreal, cutting through this wondrous landscape. What lay behind the huge metal door in front of me? Within minutes a car pulled up and a couple of local Palestinians invited us to their house in Al-Ramadin for coffee. We sat on mattresses in an otherwise bare room drinking gritty coffee and mint tea while Salman explained how the wall had changed the lives of the villagers in Ramadin. “Life before the construction of the wall was beautiful.

We lived in peace, and earning a living was easier; but when the wall was built, mobility became difficult and life became like living in a closed prison. There is also harassment by the occupation forces; for example, they demolish our homes and forbid us from rebuilding them.” The house looks straight out onto the wall, and behind it we could see the new Israeli settlement of comfortable, detached houses and green gardens illegally built on Palestinian land.

I was sad to leave Palestine and the people I was even more in love with. It’s a place where I could truly feel free because I felt safer than I have ever felt travelling as a lone woman. I’m looking forward to returning with my two young children to see the bloom of spring and to give them a chance to learn about the important values that the Palestinians can teach the rest of the world. Thank you, Palestine!

Article photos are courtesy of the author.

Louise Brown, a peace activist who has a special interest in Palestine, uses sport to highlight human rights injustices. She is an English teacher and has a radio program that explores the experiences of women living in a new country. She currently lives in Catalunya with her two young children.

In September 2018, I cycled 700 kilometers in Palestine, through towns, cities, and countryside, following the barrier built by the Israeli security forces and condemned by the United Nations and many other organizations and countries. For Palestine, it is an apartheid wall, whereas Israel and its supporters call it a security barrier. Internationally it is often called just The Wall. I wanted to see and experience the effect of living close to the wall, but nothing prepared me for the constant arbitrary injustices that the Palestinians are faced with in their everyday lives. For two weeks, I saw at firsthand how the amazing strength of the Palestinian spirit and resistance helps them cope with living under such stressful and frustrating circumstances.

The desert door at Al-Ramadin. Starting the ride in Badala. Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouin village.

Qalandia checkpoint.

3332

he unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.” Helen Keller

The brightly decorated hall at Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center was packed with children, around 600 of them,

waiting excitedly to see the clowns and sing along with them just before Christmas of 2018. It echoed with the laughter of those children as the clowns sang and animated fun activities for an hour and a half. This entertainment event was made possible through the initiative taken by a group of young Jerusalemites who voluntarily organized a Christmas party whose proceeds went to the children who are being treated for cancer at Augusta Victoria

By Walid Nammour

The Art of GivingThe Secret Treasure of Augusta Victoria Hospital

Hospital (AVH) in Jerusalem. This is just one instance of volunteerism, altruism, benevolence, and morality that needs to come into the limelight. There are numerous other accounts of Palestinian individuals and groups giving generously to patients at AVH. The story of this kind of volunteerism, however, remains an untold story that highlights the value of giving and sharing that is deeply embedded in the Palestinian culture and social fabric.

On a daily basis, the AVH is flooded with visitors, entertainers, schoolchildren, and others who have come to give to the children at the hospital. Their only aim is to brighten the lives of these sick children by providing them with fun activities, gifts, laughter, and entertainment. They bring a smile to these children who may be going through tough times during their grueling chemotherapy treatment or dialysis. They make a difference in these

children’s lives, especially if their hospital stay is long and they have to be separated from their parents for long periods of time, as is the case with the majority of children from Gaza who are accompanied by elderly women who volunteer to chaperone them during treatment at AVH. Young mothers of sick children from Gaza are forbidden by the Israeli military forces, for “security reasons,” to accompany their children during their treatment. Sometimes, an individual may order lunch packages or donate a generous amount of money to the hospital.

This specific form of volunteerism transcends institutionalized philanthropy and becomes an informal, unstructured, and spontaneous individual act of love and commitment to humanity. Volunteers do not do it for accolades; they do it to make a difference in other people’s lives. They come to AVH to give all that is alive in them – their love, empathy, and understanding. Some people do these acts of giving out of deeply rooted religious beliefs. We all know that in the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, “giving” is an obligation towards humanity. Others do it for deeply rooted socio-cultural reasons. And I have no explanation for why, in many instances, the people of Hebron are among the most generous local givers.

The untold story of giving to the sick at Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem deserves more attention and is cause for appreciation.

Art

of

Giv

ing

A campaign to spread awareness of the health services offered at AVH.

3534

The act is not only limited to religious obligation but rather expands to a sense of belonging and a desire to provide support to other human beings who are in need. It also fosters an underlying bond and resilience in a community that has otherwise been burdened and possibly disheartened by a prolonged occupation. In one instance, I was shocked to learn about a fundraising event, which took place at an orphanage boarding school in Jerusalem, whose proceeds went to benefit the treatment of children with cancer at AVH. An amazing amount that exceeded US$ 3,000 was raised. Orphans, who come from very poor backgrounds, felt the need to give of their meager savings to make a difference; and I believe it was to gain a sense of “inner satisfaction.”

The value of this kind of volunteering cannot be measured as much in monetary terms as in moral and ethical ones. All these activities of giving have had their impact on the sick, and particularly on children. They have had an immense therapeutic impact on the sick children by providing a supportive and empowering atmosphere. For us at AVH, we feel that all these acts of volunteerism and giving bring us closer to the higher values that we aspire to in Palestinian society, such as social justice, equality, freedom, mutual trust, and most importantly, a deeper sense of belonging.

Walid Nammour, a healthcare/hospital executive and strategic management analyst, is currently the chief executive officer of the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, and the secretary of the East Jerusalem Hospitals’ Network.

The value of sharing and giving is deeply embedded in Palestinian society and culture.

Cheering up the patients at the Augusta Victoria Hospital.

A campaign to combat toxaemia (blood poisoning).

3736My

Fri

en

dMy Friend and Neighbor*

By Bernard Sabella

y friend and neighbor, Ahmed, is a pious Muslim. He prays daily, and he goes regularly to the Aqsa

Mosque for Friday prayers to be with the thousands of others who come from all over Jerusalem and Palestine.

With this neighbor and friend, I always feel that there a r e no Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Armenian quarters in the Old City, for he always gives me the feeling that Jerusalem is one, belonging to all who want to live in it as good neighbors. Ahmed prides himself, like I do, on the fact that he educated his children, both girls and boys, in the best of the “Christian” private schools, and there is a score of these for boys and girls within and around

the Old City. His children and mine became friends at school; they played basketball and volleyball together and frequented the same youth clubs. They took part together in the folkloric dance groups, choirs, and other musical events of their schools. They, the children, invited each other to their birthday celebrations and other happy occasions. After school, they often shared the culinary delights that are found in popular restaurants in the streets of the Old City. Not that they did not like the food or sweets prepared by their mothers, but the spirit of companionship, humor, and togetherness won over. When it was time for them to enter the “marriage cage,” they consulted with each other on the best practices to follow and shared their experiences. They also intensely discussed which careers to follow and which universities to go to for further professional advancement.

Jerusalem is not simply the holy shrines of the various religious traditions; it is the people who make the city what it is. A visitor, whether

The Dome of the Rock and one of the four minarets of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the Church of Mary Magdalene and the Mount of Olives in the background. Photo by PIB.

3938

tourist or pilgrim, usually misses the complexity of the relationships across quarters as she/he never shares the living experiences of people like Ahmed. With limited time and a heavy itinerary of visits to holy and unholy places, the visitor may find it more expedient to rely on generalizations and stereotypes. The tourist guide, whether local or international, becomes the coach who offers an understanding, albeit flawed, of the city and its various communities.

The Old City of Jerusalem has always prided itself on the very good relations that particularly brought together its different inhabitants. At a certain time, the “old” Muslim families of Jerusalem developed special relationships with the various Christian and Jewish communities. Like the Christians who originally resided near the Holy Sepulcher and other holy places in the Old City, hence, the Christian Quarter, the “elite” Muslim families originally lived close to Al-Haram al-Sharif

compound and with them hundreds of other Muslim families, hence, the Muslim Quarter. The higher the status of a family, the closer it lived to the compound. Near the Western Wall, Jews chose to make their residence for the expediency of worship and reverence, hence, the Jewish Quarter. The Armenians, with their church founded in Armenia in 301, have had a presence in the city since the fifth century. By the early fourteenth century, the Armenian Quarter was

well established on Jerusalem’s maps. I am much impressed with the narrative of Khalil Sakakini, a Palestinian Christian educator prior to 1948, when he related how he had hid Jews at his home during the First World War when the Ottoman authorities sought to jail them. But Khalil, like the rest of us Palestinians, became despondent with the developments and eventual dispossession wrought on our people by the insistence of Zionists to create an exclusive state on our lands.

Ahmed keeps reminding me that in the earlier part of the twentieth century it was customary for Christians of the city to take part in cleaning the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It was a privilege that symbolized interreligious openness and communal togetherness. I remind Ahmed of the fact that the keys to the Holy Sepulcher are in the hands of an “old elite” Muslim family of Jerusalem who has been entrusted with opening and closing the church by the thirteen Christian heads of churches that are present in Jerusalem.

I remember as a child the great fire at the Holy Sepulcher that took place in the late forties, in 1949 to be exact, when Muslim and Christian merchants and nearby residents hurried to the church to extinguish the fire and evacuate the injured. The fifties of the last century also bring back memories of the experience of the Jerusalem families, both Christian and Muslim, who ended up as refugees from the Western part of the city in 1948. As they coped with the refugee experience, they sought to recreate the social life that was in the Western part of the city, and they continued for a decade or so after 1948 to visit each other on special occasions, for religious feasts, and at the New Year. But many of the Jerusalem refugee families that made up its social, economic, and cultural life before 1948 ended up settling in Amman, Jordan, then a small and developing town, whereas others opted to leave for more distant destinations, thus carrying their memories and remembrances of the city with them.

A Muslim family holds the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.Photo courtesy of jerusalemexperience.com

The cupola of the Dome of the Rock seen from an alley in Jerusalem’s Old City.Photo by George Azar.

4140

Those of us who remain adamant to stay put in our city of roots always fall back on the social and communal bonds that make of Jerusalem a livable place. As we rub shoulders with each other in the streets and narrow alleys of the Old City, we are aware that we share the history of the city with its different experiences and perspectives. In spite of the many challenges and problems that face Arab Palestinians, both Muslims and Christians, as the result of the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city, we insist on persevering and modeling our lives on the example set by Ahmed and his grown-up offspring.

It is true that the times in Jerusalem are changing, with a population that will soon approach a million and with the city’s undetermined future and the social, economic, and cultural disparities that divide its two parts. But in spite of these changes and challenges, it is people like Ahmed who link us to the past and propel us into the future. I was particularly touched by Ahmed when I told him about an appeal I had wanted to launch on Facebook for the liberation of two kidnapped bishops in Syria. He said that I should mention that he too appeals to the kidnappers and that he prays for the freedom of the two bishops. This is the Jerusalem in which I live, and this is the city I want my children and all other children to inherit from our generation. Ahmed’s openness, expressions, and behavior remind me that I am, as a Palestinian

Christian, an integral part of the city of Jerusalem. Another Muslim friend told me in response to the Facebook appeal that he could not imagine Jerusalem without the presence of Christians. These are lofty sentiments that remind me of a statement made by the late Nicola Ziadeh in his book Christianity and the Arabs as he strove to show some of the Arab roots of Christianityi and the affinities that tied Christian Arabs to Muslim Arabs: “I and Jeries and Tannous and Shanoudah (these are Arab Christian names) are inheritors of one Arabic and Islamic civilization. We have worked, at a certain period, to build its foundations. We are the children of the earth where this civilization grew. We are as much Arab as other Arabs who inhabit this land. Yes, this is our civilization which was started some six thousand years ago, at least.”ii

*This article was previously published in the June 2013 edition of TWiP.

Dr. Bernard Sabella is a retired associate professor of sociology at Bethlehem University and an associate professor of sociology on a part-time basis with the master’s program in Jerusalem studies at Al-Quds University. In 2006, he was elected to the Jerusalem Christian constituency to the Palestinian Legislative Council. His research focuses on immigration and Palestinian Christian identification with their society, its woes and aspirations.

i Regarding the Arab roots of Christianity, it is important to remember that Christianity started in this region that at the time was ruled by the Roman Empire and with the intent to reform Judaism – rather than initiate a new religion. But the message of Christ soon reached the Arabian Peninsula where some Arab tribes, among them the Ghassanides (al-Ghassassinah), professed Christianity. In fact, a number of these tribes in Jordan and Syria kept their faith when Islam appeared in the seventh century. Many of the Arab Christians in our region today claim descent from earlier Christians who were either Monophysites (who believed that Christ was only of divine nature even though he took on a physical body) or adherents of faiths that eventually became known as Greek Orthodox, but originally they were all Arabs. Christianity started in the Holy Land of Palestine and as some bright person one time asked me: Why was Christianity hijacked by the West? The answer is complex and one of the factors has been the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity which started the process of transferring the weight of Christianity from East to West. ii Nicolas Ziadeh, Christianity and the Arabs, fourth edition, Sinbad, October 2002, pp. 256–257.

4342Lo

ne

lin

es

s

hey come, when Gaza is on the news, like pigeons gathering around a piece of bread or leftover

sandwich in the park. Then they leave quickly, their wings flapping, as if nothing had happened there.

It’s all over. They offer their thoughts and words of encouragement. The endless texts flood the phone, the

WhatsApp inbox is full of messages from friends asking when we can meet, have a drink, and talk. They are all there for the duration of the attack – of the funeral.

But when it’s all over and the TV screens no longer play images of battered Gaza, you are left alone, the wake is over, the dead are buried, and everyone goes back to business. You sit in your living room and try to make sense of it all for the tenth time in a few years. You breathe heavily, a sigh of relief that family have survived another attack, that none of them is physically hurt.

Life starts going back to normal, you go back to tweeting, writing a Facebook post, speaking at a public event, meeting friends, smoking lots of shisha, and talking politics. Hamas brags about another victory, Israel shows off the targets they’ve destroyed, and we go back to following news on the unity discussions followed by another anniversary of the establishment of a political party and then another.

And all through this time, a hole inside your body starts to grow bigger and bigger. You can’t talk about it anymore. You don’t know where you are or how you fit into the whole situation. So, you write a play or a novel or another article, maybe this one. Everyone wants to know more about the situation, they would like to understand it. So you write.

However, they only want to understand what they already know. They want to read a story, a different one, a human one, as if we were some sort of Greek Tragedy. And you do it, you tell of the

young man shot on the Gaza border, of the young paramedic killed while trying to save others, the journalist who was injured, the old man who can’t see his grandchildren, the grandmother whose lover returned from exile after decades, the boy coming of age, a woman cheating on her husband, checkpoints, waiting, travel. But they are all the stories from there.

The Palestinians are all waiting for the next Mahmoud Darwish, the next

Ghassan Kanafani or Edward Said. And those in the political life are yearning for the new Yasser Arafat. The art organizations want a good-looking, nice, successful artist from Ramallah who looks brilliant in the media.

And all through this you can’t travel back home to Gaza to see the family, to remind yourself of who you really are, a refugee like most people, someone who has had a chance to survive and have a better life. The border is

The Lonelinessof an ExiledPalestinian

By Ahmed Masoud

4544

either closed or run badly, the prison of Gaza is easy to get into but hard to get out of. It’s like committing any crime, but this time it’s only the crime of seeing family and loved ones. And your half-English daughter asks you if you ever had parents. You wonder and contemplate where you fit in all of this and whether what you do is worth doing or if there’s a point to the whole thing.

Brexit debate it is then. I must give my opinion on Twitter and declare my loyalty to the border-free world (well, Europe only), support the Labour Party. Meet with Palestinian friends in London, crawling from one Middle Eastern event to the other, to a lecture by white men talking about Palestine, to an exhibition, an art gallery. To a European artist and their incredible work on Gaza and the West Bank, to Banksy’s latest stunt in the West Bank and his Walled Off Hotel. (I have yet to meet a Palestinian who’s

stayed there.) Then spend the whole evening talking politics in pubs. The hangover of occupation is terrible, it lasts a long time. Even if you are out of Palestine and no longer have to face it every day. No paracetamol can help, nor can any vitamin or medicine cure the pain in the head caused by injustice.

Yet the only thing that remains is Palestine, despite their ideas, their political views, despite friends and foes. The land is still there, an extension of us wherever we go. We can almost smell it in the cup of coffee we drink every morning, in the smell of za’atar when we can get it. In the taste of the badly made maglouba* we invite friends to taste, the bunch of olives we get when someone comes from the West Bank. When we travel to the region, to Jordan, Egypt, or Lebanon. You suddenly breathe deeply with a big smile on your face because suddenly

you remember who you are – a piece of this land. You go to the border between Jordan and Palestine and try to cross but you are turned back by the Israelis because you are from Gaza. It hurts like a tug in the gut. You want to shout in their faces, but you don’t because you know they can do anything to you.

Deep inside you know that you are right and they are wrong, that all you are trying to do is to be a normal human being despite what they think and what they would like to do and which negotiations or ceasefire talks they are entering. You turn back having reminded yourself of who you are, and you calm down a bit, feeling the peace of knowing that you’ve tried your best and that you can never be blamed.

And life goes back to normal and you don’t write this article, you feel lucky. Until the next round.

*Literally “upside-down,” a dish with fried vegetables, rice, and chicken, layered in a pot and turned over onto a serving platter – the better it keeps its shape, the prouder the cook.

Ahmed Masoud is the author of the debut novel Vanished - The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda. Ahmed is a writer and director who grew up in Palestine and moved to the United Kingdom in 2002. His credits include Application 39 (WDR Radio Drama Germany, 2018), Camouflage (London, 2017), The Shroud Maker (London, 2015– 2018), Walaa, Loyalty (London, 2014, funded by Arts Council England), Go to Gaza, Drink the Sea (London and Edinburgh, 2009), and Escape from Gaza (BBC Radio 4, 2011). Ahmed is the founder of Al Zaytouna Dance Theatre (2005), where he wrote and directed several productions in London, with subsequent European tours. After finishing his PhD research, Ahmed published many journal articles, including a chapter in Britain and the Muslim World: A Historical Perspective (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011). An earlier version of Vanished won the Muslim Writers Awards (London, 2011, supported by Penguin Books). For more information, please visit www.ahmedmasoud.co.uk.

But you don’t have a choice either, you can’t say this to anyone, not to the closest people around you because you are worried that they will misunderstand you.

Ahmed Masoud and his family.

4746Gaz

an C

uis

ine

By Akram Ijla

Gazan Cuisine The Cultural Heritage of a Local Community

A traditional Gaza meal consists of dishes that are commonly eaten also by Palestinians living in the West Bank. As mentioned above, the Palestinian diet has been formed and influenced by the cultures and civilizations that settled in this region, particularly during and after the Islamic periods that culminated in the strong influence of Turkish cuisine. It is similar to other Levantine cuisines, including that of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.Cooking styles in Palestine vary by region due to the various climates and landscapes, and each cooking style and the ingredients used are generally based on the climate and traditions of the particular region. The Gaza diet is a variation of Levantine cuisine, but it is more diverse in its inclusion of seafood and use of spices. Gaza’s inhabitants consume great quantities of chili peppers (shatta). Meals are usually eaten in the household, but dining out has become prevalent particularly for parties that offer light meals that generally include salads (salata ghazawiyya), pita bread (saj), and skewered meats. Hot chili, garlic, and dill make up the basic Gazan spice combination.

Gaza is home to many traditional fish dishes that form an essential part of the Gazan social and cultural environment. Sayadiyya, (fishermen’s delight) and zibdiyyit gambari (shrimp stew) are among the traditional fish dishes in Gaza. Sayadiyya is typical of the Levant coastline cuisine and features fish fillets delicately spiced with garlic, dill, chili peppers, and a touch of red-hot cayenne pepper and fried in virgin olive oil, which gives it its unique taste. The fish is served with fried onions and rice. Referred to as “fisherman’s food,” sayadiyya is a very popular dish in Gaza. Hamour or any other white fish can be prepared in this way. Zibdiyyit gambari is considered a typical Gazan dish of peeled shrimp, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and onions sautéed in olive oil, all stewed in a zibdiyya, a traditional small clay bowl that is also used to serve the dish. The spices include dill and garlic, crushed chili peppers, toasted pine nuts, and sesame seeds.Salata ghazawiyya (Gazan salad) is served in a zibdiyya and consists of crushed garlic, crushed tomatoes,

alestinian cuisine comprises a set of

skills, knowledge, practices, and

traditions that range from nature to the dining

place. This includes crops, their harvesting, processing, and conservation, fishing, and the preparation and, particularly, the consumption of food. The Gaza diet is considered a sub-traditional food characterized by a nutritional model that has remained constant over time and space, consisting mainly of olive oil, fresh or dried vegetables, fish, cereals, dairy, meat, spices, and condiments, all complemented by the special kanafa of Gaza (a dessert made with sweet cheese).

The Gaza diet, however, encompasses more than just food. It has a social meaning and promotes social interaction as families gather to consume communal

meals that are the cornerstone of social customs and family

occasions. Such events have given rise to a considerable body of knowledge that includes traditional songs, tales, and legends. The system is rooted in respect for the natural landscape and biodiversity, and it safeguards the conservation and development of traditional activities and crafts linked to fishing and farming in the Gaza region. Women play a particularly vital role in the conservation and transmission of the expertise, knowledge, and techniques associated with this culinary culture.Gaza’s diet strengthens the relation between those who have expertise and those who learn with constancy and dedication. Traditional food has intrinsic meaning that is passed down from hand to hand and from mouth to ear. It is infinitely played out in a staging and conservation of the socio-cultural traditions. Stories and tales that accompany traditional meals have become fully part of Gaza’s cultural heritage.

Gazan traditional food.

4948

finely diced green bell peppers, a little salt, and dried dill. Ghazawiyya salad is generously topped with olive oil and green dill and served with flatbread for dipping.Saj bread is an old tradition in Palestinian cuisine and remains an important staple for Gazans. It is a key ingredient for some Middle

Gaza is also home to many desserts that range from those made regularly to those that are commonly reserved for the holidays. Most Palestinian sweets are pastries filled with either sweetened cheese, dates, or various nuts such as almonds, walnuts, or pistachios. Among these, none is as splendid, or as uniquely Gazan, as kanafa arabiyya or kanafa ghazawiyya. While kanafa is a broad category of desserts made throughout the region, kanafa arabiyya is the unique sweet of Gaza. This variety of kanafa was originally popular throughout the coastal areas of Palestine, but after the occupation,

as the Gazan or Arabic kanafa. It is rougher and more rustic compared to other kanafas in Palestine. It is also richer, and its flavors run deeper with the taste of cinnamon and walnuts, which plays beautifully on the canvas of rich and buttery dough baked into a crust, a nutty filling with subtle notes of cinnamon and orange-blossom water. It is utterly and completely addictive.Traditional food, as intangible cultural heritage, is as important as any historical monument. And whereas many Palestinians recognize their cultural heritage and protect traditional foods, such efforts must be supported and could be increased. The Palestinian traditional sweet kanafa nabulsiyya is as worthy of preserving as the old city of Nablus.

Akram M. Ijla, PhD, is a researcher and guest professor in development studies and public affairs in Sweden. He has published on issues of cultural heritage in conflict, social capital, colonialism and cultural identity of

Palestinian traditional food constitutes a historical passport, a connection to our past as the indigenous people of Palestine, reflecting our historical rights to our land.

when many of the refugees from the coastal cities ended up in Gaza, this kanafa became known

indigenous people, and heritage tourism. He is a public speaker on social justice, children in war, and cultural heritage under attack, and has recently been elected to serve as an ambassador for Save the Children’s global campaign “Stop the War on Children.” Dr. Ijla received his PhD in sustainable economic development from Cleveland State University, Ohio, USA, in 2008, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan.

Eastern dishes such as fatteh ghazawiyya, which is a popular dish served on Fridays and on special occasions. Saj bread dough is made by mixing flour, salt, and lukewarm water; the dough is then kneaded until it is soft and sticky. Small balls of dough are then repeatedly and quickly flipped and tossed until they are large and thin. The baker transfers them, using a small cushion, to a convex metal plate where they are baked only for a few seconds before they are ready to be served.

Gazan Sayadiyya.Salata ghazawiyya (Gazan salad).

Saj, typical gazan bread.

Kanafa arabiyya or kanafa ghazawiyya.

5150

5352Va

cc

ina

tio

ns

ediatricians in Palestine deal with concerns and diseases that are similar to those of many other pediatricians worldwide. And as in many other

countries, concerns about prophylaxis are a priority for both Palestinian health care professionals and parents.

Some of the most common questions that parents ask are about vaccinations. And whereas concerns about the possible side effects of vaccines take up increasing space in the ongoing worldwide discussions, in Palestine, concerns focus more on how we can protect children from disease, for example, by giving them the required vaccinations.

It is necessary to protect children from infections due to the often inadequate hygienic situation in Palestine, where produce may be exposed to insufficiently treated wastewater during irrigation,

and rural areas and refugee camps frequently suffer from poor

infrastructure with insufficient

A Spotlight onVaccinations in thePalestinian Territory

By Najwa Abdulhaq

access to clean water. Access to water in the Palestinian territories is minimal compared to that of Israel, which controls the water sources. In part, it is also due to socio-economic and geopolitical conditions, as some parents may lack the education or the financial resources to seek immediate medical treatment in cases of emergency, and access to adequate health care may be difficult in remote areas due to lack of transportation, closed off roads, and checkpoints.

According to WHO reports, more than 90 percent of children in Palestine are vaccinated, which reflects good compliance in the area of pediatric primary health care. The vaccination schedule coincides with the program that is recommended for the follow-up of child growth and development at the age of 2, 4, 6, 12, and 18 months, when weight, head circumference, and length are measured. In addition, advice about iron prophylaxis is given to parents as soon as their child is 6 months old, and a complete blood count, CBC, is performed at the age of one year in order to assess the hemoglobin level, which is an important indicator of a child’s health. Studies have shown that anemia (a low hemoglobin level) can impair a child’s mental and physical development and health.

In Israel, a highly developed country, some diseases are making a comeback as more parents choose not to vaccinate their children for various reasons. While interaction between Israelis and Palestinians is generally very limited and restricted, the geographic proximity is nevertheless a concern, if only to serve as a precedent.

With the reappearance of these diseases come the health complications that caused doctors and health professionals to search

for and develop the vaccines in the first place. Many of these diseases are not even feared so much for their primary symptoms but for the rather high percentage of cases where dangerous conditions may arise in association with the disease, possibly causing lifelong impairment, such as paralyses and organ damage, or even proving fatal.

Notable is that in Palestine, two health care providers are responsible for the vaccination program and its supply. The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health is responsible for the general population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UNRWA is responsible for Palestinians who have refugee status (and who carry a refugee card given by UNRWA). Refugees make up 41 percent of the Palestinian population, and many of them still live in refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

But let me present to you the concerns that are on the minds of most parents who come with their children to pediatric clinics.

“What vaccinations are included in the Palestinian vaccination program?”

Whereas worldwide discussions among parents generally center on the potential side effects of vaccinations, in Palestine – due to socio-economic and geopolitical conditions – parental concerns focus more on providing children with adequate protection against disease.

5554

Today’s Palestinian vaccination program, run by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, covers all obligatory vaccines recommended by the WHO for children up to the age of one year. It includes vaccinations against the hepatitis B virus, tuberculosis, diphtheria bacteria, tetanus, pertussis bacteria, haemophilus influenzae bacteria, the polio virus, pneumococcal bacteria, rotavirus, and the measles, mumps, and rubella viruses. In recent years, the rotavirus vaccine that protects people from diarrhea caused by rotavirus has been introduced into the Palestinian vaccination program because, according to 2009 WHO recommendations, it can be responsible for 37 percent of the deaths caused by diarrhea.i

“Are there other vaccines that I can give my child that are not included in the vaccination program of the Palestinian Ministry of Health?”

Increasingly, parents ask whether vaccines other than the ones included in the Palestinian vaccination program can be given to their child after the age of one year, and the answer is yes. The vaccine programs in some European countries and in the United States include two

doses of the hepatitis A vaccine, given at age 18 and 24 months. The hepatitis A virus can cause liver inflammation, which is characterized by jaundice (a yellowing of the skin), abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, and a decrease in the function of the liver; this inflammation can last two to three weeks. Most cases (95 percent) resolve spontaneously and with full recovery of the liver function, but in some cases, it can lead to a chronic liver disease similar to hepatitis C and hepatitis B, and over time to end-stage liver failure. This virus is transmitted by dirty water (for example, by drinking unclean water or eating unwashed vegetables and fruits that have been watered by sewage-polluted water), which can be found in a number of Palestinian communities. It can also be transmitted directly from human to human if hands are washed with insufficiently clean water or not washed at all after using the toilet, which are also situations that can be found in some communities. I personally recommend that parents give the vaccine in order to protect their children from the disease, especially the younger ones whose hygiene habits are still not established.

Another vaccine that can be given at parents’ discretion protects children from the varicella virus, also known as chicken pox. It is a very common childhood disease that spreads at a high rate. It causes fever and malaise that are followed by a skin rash that develops into small fluid-filled pimples that spread all over the body and are accompanied by itching. In general, chicken pox is not considered a dangerous disease. It heals within two to three weeks, but the child must be isolated from other children (school, kindergarten) and from pregnant women because, in rare cases, it can cause serious brain inflammation and/or a serious lung infection in the fetus. It is important to note that if a woman who has never been infected by the chicken pox virus becomes infected during the first five months of pregnancy, the unborn baby could suffer from organ damage that may affect the brain, limbs, and eyes. Newborn babies whose mothers were infected one week before or after birth are at a high risk of developing an infection themselves and need medical attention. Concerned parents may feel reassured to know that a vaccine against chicken pox is available and can be given to children at any age after their first birthday and can be refreshed with a second dose within five years. Currently, efforts are being made to introduce the chicken pox vaccine into the official Palestinian vaccination program.

“What about the flu shot? I heard that it reduces my child’s immunity.”

Because rumors about the seasonal influenza or flu vaccine abound, I would like to offer clarification: The influenza virus is one of many viruses that can cause upper and lower

airway infections in children and adults. This virus is more common in winter and known to cause severe illness, especially in children and adults with known lung disease (such as asthma), heart disease, or an immune deficiency. Risk groups also include people above the age of 60, cancer patients, and diabetic patients. The influenza vaccine is changed every year in order to suit the most widespread types of influenza viruses because this virus can change its DNA very fast. For example, this year, a vaccine that includes four influenza strains (Influenza Type A H1N1, Influenza Type A H3N2, Influenza Type B Colorado, Influenza Type B Phuket) has been developed. Even though the vaccine provides protection from only 40 percent of the influenza viruses, risk groups are nevertheless recommended to take it because the influenza virus can cause a serious lung infection that will require hospitalization for some patients and can be fatal in others. The WHO tracks the spread of influenza monthly, and more information is available at the link below.ii

What confuses some people is that the influenza vaccine (flu shot) does not stop all winter viruses, it only protects from certain influenza viruses, and so a child or an adult who receives the flu shot might become infected by other viruses several times during the

In Palestine, 38.6 percent of the population fall within the pediatric age group, which consists of children younger than 15 years of age.iv

UNRWA vaccination program reaches 95 percent of Palestinian refugees. Photo courtesy of UNRWA.

5756

winter season. This does not mean that the flu shot does not work or that it impairs our immunity.

“I have heard that the measles virus is coming back.”

Despite the high vaccination rate in the Palestinian territories, our geographical closeness to Israelis may have brought us some measles cases. In recent years, Israeli citizens have not been committed to the vaccination program of the Israeli Ministry of Health, and many people have refused to be vaccinated or not let their children be vaccinated out of religious or ideological motivations. Some of these unvaccinated people were infected by the measles virus and have transmitted it to other people as well. Children from age one to nine years were mainly affected. In the Palestinian territories, 63 cases of measles were reported in 2017, but in the previous three years, only a few cases occurred. This year, a measles epidemic spread in Israel. By November 2018, there were 2,200 cases of measles reported; 90 percent of these patients had not been vaccinated, and 13 percent of them were admitted to the hospital.iii The effectiveness of the measles vaccine, if given in two doses, is very high (97 percent). So if you and your child are vaccinated, you do not need to worry about becoming infected.

Parents who are concerned about their child’s vaccinations should refer

to their child’s vaccination booklet, and any questions or concerns can be answered by a pediatrician or the closest public health center. The Palestinian Ministry of Health runs such centers in many neighborhoods in urban and rural areas, and mobile clinics visit Bedouin areas on a regular basis.

I wish all readers a safe winter.

For more information, please refer to UNICEF, The Public Health Supply Chain in the State of Palestine: A Tribute to Resilience, available at https://www.technet-21.org/iscstrengthening/media/attachments/2017/11/06/51497-1---unicef-national-capacity-development---palestine---web.pdf.

Dr. Najwa Abdulhaq holds an MD degree (2008) from Eppendorf Faculty of Medicine, Hamburg University, Germany. In 2015, she completed a five-year pediatric residency at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, and was certified by the Palestinian Board of Pediatrics. Since then, she has seen patients at her private clinic in Ramallah. In 2018, she completed a (second) residency in pediatric endocrinology at Hadassah Hospital. Dr. Abdulhaq has published several articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and has appeared as a speaker at meetings and conferences in Bethlehem, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Washington, and Athens.

i Alice J. Abou Nader et al., Global rotavirus vaccine introductions and coverage: 2006-2016, US National Library of Medicine, Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 2018, available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6183203/.ii A monthly update of influenza spread worldwide is available at http://www.emro.who.int/pandemic-epidemic-diseases/influenza/influenza-monthly-update-november-2018.html.iii Israeli Ministry of Health, November 2018; see also, Kristin Hugo, “Measles outbreak NYC: What you need to know about the highly contagious disease,” The Independent, October 18, 2918, available at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/measles-outbreak-nyc-2018-symptoms-treatment-medication-why-new-york-children-a8590891.html. iv Annual health report by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 2017.

5958

Words…words…words

By Samia Khoury

WiP has asked me to update my alternative version of Julie Andrews’ famous song “Show Me.” Although I wrote those

lyrics in April 2013, we still hear words that get us nowhere, and justice and peace are as elusive as ever. The situation is getting

worse by the day, but we are still here, and our sumud (steadfastness) helps us to believe that justice and peace will eventually prevail.

Netanyahu threateningAnd Abbas not condescending

The powerful dictatingWhile the weak refusing

Is that all you blighters can do?

Might making matters rightCannot forever last

While words without actionCannot liberate the land

And words without a strategySeem like words of flattery

Don’t waste more livesWith drones and knives

Peace and security cannot functionWithout the justice element in action

I feel like screaming when nothing is working Not even Fateh and Hamas reconciling

With Trump’s deal of the centuryA united front is absolutely necessary

Moving the American embassy was the overture For solving the century-old problem by an amateur

No more words can I take

The UN created the problem and must find the solutionWithout the American veto there’ll be no confusion

Samia Khoury is a retired community volunteer who devotes most of her time to writing reflections on the current situation. Her book Reflections from Palestine: A Journey of Hope, published by Rimal in 2013, is also the title of her blog: reflectionsfrompalestine.blogspot.com.

Wo

rds

6160Fo

od

in

to

wn

By Federica Marri

Food in TownWhat Kind of CulinaryCulture Do We Support?

would like to discuss the culinary culture that is becoming increasingly predominant in Ramallah.

I have witnessed with more and more perplexity the continuous opening (and closing) of places where food

is consumed, as if it were a product of little value without consideration of the multiple layers of its intrinsic value that

cannot be approached from a consumerist perspective. For one thing, more and more places serve fast food of all kinds. I never understood exactly how we can relate “fast” with food. Of course, to fill a round fluffy roll with a grilled hamburger, some vegetables, and a ready-made sauce may take only a few minutes, but let’s be honest: To breed the cow or chicken, to farm the grains and process them into flour, or to cultivate the vegetables from which the

sauces are made takes time, energy, and resources! Furthermore, why are we supposed to rush ourselves while eating?

So let’s leave alone the so-called fast-food places, since no one expects them to serve deliciously savory, tasty, and nutritious food. Let us focus on the food that is offered by local cafés and, above all, restaurants as places that reflect competence and professionalism in gastronomy and culinary culture. I consider food to be an expression of the interaction between human creativity and a given environment where territorial features, resources, and weather play a role. After all, whether we live in a cold or hot climate, our surroundings require that we nourish ourselves with different types of diet to keep our body in ideal condition, and available resources vary from one territory to another.

The history of food is also a story of an exchange of knowledge that is part of human history. The similarity of names reveals that many food-related products have been circulated globally for many centuries. For example, the word “sugar” comes from the Arabic sukkar; the name mocha is from the Italian machine used to make coffee and has its origins in the port of Mocha in Yemen, from where coffee was traded to Europe, frequently via Italian seaports. Our salad, in Arabic salata, has its origins in the Roman conquest: The Roman armies use to plant small gardens around their military camps while moving from one territory to another, and “salads” can be found in all cultures that encountered the Romans, from northern Europe throughout the Middle East to North Africa. The worldwide availability of contemporary “traditional” European

dishes is the historical and cultural byproduct of colonial enterprises. There would not be pizza without the tomatoes that originate from the Americas, nor French fries without the potatoes brought to Europe from the American colonies; neither would Europeans know corn, tea, coffee, or chocolate. Globalization has brought Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Latin American, and similar cuisines to many Western countries, and Western/American-concept fast food is gaining popularity all over the globe.

Palestine occupies a central place in the rich Mediterranean agricultural heritage and culinary culture which is known for its wide agri-food variety with rich nutritional values. Yet it tends to be presented in standardized stereotypical and de-territorialized ways by the restaurants in town. And while not all restaurants can specialize in the delicious local Palestinian cuisine, there are other ways by which we can foster a stronger connection to our local surrounding. For example, I propose that we could and should know the origin of the products that are used to prepare the dishes on a given menu.

In the globalized world we inhabit, the circulation of agri-food products and cultures increasingly affects the habits of all of us. Let’s be honest, we like to try cookies, cheeses, spices, coffee, tea, cacao and chocolates, flours, rice, and grains from all over the world.

6362

in the agri-food sectors. I relate these concerns to the question: What kind of a culinary culture is promoted by the professionals?

If the food on a menu is prepared by a competent, professional chef with sound culinary knowledge, I expect to find local and seasonal fresh food, dishes that include as much as possible local vegetables, fruits, meats, and fish, all interpreted with creativity and as an expression of the wide and rich Palestinian culinary heritage and expertise. I expect to be able to obtain information about which grains are used for the bread, the rice, the pasta, and any other cereals in the proposed dishes. I would like to know from where the olive oil comes and whether the chef has specific professional relations with the farmers and shepherds of the country and why. Hence, I expect to see and taste the touch of a competent chef as well as enjoy the atmosphere around me (and I would like to say here that restaurants must offer sections that are not filled with the smoke of cigarettes and aragheel, which negatively affects the sensorial experience of eating).

If a restaurant with a professional chef puts hamburgers on the menu, I expect that the bread, the meat, the vegetables, and the sauces be prepared from scratch and/or are selected by the chef from specific places (butcheries, bakeries, etc.). This way I know that this restaurant offers special and unique products that I can eat only in this particular place – otherwise, what is the difference between this and any other fast-food kind of place?

I invite and challenge the readers: Next time you go to a café or restaurant, ask for information about the origin of the food on your plate. The moment we dedicate to drinking

In order to support the Palestinian farmers and an environmentally responsible agri-food system, restaurants might choose products that come from eco-friendly and organic farming or are imported from such places and reflect fair-trade practices.

A couple of years ago I was in an elegant, expensive − if money were among the criteria to evaluate quality, but I do not find it a good indicator! − prestigious, and well-known restaurant in town. The menu did not have any special dish, so I ordered an item from the kids’ menu for my child and opted for the so-called Palestinian mezze for myself, expecting a seasonal selection of fresh culinary creations prepared with care by the chef. Instead, a kind and well-trained waitress arrived with a fast-food-quality dish for kids (the waitress confirmed that the meatballs and French fries had been frozen and were fried in a common pot of vegetable oil and served with very commercial ketchup and without vegetables). The mezze was very much like the one I usually prepare at home, which was disappointing, as I had gone to a restaurant because I expected a culinary experience that reflects the professional competence and knowledge of the chef – I expected something of added value.

When I travel abroad, I tend to classify restaurants based on the criteria of hygiene – even in Ramallah, the

hygienic conditions of restaurants and cafés frequently are not up to par with local laws and regulations. But I also care about the origin of the ingredients that go into the various dishes and pay attention to how the food is processed. I would like to know if the restaurant and/or its chef has purchased the vegetables, fish, and meat from specific farmers and areas of the country that are known for solid agricultural production. In other words, I care about how the dishes on local menus relate to our local environment and to the workers

If we look at food from a cultural, anthropological, historical, and nutritional perspective, the culinary offers of cafés and restaurants in Ramallah have room for improvement. If we claim to care for Palestinian products and workers, we must show this in the choices we make.

a “simple” coffee or tea is a moment in which we recharge ourselves, so why shouldn’t we know what we are giving to our bodies? Being aware of our food − and therefore all culinary expressions in our globalized socio-economic and cultural world – requires that we develop a greater sense of responsibility regarding farming practices. We must make the attempt to support as much as possible local agri-food production, eco-friendly if not organic agri-food production, and fair trade-labeled products. The restaurants and cafés that I am talking about are as expensive as any other restaurants in Europe and North America that are frequented by privileged persons who have financial resources and unlimited access to food; I truly find it important that we customers be informed about the food we are served.

Federica Marri is a consultant specialized in agri-food production and gender studies. She lives with her Palestinian husband and their son in Ramallah.

6564

Rawan Asaad

P e r s o n a l i t y o f t h e M o n t hP

ers

on

ali

tyRawan was born and raised in East Jerusalem. Growing up in the alleys of Qalandia Refugee Camp, she acquired a passion for and compassion towards her surroundings. Because she sees the world’s potential for beauty, she decided to study arts. She wanted to add color and identity to her surroundings. Having obtained a degree in applied arts from Palestine Technical College (now, Palestine Technical University−Kadoorie) in Ramallah, Rawan embarked on a career in design. As she gradually rose within the design community, she moved from one position to another, meeting new challenges each time. This led her to work with Saudi, Egyptian, and even Iraqi companies that hired her to work from Palestine.

months of nonstop community work through art, Rawan was able to represent Palestine in the finals with a speech in which she spoke from her heart. She admits: “I will never forget how hard my heart beat when I went on stage in front of the audience and the judges to tell my story to the world and let it know that Palestine has life.”

After the competition, Rawan discovered a part of her that she had never realized existed. Tapping into her media and communication skills, and with the support of President Mahmoud Abbas, Rawan was hired as a TV presenter on Palestine TV and thus took up a career in television broadcasting two years ago. She realized that art is not only about painting or music, art is all around us, in everything we do. Rawan found a magical balance between art and media, and over three seasons presented programs that shed light on Palestinian identity. She started with Ana Falasteeni (I am Palestinian), a program that focuses on Palestinian culture and identity, and most recently launched Abaq al-Badeya (Fragrance of Bedouin Life), a program that focuses on the role of the Bedouin community in Palestinian culture. “Discussing deep societal issues with the Bedouin community leaders in Palestine was quite a challenge, but somehow I managed to make it happen,” Rawan confesses.

Currently, Rawan presents the early morning show at Nisaa FM (Women FM), called Sabah Watani (Good Morning, My Homeland). This program aims to bring a smile to the hearts and faces of Palestinians in the early hours of the day. Defying all rules regarding regular morning shows, it presents no news or politics but rather stories that all Palestinian people can enjoy. “I still have much to give to my society,” Rawan asserts, “and I will work as hard as I can to make sure that I am the reason someone smiles every day”.

But eventually she felt that the time had come to return to her paints and brushes. She started Canvasati.com to market the paintings that she produced for Palestinian society and culture, making them affordable and thus accessible to anyone. After some research, Rawan found that a good number of her fellow young artists were unemployed and struggled to make a living while staying in the creative field. So Rawan transformed Canvasati into a website for all young Palestinian artists, offering them a platform in the hope that they would not give up on their dreams.

In 2016, Rawan entered a regional TV competition under the name “Queen of Social Responsibility.” With determination and hard work, and with the full support of her local community of friends and family, Rawan became one of the top-five finalists in a competition in which 25,000 women from all over the Arab world had applied. After nine

6766

Safaa Khateeb

A r t i s t o f t h e M o n t h

Foundation Young Artist Award for her work The Braids Rebellion 2018 that consists of scan photography and an audio 7’ surround sound installation.

Safaa explains: “The Braids Rebellion is a research trip that has been artistically recreated from 25 original scenes of Palestinian girls – all under the age of 18 – who were arrested and imprisoned during 2015 and 2016. These scenes were originally encountered as real news items that appeared in our daily scrolling – which we no longer care about. The project demonstrates the concept of “life as origin.” The work is based on an event in February 2017 when prisoners in Hasharon Prison cut off their braids after hearing an announcement on a local radio station urging people to donate their hair for cancer patients. Focusing on the prisoners’ refusal of any expression of sympathy towards them and their insistence on not being isolated from the act of resistance through reinforcing the continuity of life inside the occupation’s prison cells, the girls again use their bodies as a tool of resistance through this revolutionary act represented by cutting off their braids and smuggling them outside the prison so that others may live.”

Safaa Khateeb lives and works in Jerusalem and in the Galilee village of Kfar Kanna. She holds a BA in photography from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (2016) and is currently completing her master’s degree in cinema studies from the University of Haifa. In 2016, Safaa participated in an artist’s residency at Cité internationale des arts in Paris. She exhibited her Baghdad Studio project six times in 2016–2017: at Henri Frick Square, Brussels; L’Uzine, Casablanca; Padeco Gallery, Ramallah; the French Institute, Nablus; Fattoush Gallery, Haifa; and Jeune Création Gallery, Paris. In 2016, she exhibited Palestine World Cup 2034 at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and her Dome of the Rock video installation at the Bezalel Gallery, Jerusalem. Safaa is the 2016 winner of the Palest’In & Out Festival in Paris, photography category, and recipient of the 2018 A.M. Qattan

Art

ist

O t h e r p r o j e c t s b y S a f a a K h a t e e b

Stud

io B

aghd

ad, 2

014

This

Is W

here

I Am

Fro

m, 2

015

Wom

en o

f Alla

h, 2

015

6968

Love and Loss

Gaza Poets Society now hosts monthly spoken-word events in Gaza, produces spoken-word videos, holds weekly meetings for the society’s writers, communicates with local institutions, holds workshops, and hosts local and international posts and Skype meetings to discuss their works with universities and poetry societies. The Gaza Poets Society aims to build local involvement whilst also reaching a wider audience, developing connections with other writers and educational communities not only to inspire and grow poets in Gaza but also to make an impact on the poets and audiences they interact with.

The Love and Loss anthology is your chance to sample their work and to look forward to the moment when, in the words of Mohammed Moussa, “We’ll announce the rebirth of love in Gaza.”

Oxford University’s Queen’s College is hosting a benefit night with readings from the anthology on January 26, 2019.

Love and Loss can be purchased only by writing to gazapoetssociety@gmail.com. For more information about the Gaza Poets Society and its ongoing fundraiser, please search for its Facebook page.

“Poetry is an act of peace.” Pablo Neruda

A Collection of Poems by the Gaza Poets Society

Foreword by Marc WoodwardArtwork by Rachel Gadsden

Available through gazapoetssociety@gmail.com28 pages, £ 7.50, all proceeds go to the Gaza Poets Society

B o o k o f t h e M o n t h I

Love and Loss, the first anthology of the Gaza Poets Society, allows the powerful words and experiences of Gaza’s poets to reach a wider audience and to help build momentum towards the creation of more live events, international connections, and additional publications. Internationally celebrated artist Rachel Gadsden has kindly donated her artwork to grace the cover and illustrate the anthology, and her vibrant, poignant images add significantly to the anthology’s appeal.

Award-winning UK poet Marc Woodward describes the collection in his foreword: “This anthology brings us the urgent young voices of Gaza and the music of broken hearts that still sing.” The humanity and reality of a populace in the grip of suppression is shown in small details, such as an arm extended from a car window to feel the rain, “Letting each lovely drop sing and tap on my hand,”

while the radio plays Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” Or in a young child standing at a traffic light and trying to sell two individual sticks of gum. As Mohammed Moussa writes, “We’re fed up with concealment, with passivity like anesthesia.”

Mohammed Moussa’s single-minded vision of creating a community of poets and spoken-word performers led him to found the Gaza Poets Society. A writer himself, he recognized the sense of isolation that can come from living in Gaza: “The young people of Gaza have been disconnected from the outside world for decades. We seldom get scholarships or permits to participate in external multicultural programs, and there are no tourists here. There are tens of thousands of us in Gaza City alone, locked away and forgotten, just dreaming of a chance to connect.”

The success of the Gaza Poets Society stems from the fact that it has been able to do exactly that: make connections not only within Gaza but also beyond borders and right across the world. Orders for the Love and Loss anthology have already come in from Thailand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Bo

ok

I

7170

Kumi Now

The danger in attempting to draw together diverse organizations, dozens of issues, and groups around the world is that the resulting book could end up a disjointed mess. However, the organization of the book (backed by a glossary and an index) has produced the opposite effect. Not one bit is overwhelming, and everything is doable by everyone. Aware that more has been written about Palestine and Israel than any other conflict in the world, Sabeel chose not to produce just another book for the shelf. Few, if any, books like this exist. That this is so is a reflection not only of a deeply entrenched problem within the nonviolent movement (favoring research and discourse over action) but also of the potential of Kumi Now.

Around the world there are nonprofits, faith-based groups, NGOs, university student groups, government agencies, and concerned citizens focused on the problems in Palestine-Israel. But what, exactly, are they doing? They are, of course, doing something – whether writing letters or raising money or compiling reports or giving lectures or holding events. But these efforts are often done in isolation; they can get lost in the noise or be easily ignored by those in power.

Sabeel, a grassroots Christian organization centered in East Jerusalem, decided to bring together these disparate groups in a creative way to magnify their power by organizing their actions on a weekly basis. This resulted in the launch of the Kumi Now project and the publication of Kumi Now: An Inclusive Call for Nonviolent Action to Achieve a Just Peace.

The book is aimed at groups and individuals around the world, scholars and neophytes alike, who want to find a nonviolent solution to the conflict. There are a number of features that allow everyone to be part of the project and build their knowledge. It is divided into 52 weekly entries, 42 of which address specific issues and are linked to an organization involved in that issue. The other 10 are set aside for events and reflection. Each of the 42 entries includes a short essay that outlines an issue, a description of the organization, a case study or personal story, an excerpt from a work of literature, an advocacy action, and links to additional resources (articles, videos, and others) found online.

The advocacy actions (“Kumi Actions”) are what make the book unique, as they are designed to be easy activities that anyone can complete. And herein lies the real potential: for while anyone could, for example, raise awareness about Gaza by posting signs, or oppose Israel’s treatment of the Bedouin by sending letters to the government, those messages are likely ignored when done in isolation. But if 1,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 people do it all at once...well, you can imagine. In addition, since the creators of Kumi Now have done much of the creative thinking, they have come up with fun ways to complete those actions. You’ll have to actually buy the book to see what that entails.

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

432 pages, US$ 30.00

Please order at www.kuminow.com or by emailing kumi@kuminow.com

B o o k o f t h e M o n t h I IB

oo

k I

I

7372Ex

hib

itio

n

The opening ceremony for #MyPalestine photography exhibit was held in Ramallah on December 11, 2018, at Mahmoud Darwish Museum. It displays photos of Palestine taken by Palestinians and other people from around the world, showing the country and its people from a variety of perspectives. The exhibition will be featured in different cities throughout the world, including London, Berlin, and Washington, D.C.

#MyPalestine is a crowd-sourced photography campaign that ran from March to September 2018 under the hashtag #MyPalestine. Thousands of submissions were narrowed down to thirty photos by a group of global judges.

PIPD’s executive director Salem Barahmeh noted, “#MyPalestine gave people a chance to show the beauty of Palestine to the world and tell stories of their own realties that are missing from public discourse,

Al-Mustawda3, Ein Munjed, RamallahOrganized by the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD)

December 11, 2018 to January 31, 2019

coverage, and perceptions of Palestine. We have rich culture, history, and traditions; an amazing and resilient people; and a beautiful country that the whole world should see.”

The exhibit is being held at Al-Mustawda3, a charitable fundraising space in Ramallah, located at 5 Hassan Salameh Street in Ein Munjed, Ramallah.

The mission of the PIPD, an independent, nongovernmental organization based in Ramallah, is to share the story of Palestine with the world and invest in capacity building at home. PIPD is led by a board of prominent Palestinians from the private sector, academia, and civil society. It engages in digital campaigns, primarily with video content, to elevate the voices and stories of everyday Palestinians and make known the realities they face. PIPD aims to introduce a more nuanced discourse on Palestine and mobilize grassroots action and support for Palestinian rights and freedom.

#MyPalestine Photo Exhibit

E x h i b i t i o n o f t h e M o n t h

7574

W h e r e t o G o

The UndiscoveredArchaeological Riches of Hebron

There is a huge contrast between the grand and busy city of Hebron and the smaller, tranquil agricultural villages surrounding it. Like many areas across Palestine, the surroundings of Hebron remain very much off the beaten track of most visitors. In many cases, these villages are home to many interesting archaeological sites that are part of Palestine’s historical and cultural heritage.

Approximately eight kilometers south of Hebron and near the village of Zif is located Aristobolia (Khirbet Istabul), which is an example of a Byzantine basilica built during the beginning of the Islamic Era (eighth century). The building was destroyed by an earthquake in 749, but visitors can still see a typical Byzantine narthex, three entrances from the west, and

Courtesy of VisitPalestine.ps

It is worth noting that the above-mentioned sites are not considered official archaeological parks. Given that they are often found close to private properties, it is important respect the customary guidelines for visits to local communities and holy sites (e.g., modest clothing).

To learn more about Hebron and the surrounding destinations, visit our website at www.visitpalestine.ps, or contact the Visit Palestine Information Center in Bethlehem via info@visitpalestine.ps or (02) 277-1992.

an apse facing east. The hill where the church is located overlooks beautiful agricultural lands covered with olive and almond trees.

Farther south of Hebron we find another place that is worth a visit – Khirbet al-Karmil. There, in the middle of the village, is situated a Crusader pool, currently part of a public park. Up the hill, following the village’s abandoned Ottoman Era old core, we come across the ruins of a Byzantine church and a Crusader fortress. The site is not well maintained, and its deterioration is progressing fast.

Among the most striking archaeological sites found in Samu’a Village, maintained by the Palestine Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, are remains of a fourth-century synagogue. Beautifully ornamented columns adorn the interior. There is also an Islamic niche, possibly added during the time of Saladin, according to one tradition. The site is surrounded by Ottoman Era buildings.

Wh

ere

to

Go

7776TW

iP K

itc

he

nT W i P K i t c h e n

Palestine Hosting SocietyFamily Dinners Project Part 5 of 6

In a research project that documents Palestinian food practices, initiated by artist Mirna Bamieh and supported by the Public Program of A.M. Qattan Foundation, “Family Dinners” is a series of five dinners that were served to groups of food enthusiasts over a two-month period. This article describes the fourth dinner in the series. “From My Mother’s Pantry” was hosted by professional cook and researcher Suzanne Matar and aimed to present dishes prepared from ingredients that are commonly kept in the pantry of her mother Janet. In 1982, Janet had come to I’billin, a village in Upper Galilee, from Rmeich in southern Lebanon, where she’d grown up in a big family whose livelihood depended on their sheep and on tobacco farming. In I’billin, Janet raised her own family, with Suzanne growing up as one of eight siblings. Most of Suzanne’s childhood memories consist of wandering in the hills surrounding I’billin and foraging whatever was in season so that the family could use it to produce a meal: za’atar, snails, wild asparagus, and many other plants. After moving to Haifa, Suzanne suddenly realized that what she was so used to, and had taken for granted, was in fact a traditional way of living

that the inhabitants of many Palestinian cities now lack: A strong connection to the seasons and to the land that grants us many of the ingredients for a healthy and balanced diet. For the Family Dinners project, Suzanne wanted to document and research her mother’s pantry – a pantry that keeps filling up every season, helping the big family eat healthy food throughout the whole year while staying within their budget. For three months, she studied and documented the practices

and the food that her mother has been producing and preparing, even today, in order to sustain the family. Among the traditional methods that were documented was the preparation of preserves and pickles, bulgur-making, and the making of pastes such as the red chili paste (shatta) and used in various dishes. The dinner was held at Al-Manjam Gallery in Haifa, and the invitation was an open event for 40 people. The menu relied on the family’s pantry, the produce grown on their private land, and some products that women in the family make and share with their relatives (such as maftool).

Pickled olives from the family’s olive trees, cucumbers grown by the village’s farmers, and eggplants were amongst the appetizers, as were fatayer – triangle-shaped pies stuffed with wild chard and shatta. Kibbeh nayyeh – raw meat fried in a coat of bulgur – is a dish that Janet holds dear to her heart; she remembers best the Lebanese version which uses raw minced goat meat instead of the beef that is popular in the Galilee, fine bulgur, shatta, and mardakosh (marjoram). It was served with hoseh, a topping made of olive oil, sautéed onions, and toasted pine nuts. Lsayneh or waraq lsan – Judean sage stuffed with rice, chickpeas, and minced meat – was prepared with the wild sage that is very common in the Galilee and grows on the family’s lands. Shishbarak, thin wheat dumplings stuffed with minced meat and cooked in yogurt, was served with goat yogurt from a little farm in I’billin. The family makes their own yogurt and labaneh (strained, thickened yoghurt) from the milk they get from the farm.

Freekeh, cracked, smoked green wheat, was next on the menu, and it was followed by moghrabieh, which is a traditional Lebanese stew made of handmade maftoul (similar to couscous), chickpeas, onions, and chicken cooked in a broth. For dessert, Suzanne served asabea zeinab, Zeinab’s fingers (a traditional sweet made of crunchy dough filled with walnuts and cinnamon), salty caramel cake, and mabroushah (a cake filled with a layer of fruit or jam).

Food has always been a representation of class, time, and power. It creates a unique atmosphere conducive to encounter. Sharing food sets the table with aspects of hospitality, distribution, exchange, familiarity, and pleasure. A shared meal can become a space for reflection on socio-political realities, attitudes, fashions of the time, and even the suppressed elements of history.

7978

BETHLEHEMCHILDREN’S EVENTSThursday 315:30 Baking Christmas Cookies with Teta Santa and other fun activities for kids, organized by Bethlehem Municipality. Bethlehem Peace Center.

CONCERTSSaturday 518:00 Christmas concert by Awtar Quartet and Singkreis Wohlen, a choir from Switzerland, organized by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, Beit Sahour.

EXHIBITIONSTuesday 1 – Thursday 3110:00–18:00 12 Cities is an exhibition that introduces cities of Palestine through sketches and minimal lines that sketch urban context. Organized by NOL Design Studio. The exhibition opens daily except Sundays. Bab idDeir Art Gallery.

FILM SCREENINGS Saturday 1218:00–20:00 From Balfour to Banksy: Divisions and Visions. The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center - Wi’am.

RELIGIOUS EVENTS Saturday 511:30 Arrival of the Custos of the Holy Land in a procession that culminates at Manger Square, to celebrate Roman Catholic Epiphany Eve. St. Catherine’s Church. Sunday 68:30 Welcoming of the Syrian Or thodox bishop’s procession for the celebration of Greek Orthodox Christmas Eve. Along Star Street to Manger Square to the Syrian Church of the Virgin Mary. 9:30 Welcoming of the Coptic bishop’s procession for the celebration of Greek Orthodox Christmas Eve. Along Star Street to Manger Square to the Church of the Nativity.10:00 Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the Custos of the Holy Land, attended by the mayor of Bethlehem and the consuls of Jerusalem. St. Catherine’s Church. 10:30 Welcoming of the Greek Or thodox patriarch’s procession for the celebration of Greek Orthodox Christmas Eve. Along Star Street to Manger Square to the Church of the Nativity. 14:45 Welcoming of the Ethiopian bishop’s procession for the celebration of Greek Or thodox Christmas Eve. Manger Square, in front of Bethlehem Municipality building towards Milk Grotto Street to the Ethiopian Church – Ethiopian Monastery of Peace – Church of Eyesus, Milk Grotto Street.23:30 Greek Orthodox Christmas mass. Church of the Nativity.

Friday 1811:00 Welcoming of the Armenian patriarch. Manger Square to the Church of the Nativity.

SPECIAL EVENTS Wednesday 216:00 The Wise Men Parade in Bethlehem organized by Bethlehem Municipality in collaboration with the Representative Office of Malta. Starting from Manger Street and ending in Manger Square.Friday 419:30 The Christmas International Music and Food evening, organized by Bethlehem Municipality. Bethlehem Peace Center.

TOURSThursday 310:00–13:00 With Open Eyes is a tour in Bethlehem’s old quarters organized by Visit Palestine to discover the charm of the old city of Bethlehem and its World Heritage Site. Starting point is Visit Palestine Center, opposite Bethlehem’s Central Bus Station.

NABLUSSPECIAL EVENTS Saturday 1210:00–14:00 Kharoub and Olive Tree Planting is a community greening event organized by PARCIC and Asira Municipality. For more information and registration, please visit https://www.facebook.com/parcic.palproject/.

RAMALLAHCONCERTS Friday 1819:30–22:30 Underground Cellar Live concert by the Scottish musician Robin Burlton. La Vie. For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/636696373412904/.

SPECIAL EVENTS Thursday 2419:00–22:00 BlaBla Language Exchange is an occasion to converse in various language subgroups. Organized by BlaBla Language Exchange Jerusalem and Ramallah. For more information about the venue, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2196896027264762/.Monday 7, 14, 21, 28 w19:00 Contemporary dance classes for adults with Helena Krinal. Ramallah Ballet Center. For registration, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/263677121169995/.

TOURSSunday 6, 13, 20, 2710:00–16:00 Free Heritage Tours in Terra Fidea ‒ Land of Fidelity, within the Sustainable Eco-Tourism Initiative and Zahran’s SCA Farm. Organized by Dar Zahran Heritage Building. Terra Fidea. For more information, please contact info@terrafidea.org.

E V E N T Se

ve

nt

s EAST JERUSALEM (02)

ARTLABMob. 0544 343 798, artlabjerusalem@gmail.com

Al-Jawal Theatre GroupTelefax: 628 0655

Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary ArtTel: 628 3457, Fax: 627 2312info@almamalfoundation.orgwww.almamalfoundation.org

Alruwah TheatreTel: 626 2626, alruwahtheatre2000@yahoo.com

Al-Urmawi Centre for Mashreq MusicTel: 234 2005, Fax: 234 2004 info@urmawi.org, www.urmawi.org

America Househttp://jerusalem.usconsulate.gov/americahouse2.html

Ashtar for Theatre Productions & TrainingTelefax: 582 7218info@ashtar-theatre.org, www.ashtar-theatre.org

British CouncilTel: 626 7111, Fax: 628 3021information@ps.britishcouncil.orgwww.britishcouncil.org/ps

Centre for Jerusalem Studies/Al-Quds UniversityTel: 628 7517, cjs@planet.edu www.jerusalem-studies.alquds.edu

Community Action Centre (CAC)Tel: 627 3352, Fax: 627 4547, www.cac.alquds.edu

Educational BookshopTel: 627 5858, Fax: 628 0814info@educationalbookshop.com www.educationalbookshop.com

El-Hakawati Theatre CompanyTel: 583 8836, Mobile: 0545 835 268f.abousalem@gmail.com, www.el-hakawati.org

French Cultural CentreTel: 628 2451 / 626 2236, Fax: 628 4324 ccfjeru@consulfrance-jerusalem.org

Issaf Nashashibi Center for Culture & LiteratureTelefax: 581 8232, isaaf@alqudsnet.com

Jerusalem Centre for Arabic MusicTel: 627 4774, Fax: 656 2469, mkurd@yahoo.com

Melia Art CenterTeleFax: 628 1377, Melia@bezeqint.netwww.meliaartandtrainingcenter.com

Palestinian Art Court - Al HoashTelefax: 627 3501info@alhoashgallery.org, www.alhoashgallary.org

Palestinian National TheatreTel: 628 0957, Fax: 627 6293, info@pnt-pal.org

Sabreen Association for Artistic DevelopmentTel: 532 1393, sabreen@sabreen.org www.jerusalem.usconsulate.govwww.facebook.com/USConGenJerusalem

Sanabel Culture & Arts TheatreTel: 671 4338, Fax: 673 0993sanabeltheatre@yahoo.com

The Bookshop at the American Colony HotelTel: 627 9731, Fax: 627 9779 bookshop.americancolony@gmail.com www. americancolony.com

The Edward Said National Conservatory of MusicTel: 627 1711, Fax: 627 1710 info@ncm.birzeit.edu, ncm.birzeit.edu

The Magnificat IntstituteTel: 626 6609, Fax: 626 6701magnificat@custodia.org www.magnificatinstitute.org

Theatre Day ProductionsTel: 585 4513, Fax: 583 4233tdp@theatreday.org, www.theatreday.org

Turkish Cultural CentreTel: 591 0530/1, Fax: 532 3310kudustur@netvision.net.il, www.kudusbk.com

Wujoud MuseumTel: 626 0916, www.wujoud.org, info@wujoud.org

Yabous Cultural CenterTel: 626 1045; Fax: 626 1372yabous@yabous.org, www.yabous.org

BETHLEHEM (02)

Al-Harah TheatreTelefax: 276 7758, alharahtheater@yahoo.cominfo@alharah.org, www.alharah.org

Alliance Française de BethléemTelefax: 275 0777, afbeth@p-ol.com

Anat Palestinian Folk & Craft CenterTelefax: 277 2024, marie_musslam@yahoo.com

Arab Educational Institute (AEI)-Open WindowsTel: 274 4030, www.aeicenter.org

Artas Folklore CenterMob: 0597 524 524, 0599 679 492, 0503 313 136artasfc@hotmail.com

Badil CentreTel: 277 7086

Beit Jala Community-Based Learning and Action CenterTel: 277 7863

Bethlehem Academy of Music/ Bethlehem Music SocietyTel: 277 7141, Fax: 277 7142

Bethlehem Peace CenterTel: 276 6677, Fax: 276 4670 info@peacenter.org, www.peacenter.org

Catholic Action Cultural CenterTel: 274 3277, Fax 274 2939info@ca-b.org, www.ca-b.org

Centre for Cultural Heritage PreservationTel: 276 6244, Fax: 276 6241info@cchp.ps, www.cchp.ps

Environmental Education CenterTel: 276 5574, eec@p-ol.com, www.eecp.org

Inad Centre for Theatre and ArtsTelefax: 276 6263, www.inadtheater.com

International Centre of Bethlehem-Dar AnnadwaTel: 277 0047, Fax: 277 0048 info@diyar.ps, www.diyar.ps

ITIP Center “Italian Tourist Information Point”Telefax: 276 0411, itipcenter@yahoo.com

Nativity Stationery LibraryMob: 0598 950 447

Palestinian Group for the Revival of Popular HeritageTelefax: 274 7945

Palestinian Heritage CenterTelefax: 274 2381, 274 2642mahasaca@palestinianheritagecenter.com www.phc.ps

C U L T U R A L C E N T E R S

cu

ltu

ra

l c

en

te

rs

8180

Relief International - Schools Online Bethlehem Community-Based Learning and Action CenterTel: 277 7863

Sabreen Association for Artistic DevelopmentTel: 275 0091, Fax: 275 0092sabreen@sabreen.org, www.sabreen.org

Tent of NationsTel: 274 3071, Fax: 276 7446tnations@p-ol.com, www.tentofnations.org

The Edward Said National Conservatory of MusicTelefax: 274 8726info@ncm.birzeit.edu, www.birzeit.edu/music

The Higher Institute of MusicTelefax: 275 2492, highiom@hotmail.comwww.thehigherinstituteofmusic.ps

Turathuna - Centre for Palestinian Heritage (B.Uni.)Tel: 274 1241, Fax: 274 4440 pdaoud@bethlehem.edu, www.bethlehem.edu

HEBRON (02)

Al Sanabl Centre for Studies and HeritageTel: 256 0280, sanabelssc@yahoo.comwww.sanabl.org, www.sanabl.ps

Beit Et Tifl CompoundTelefax: 222 4545, tdphebron@alqudsnet.com

British Council- Palestine Polytechnic UniversityTelefax: 229 3717, information@ps.britishcouncil.org www.britsishcouncil.org.ps

Children Happiness CenterTelefax: 229 9545, children_hc@yahoo.comDura Cultural Martyrs CenterTel: 228 3663, nader@duramun.org www.duramun.org

AMIDEASTTel: 221 3301/2/3/4, Fax: 221 3305 Mob: 0599 097 531

France-Hebron Association for Cultural ExchangesTel: 222 4811info@hebron-france.org, wwww.hebron-france.org

Hebron Rehabilitation CommitteeTelfax: 225 5640, 222 6993/4

Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC)Tel: 222 4813, Fax: 222 0855 pcac@hotmail.com, www.pcac.net

The International Palestinian Youth League (IPYL)Tel:222 9131, Fax: 229 0652 itv@ipyl.org, www.ipyl.org

Yes TheaterTelefax: 229 1559, www.yestheatre.org, info@yestheatre.org

JERICHO (02)

Jericho Community CentreTelefax: 232 5007

Jericho Culture & Art CenterTelefax: 232 1047

Municipality TheatreTel: 232 2417, Fax: 232 2604

JENIN (04)

Cinema JeninTel: 250 2642, 250 2455info@cinemajenin.org, www.cinemajenin.org

Hakoura CenterTelfax: 250 4773 center@hakoura-jenin.ps, www.hakoura-jenin.ps

The Freedom Theatre/Jenin Refugee CampTel: 250 3345, info@thefreedomtheatre.org

NABLUS (09)

British Council- Al Najah UniversityTelefax: 237 5950information@ps.britishcouncil.org www.britishcoumcil.org/ps

Cultural Centre for Child DevelopmentTel: 238 6290, Fax: 239 7518nutaleb@hotmail.com, www.nutaleb.cjb.net

Cultural Heritage Enrichment CenterTel. 237 2863, Fax. 237 8275 arafatn24@yahoo.com

French Cultural CentreTel: 238 5914, Fax: 238 7593 ccfnaplouse@consulfrance-jerusalem.org

Nablus The CultureTel: 233 2084, Fax: 234 5325 info@nablusculture.ps, www.nablusculture.ps

RAMALLAH AND AL-BIREH (02)

A. M. Qattan FoundationTel: 296 0544, Fax: 298 4886 info@qattanfoundation.org www.qattanfoundation.org

Al Kasaba Theatre and CinemathequeTel: 296 5292/3, Fax: 296 5294 info@alkasaba.org, www.alkasaba.org

Al-Kamandjâti AssociationTel: 297 3101info@alkamandjati.com, www.alkamandjati.com

Al-Mada Music Therapy CenterTel: 241 3196, Fax: 241 3197info@al-mada.ps, www.al-mada.ps

Al-Rahhalah TheatreTelefax: 298 8091, alrahhalah@hotmail.com

Al-Rua’a Publishing HouseTel: 296 1613, Fax: 197 1265, Mob: 0599 259 874akel.nichola@gmail.com

AmideastTel: 240 8023, Fax: 240 8017 westbank-gaza@amideast.org, www.amideast.org

ArtSchool PalestineTel: 295 9837, info@artschoolpalestine.com www.artschoolpalestine.com

Ashtar for Theatre ProductionTel: 298 0037, Fax: 296 0326 info@ashtar-theatre.org, www.ashtar-theatre.org

Baladna Cultural CenterTelfax: 295 8435

Birzeit Ethnographic and Art Museum Tel. 298 2976, www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu

British CouncilTel: 296 3293-6, Fax: 296 3297information@ps.britishcouncil.org www.britishcouncil.org/ps

Carmel Cultural FoundationTel: 298 7375, Fax: 298 7374

Dar Zahran Heritage BuildingTelfax: 296 3470, Mob: 0599 511 800info@darzahran.org, www.darzahran.org

El-Funoun Dance TroupeTel: 240 2853, Fax: 240 2851info@el-funoun.org, www.el-funoun.org

Franco-German Cultural Centre RamallahTel: 298 1922 / 7727, Fax: 298 1923info@ccf-goethe.org, www.ccf-goethe-ramallah.org

Gallery OneTel: 298 9181, info@galleryone.ps

Greek Cultural Centre - “Macedonia”Telefax: 298 1736/ 298 0546 makdonia@palnet.com

In’ash Al-Usra Society- Center for Heritage & Folklore StudiesTel: 240 1123 / 240 2876, Telefax: 240 1544usra@palnet.com, www.inash.org

International Academy of ArtsTel: 296 7601, info@artacademy.ps

Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterTel: 298 7374, Fax: 296 6820 sakakini@sakakini.org, www.sakakini.org

Mahmoud Darwish Foundation and MuseumTel: 295 2808, Fax: 295 2809Info@darwishfoundation.org www.darwishfoundation.org

Manar Cultural CenterTel: 295 7937, Fax: 298 7598

Mazra’a Qibliyeh Heritage and Tourism CentreTelefax: 281 5825, mazraaheritage@yahoo.comwww.geocities.com/mazraaheritage/

Nawa InstituteTel: 297 0190, info@nawainstitute.org

Palestine Writing WorkshopMob: 0597 651 408, www.palestineworkshop.com

Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art PACATel: 296 7601, fax: 295 1849paca@pal-paca.org, www.pal-paca.org

Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE)Tel: 240 7611, Telfax: 240 7610pace@p-ol.com, www.pace.ps

Popular Art Center Tel: 240 3891, Fax: 240 2851info@popularartcentre.org www.popularartcentre.org

Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS)Tel: 241 3002Ramallah Cultural PalaceTel: 294 5555, Fax: 295 2107rcpevents@ramallah-city.ps

RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural ConservationTel: 240 6887, Fax: 240 6986 riwaq@palnet.com, www.riwaq.org

Sandouq Elajab TheatreTel: 296 5638, 295 3206 sandouqelajab@yahoo.com

Sareyyet Ramallah - First Ramallah Group (FRG) Tel: 295 2690 - 295 2706, Fax: 298 0583sareyyet@sareyyet.ps, www.sareyyet.ps

Sharek Youth ForumTel: 296 7741, Fax: 296 7742 info@sharek.ps, www.sharek.ps

ShashatTel: 297 3336, Fax: 297 3338info@shashat.org, www.shashat.org

Tamer Institute for Community EducationTel: 298 6121/ 2, Fax: 298 8160tamer@palnet.com, www.tamerinst.org

The Danish House in Palestine (DHIP)TeleFax: 298 8457, info@dhip.ps, www.dhip.ps

The Edward Said National Conservatory of MusicTel: 295 9070, Fax: 295 9071info@ncm.birzeit.edu, www.birzeit.edu/music

The Palestinian Circus SchoolTel: 281 2000, 0568 880 024www.palcircus.ps, info@ palcircus.ps

The Palestinian Network of Art CentresTel: 298 0036, 296 4348/9, Fax: 296 0326iman_aoun@yahoo.com

The Spanish Cultural CenterTel. 295 0893, chp@panoramacenter.org

Young Artist ForumTelefax: 296 7654, yaf@palnet.com

Zawyeh Art GalleryMob. 0597 994 997anani.ziad@gmail.com, www.zawyeh.net

GAZA STRIP (08)

Al-Qattan Centre for the ChildTel: 283 9929, Fax: 283 9949 reem@qcc.qattanfoundation.org www.qattanfoundation.org/qcc

Arts & Crafts VillageTelefax: 284 6405 artvlg@palnet.com, www.gazavillage.org

Ashtar for Culture & ArtsTelefax: 283 3565, atlas9@palnet.com

Culture & Light CentreTelefax: 286 5896, ifarah@palnet.com

Fawanees Theatre GroupTelefax: 288 4403

French Cultural CentreTel: 286 7883, Fax: 282 8811 ccfgaza@consulfrance-jerusalem.org

Gaza Theatre Tel: 282 4860, Fax: 282 4870

Global Production and DistributionTelefax: 288 4399, art.global@yahoo.com

Holst Cultural Centre Tel: 281 0476, Fax: 280 8896, mcrcg@palnet.com

Theatre Day ProductionsTelefax: 283 6766, tdpgaza@palnet.com

Windows from Gaza For Contemporary Art Mob. 0599 781 227 - 0599 415 045 info@artwfg.ps

RAWABI

Itar (Public lectures, workshops and cultural activities) - Rawabi FoundationMobile: 0594 204 378foundation@rawabi.psCinema Hall, Q Center, Rawabi 666, Palestinec

ult

ur

al

ce

nt

er

s

8382

ac

co

mm

od

at

ion

s

Via Dolorosa 37, P.O.Box 19600, Jerusalem 91194Tel: +972 2 6265800, Fax: +972 2 6265816Email: office@austrianhospice.com, Website:www.austrianhospice.com

Austrian Hospice of the Holy Family

Latin Patriarch St. 33, JerusalemTel 628 2431, Fax: 628 2401 gloriahl@netvision.net.

Gloria Hotel

(104 rooms; mr; res)

Freres Street, New Gate, JerusalemTel 628 2537, Fax: 627 5390 kp@actcom.co.il

(50 rooms; mr; res)

Knights Palace Hotel

Ali Ben Abi Taleb Street, Jerusalem Tel: 02-6282588, Fax: 02-6264417 christmashotel@bezeqint.net

Christmas Boutique Hotel

Ambassador Hotel Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, 91196, Tel: 541 2222, Fax: 582 8202 reservation@jerusalemambassador.com, www.jerusalemambassador.com

(118 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)/amb.jerusalem

Jerusalem Hotel15 Antara Ben Shadad St., Jerusalem Tel: 628 3282, Fax: 6283282, raed@jrshotel.com, www.jrshotel.com

Jerusalem Hotel

3 Paratroopers Road, P.O. Box 20531, Jerusalem, 91204 Tel: 627 9111, Fax: 627 1995, www.notredamecenter.org

Pontifical Institute

Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center

Pontificial Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center

6 Rashid Street, Jerusalem, PO BOX 19700Tel: 02-6284-841Fax: 02-6280-265Email: info@holylandhotel.com, www.holylandhotel.com

Holy Land Hotel

(104 rooms; mr; res)

Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, 91190Tel: 626 7777, Fax: 627 1319svnarch@bezeqint.net, www.7arches.com

Seven Arches Hotel

8 Ibn Khaldoun Street, P.O.Box 19186, Jerusalem Tel: +972 (0)2 626 9900, Fax: +972 (0)2 626 9910 Email: reservations@jerusalemritz.com, www.jerusalemritz.com www.facebook.com/RitzHotelJerusalem

Ritz Hotel Jerusalem

Carmel Hotel Al-Masyoun, Ramallah, Palestine Tel: 2972222 Fax: 2966966, www.carmelhotel.ps

74 rooms & suites, 20 hotel apartment, Spa, Gym, 2 Bars, 6 conference rooms, 2 restaurants, and indoor parking.

Al Masyoun, RamallahTel: 022979400 Fax: 022979401info@caesar-hotel.ps, www.caesar-hotel.ps

Caesar Hotel

Al-Nuzha Street 24 , Ramallah Tel 297 7073reservation@lavenderboutiquehotel.com, www.lavenderboutiquehotel.com

Lavender Boutique Hotel

Taybeh Golden HotelMain Street 100 ,Taybeh (Ramallah District) Tel 289-9440info@taybehgoldenhotel.com, www.taybehgoldenhotel.com

P.O Box 1771, Palestine, Ramallah, Al Masyoun

reservations.mhra@millenniumhotels.com, www.millenniumhotels.com Tel: +970 2 2985888 Fax: +970 2 2985333

Millennium Hotel Palestine Ramallah

Tantur Hills Hotel

P.O.Box 19250, Jerusalem 9119201Tel: +972 2 5658800 Fax: +972 2 5658801reservations@tanturhills.com, www.tanturhills.com

Hebron Road 303 (before Rachel's Tomb)

St. George Hotel6 Amr Ibn Al A'as Street – Jerusalem

Tel:+972 2 627 7232 , Fax: +972 2 627 7233 E-mail: info@stgeorgehoteljerusalem.com

P.O.BOX 69272 Jerusalem 91544

A C C O M M O D A T I O N S

Photo by Shady Hasbun.

8584

Jericho ResortsBisan Street, Near Hisham Palace, 162 Jericho, Tel: 232 1255,Fax: 232 2189, reservation@jerichoresorts.com, www.jerichoresorts.com

Jericho Resort Village

Rawabi Hotel Rental ApartmentsRawabi 666, PalestineMobile: 059 420 4378rent@rawabi.ps

Al Yasmeen Hotel

Tel: 09 233 3555 Fax: 09 233 3666Nablus

www.alyasmeen.com Info@alyasmeen.com,

Laying the foundations of the future

Massader invests in large-scale strategic projects aimedat developing Palestine’s natural resources and infrastructure

$2.4 Bi l l i on Investment Program ( 2018-2025)

Other planned projects

Noor Palestine is Massader’s plan to develop 200 MW of solar capacity over eight years

Solar parks in several locations,starting with Tubas, Jericho, and Jenin

Rooftop solar panels on 500 public schools, first phase of a green energy partnership with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education

1,600 – donum, Logistics area of storage and export

200$ million investment with 50,000 direct and indirect jobs

Generating electricity from the biogas in Zahrat Al Finjan Solid Waste Landfill

$390 million development with an estimated reserve of 122 million barrels

Proven reserve just north of Ramallah

$1 billion development that will enable power generation, water desalination, and industrial development in Palestine

Proven gas reserve o ffPalestine’s shores

Enables renewable energy

Noor Palestine Solar Program

Jenin Power Plant

Meets 40% of West Bank energy demand

Gaza Marine Offshore Natural Gas Field

Strengthens energy security

West Bank Oil Field

Catalyzes natural resource development

Tarqumia Industrial Park

Industrial Zone and bonded area in Hebron

Energy Security+Green Power

DigitalConnectivity

IndustrialZones

Lead investor in Palestine Power Generation Company, which is developing the plant

$600 million investment with about 450 MW generation capacity

ac

co

mm

od

at

ion

s

8786

re

st

au

ra

nt

s R E S T A U R A N T S

Middle Eastern, French, and Italian Cuisine

Al Diwan Restaurant Ambassador Hotel

reservation@jerusalemambassador.com, www.jerusalemambassador.comSheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, 91196, Tel: 541 2222, Fax: 582 8202

/amb.jerusalem

Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem 97200Tel 532 8342, contact@shahwan.org

Borderline Restaurant Café

Italian Cuisine

Tel 582 5162, 532 8342, contact@shahwan.orgSheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem 97200

Pasha's

Oriental Food

Tel: 2769222 Deik Quarter - Manger Square, Bethlehem

Bab idDeir Cafe & Bar

Tel: 627 9177, rooftop@notredamecenter.org, www.notredamecenter.org

Cheese & Wine Rooftop Restaurant(Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center)

Notre Dame Rooftop/Cheese & Wine Restaurant

Jerusalem Hotel Restaurant (Kan Zaman)15 Antara Ben Shadad St., JerusalemTel: 628 3282, Fax: 6283282, raed@jrshotel.com, www.jrshotel.com

Mediterranean CuisineJerusalem Hotel

/BabidDeirCB/

Tel: 02-6284-841, Fax: 02-6280-265, Email: TheView@holylandhotel.com6 Rashid Street, Jerusalem, PO BOX 19700

The View Café Bar (at the Holy Land Hotel)

https://www.facebook.com/TheViewJerusalem/

(at St. George Hotel)

La Collina

On Waze: Tantur Hills Hotel Email: reservations@tanturhills.com, www.tanturhills.com

Tantur Hills Hotel, Hebron Road 303Tel: +972 2 5658800 Fax: +972 2 5658801

Opening Hours:17:30 - 23:00

Bistro and Restaurant

Meejana Lounge6 Amr Ibn Al A'as Street – Jerusalem P.O.BOX 69272 Jerusalem 91544

E-mail: info@stgeorgehoteljerusalem.comTel:+972 2 627 7232 , Fax: +972 2 627 7233

Caesar Hotel, Al Masyoun, Ramallah

Martini Bar Martinibar_ramallah

Tel: 2979400

Martini Bar

https://www.facebook.com/QCenterRawabiOfficial/

Q Center, Rawabi 666, PalestineTel: 02 282 5599

SiroterFrench Café & Bakery

https://www.facebook.com/QCenterRawabiOfficial/

Q Center, Rawabi 666, PalestineTel: 02 282 5599

Artoos The Art of Gelato

Tel: 02 282 5599https://www.facebook.com/QCenterRawabiOfficial/

Q Center, Rawabi 666, Palestine

ShrakShawerma & Falafel

https://www.facebook.com/QCenterRawabiOfficial/Tel: 02 282 5599Q Center, Rawabi 666, Palestine

QburgerBurger

Q Center, Rawabi 666, PalestineTel: 02 282 5599https://www.facebook.com/QCenterRawabiOfficial/

LilacPizza, Pasta, & Pastries

Tel: 02 282 5599Q Center, Rawabi 666, Palestine

https://www.facebook.com/QCenterRawabiOfficial/

Quick Sandwiches Shop

(02) 295 4455, Email:zeitouzaater@gmail.com Rukab St., Ramallah

Zeit ou Zaater

zeitouzaater

Zeit ou Zaater

zeitouzaater

info@alyasmeen.com, www.alyasmeen.com Tel: 09 233 3555 Fax: 09 233 3666

8988

at

tr

ac

tio

ns

Tel: 02-289-9440, info@taybehwinery.com, www.taybehwinery.comMain Street, Taybeh Village, Ramallah District

Taybeh Brewery

Near the rotary, Taybeh Village, Ramallah District Tel: 02-289-8868, taybeh@palnet.com, www.taybehbeer.com

Proudly Brewing & Bottling Premium Palestinian Beer since 1994

Opening Hours: Monday- Saturday 8 AM-3:30 PM

https://www.facebook.com/taybehbeer/

Taybeh WineryMaking Boutique Palestinian Wines since 2013

https://www.facebook.com/Taybehwinery/

Opening Hours: Daily 9 AM-5 PM

Poster Making Palestinian Art Accessible to Everyone. Get yours now!

7A President Square, behind Plaza Mall, Al-Balo', AlbirehMob: 0592847732 Tel: 022426486anani.ziad@gmail.com, www.zawyeh.net

7A President Square, behind Plaza Mall, Al-Balo', AlbirehMob: 0592847732 Tel: 022426486anani.ziad@gmail.com, www.zawyeh.net

Zawyeh Gallery

Enjoy the panoramic view of Jericho

Elisha's Spring, P.O.Box 12, JerichoTel: + 972 (2) 2321590; Fax: + 972 (2) 2321598Info@jericho-cablecar.com, www.jericho-cablecar.com

Telepherique & Sultan Tourist Center

JerichoCableCar

Bethlehem+970-2-276-0376, +970-2-276-8250, Fax: +970-2-276-8251sppd.preservation@gmail.com, solpools@solomonpools.com

Solomon’s Pools

https://it-it.facebook.com/solomon.pools

The City of Cultures and Civilizations

Exciting outdoor games in the beautiful nature of Palestine.

WaDina, Rawabi 666, PalestineTel: 059 420 4377, https://www.facebook.com/RawabiExtreme

Spacious indoor amusement park that offers fun, comfort, and happiness for all ages.

Q Center, Rawabi 666, PalestineTel: 059 594 9026, https://www.facebook.com/funfactoryrawabi/

Rawabi Extreme

Fun Factory Rawabi

Photo Courtesy of SPPD

Photo by Palestine Image Bank

A T T R A C T I O N S

9190

tr

av

el

ag

en

cie

s T R A V E L A G E N C I E S T O U R O P E R A T O R S

Laila Tours & Travel

Fraternum Tours Ltd.

Email: fraternum@bezeqint.net, Web: www.fraternumtours.com

P.O.Box 21727, Jerusalem 9121701Tel: +972 2 6767117 or +972 2 6767227, Fax: +972 2 6767266

Phone: +970 2 2777997/+970 2 2754886, Fax: +970 2 2777996Mobile: +972 528412911

Grand Park Hotel, Second Floor, Manger Street – Holy Land

Email; team@lailatours.com, www.lailatours.com, Laila Tours & Travel

14 Azzahra St., P.O.Box 19055, Jerusalem

Email:Dahert@netvision.net.ilTel: +972 2 6283235, Fax: +972 2 627 1574

Daher Travel, Ltd.

Email:info@rajitours.com, Website:www.rajitours.com Tel: 972 2 6446279, Fax: 972 2 5787766

Raji Tours & Travel

9 Azzahra St. Jerusalem, 9720952, P.O.B: 67197, Jerusalem, 9167002Raji Tours & Travel

Tel: +972 2 2421878, Fax: +972 2 2421879, Mbl: +972 56 2550031

Ersal St, Ersal Center, Amaar Tower, 5th floor

Email: info@gg-tours.ps, Web:www.gg-tours.ps

Box 4181, El Bireh, Ramallah-Palestine

Golden Globe Tours

19 Al-Rashid St., Jerusalem Tel: +972 2 6289260 / +972 2 6273687, Fax: +972 2 6264979 Email:os@os-tours.com, Web:http://www.os-tours.com

O.S Tours & Travel

George Garabedian & Co. L.T.D.

24 Saladin St., JerusalemTicketing: +972-2-6288354, Incoming: +972-2-6283398ggc@ggc-jer.com, www.ggc-jer.com

Tourist & Travel Bureau

SAMARA

1 Greek Orthodox Pat. Rd., P.O.Box 14058, Jerusalem 91140Tel: +972-2-6276133, Telefax: +972-2-6271956info@samaratours.com, www.samaratours.com

Tourist & Travel Agency

tou

r o

pe

rato

rato

rs

9392

J e r u s a l e m

JE

RU

SA

LE

M

9594

B e t h l e h e m

BE

TH

LE

HE

M

9796

R a m a l l a h

RA

MA

LL

AH

9998

T h e L a s t W o r d

A Muslim woman recently posted on her Facebook page “Merry Christmas everyone!” Another Muslim replied, “Merry Christmas to you, too!” Excuse me, but aren’t we celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ? Paradoxically, the same thing happens during Muslim feasts when Christians, too, send out greetings to everyone. Well, that’s how it is in Palestine. When I posted “I’m pretty sure that Palestine ranks first in the Arab world (if not in the world at large) in the number of interfaith good wishes during religious feasts,” the response was overwhelming in agreement. Since each action has an equal and opposite reaction, there is another side to this story that is not very rosy. Fortunately, the “equal” bit in Newton’s Third Law of Physics does not apply in this case! We still hear some voices insinuating that it is sacrilegious for Muslims to offer good wishes to Christians. A good friend of mine who offered greetings to his Christian friends on Facebook was rebuked severely by a couple of his “friends” before they unfriended him. On the other hand, my friend also got plenty of support. One example of such support that stood out was a rather dramatic post from a Samaritan priest: “Those feasts are part of our social fabric, and engaging with them reflects a sincere belonging and sets a good example. Go ahead and be honest with yourself and let the hateful bleed on the altars of racism.” Another reaction to the reaction came from Alaa Abu Diab, a popular social activist who posted a bold video that was aimed head on at the fundamentalists living among us who attack Muslims who express their good wishes to Christians on Christian holidays. Abu Diab essentially accused these people of being totally out of sync and engaging in actions that are futile.Palestinian society is far from perfect, but I dare say that when it comes to tolerance and accepting the other, Palestinians are doing much better than others in the region, including, or may I say, in particular, Israel. Palestinians actually deserve an extra point for maintaining their humanity in being very accepting of the other while they remain under an inhumane occupation. One should acknowledge, however, that racism does exist in Palestine, and it comes in many shapes and forms. The mistrust between some Muslims and Christians is one form of such racism. But people are becoming more and more courageous in countering such social woes, whether on social media or on the ground, through the intervention of the elders of society or religious figures, or through NGOs and legislation, as in the case of discrimination against women. In response to my post about Palestine’s high rank in the number of interfaith good-wish exchanges, one Christian wrote: “If only good wishes could change reality.” My reply: “Is there a Utopian society? He that is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast a stone …” A Muslim then added another beautiful comment: “It is real as long as stupid politics is not involved.” So, you Dajanis, Nusseibehs, Husseinis, and Nashashibis, by all means, keep those Christmas and Easter good wishes coming, and I’m certain that the Khourys, the Bullatas, the Safiehs, and the Stavridises will reciprocate on Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr! Long live Palestine!

Warm Regards,

Interfaith

Sani MeoPublisher

La

st

Wo

rd

100