Synod Pilgrimage - Friday (II)

This will be a disjointed blog because  I was unable to walk the whole day because of suffering mild sunstroke brought on by the hot sun yesterday.

Today we were joined by Rosy wife of Dougie who designed the peace garden at Crookham. Rosy was a lively addition to our pilgrimage telling us about her textile business and her life in Galashiels.

I only walked one of the three sections of the walk but once again I must point out the gentle beauty of the borders and contrast it with the bloody carnage of 10,000 dead at Flodden Field which we reached in the afternoon. We were given a lecture about the actual battle and the weapons used. Luck seems to have played a large part in the english victory. If the land had not been boggy, if the scots had used different weapons it could have turned out differently. History is full of ifs.

We ended our day at the Peace Garden at Crookham which is beautifully designed to illustrate conflict, war, its aftermath and peace. Dougie James explained that he felt war was a choice one makes and there is always the choice not to fight. That may be so but it may nevertheless be an extremely hard choice and can lead to  death and the death of those you love. Some people die rather than take up arms such as those who followed Gandhi but its a rare choice.

Conflict is a part of the human existence and its our duty and ambition as christians to rise above the dog eat dog mentality, to try to love our enemy and to live in peace with our neighbours thereby bringing Gods kingdom on earth. I am fully aware that I will fail in this aim because its a high ambition and I am a sinner but it should always be the Christian's aspiration both in his or her relations with family (who are often the hardest people to love!) and the outside world.

Caroline Byles

Synod Pilgrimage - Friday

Well, the Pilgrimage is over.  Five o’clock, and we were gathering outside the URC at Crookham, ready to meet up with Dougie James who designed both the Selkirk and Crookham Peace Gardens.

It was a slower start than recent days, with a coffee stop before we even started. Norma drove us to Cornhill where yesterday’s stretch had ended, and once fortified we were back on the disused railway track heading south. The day was turning extremely hot, and the sight of Linda’s car (rather  than Norma’s bus today) carrying our packed lunches was extremely welcome.

at Flodden Field

 

Another hour’s walking and the Flodden Cross into view – and soon we were greeted in the car park by Clive Hallam Baker who led us up to the viewpoint across the Battle Field, and talked us through all the events of the fateful day in 1513 when not just James IV of Scotland, but literally thousands of soldiers from both armies, lost their lives.  

Chastened from this vivid telling of the story, we made our way down the hill through the battle field and on towards Crookham. Soon we were being led around the garden by Dougie, who helped us understand the journey through conflict to reconciliation which the design and planting of this magnificent garden.

at Peace Garden

Then we made our way to the village hall as his guests, where he served us a splendid meal, and then led a few moments’ discussion and reflection as we tried to share something of what this week’s pilgrimage had meant to us. By walking here from Selkirk we had walked in the footsteps of men going to battle, and the challenges of what peace and reconciliation might mean to us 500 years later had been on our minds all the way.

Rowena raised the matter of boundaries: the Scottish-English border had sometimes been the focus of our jokes, but there is something serious about the divisions that are universally recognised but which keep people unreconciled. Graham recollected one of Rowena’s stories, about the snowflake that finally broke the branch of the tree: how significant our own seemingly insignificant contribution to peace may be!

Charles had earlier in the day asked the most challenging question of Clive, while at the Flodden Cross: if James knew that the English had four armies while he had only one, why on earth did he choose to go to battle. Reflecting on his earlier question, Charles reminded us now that people who start wars aren’t really clever.

This and more to reflect on as the days after the pilgrimage go by…..

Tomorrow, most of us will be taking part in the Ecumenical Pilgrimage on Holy Island. Our thoughts move from Flodden back to the Lindisfarne Gospels. But as pilgrims, wherever our way may be leading us, we know that the same Lord accompanies us still on the journey.

 

John Durell

Synod Pilgrimage - Thursday

We started our day with haggis for breakfast. A Scottish idea which is a jolly good one. Then prayers and the theme for considering  today was "Borders" because we were starting our pilgrimage walk from Kelso in Scotland and finishing at Cornhill on Tweed in England. What do borders mean in the context of peace and to the Christian.

We walked through Kelso which gets my vote for one of the most pretty towns in Scotland stopping at the ruined abbey which must have been magnificent in its heyday. It was destroyed by the English in the time of Henry viii and the monastery disestablished later as part of the Scottish reformation.

We then left Kelso and headed for our destination following the south bank of the Tweed. Lunch was spent at Sprouston where Mary read us the charming story of the Reverend Frazer and his wife winning a Daily Mail nationwide competition for the best bunch of sweet peas in the British Isles ( note British Isles and not United Kingdom ).

After this I am sorry to report that the walking got very hard indeed. I was put in mind of T S Eliot's poem about the Magi :

"A cold coming we had of it, just the worst time of year
For a journey, and such a long journey"

The reference to the cold coming aside the words by Eliot accurately express the atmosphere among my fellow pilgrims in the afternoon. The sun burned down relentlessly. There was little shade and almost no breeze. It was tough and even Graham who is very fit and keen on sport looked tired at the end of the day.

I had to ask a local man for directions to the tea shop in Cornhill and he replied in an accent identical to that used in Kelso. Yet each village is in a different country. So as regards language at least there are no borders between Kelso and Cornhill. But there is a border between Scotland and England and there are differences between the two countries which will be tested by a vote on independence for Scotland in the near future. Borders separate humans but in Christ there are no borders. Christ is here for everyone. In the words of the hymn:

" In Christ there is no east or west,
In him no north or south,
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth..."

Caroline Byles

Synod Pilgrimage - Wednesday

John and I drove up from Suffolk yesterday to join the pilgrimage today. It was a joy to meet old friends from the pilgrimage last year at breakfast. The accommodation at the Jean Muir centre is very swish compared to that last year. Rowena lead  us in a service after breakfast and asked us to consider reconciliation today. 

Walking in to Kelso

Since the last pilgrimage I have acquired two new young dogs and consequently am walking much more than I was a year ago but thirteen miles was nevertheless arduous. We started out from Dryburgh and ended our walk in Kelso. The beauty of the river Tweed and the borders with its sloping fields of bleached corn, its wild flowers and birdsong was a glory to the eye and peace for the soul. Motorists rush through this area on their way to Edinburgh, Glasgow and the highlands. More discerning ones stop perhaps in one of the towns like Coldstream for a coffee but the area can only be properly appreciated on foot following the river as we did today. It was a day of pleasure catching up with fellow pilgrims' news and of pain feeling sore and swollen feet towards the end of the walk! 

Reconciliation is a hard subject when one feels another has blighted ones life in someway. Or when one feels God has dealt one a very unfair hand. It gives rise to anger fury and fear - all negative black emotions. These feelings estrange us from God and the only way to surmount them is through following Jesus' teachings and strenuous prayer. A woman I knew hated her father who had blighted life at home with his adultery his bad tempers and violence. Finally she made the decision not to see him and did not see him for eight years. For her it was putting the lid on a can and she hoped thereby to rid herself of a situation which was causing her terrible anger pain and grief. But it didn't work because all the dark emotions remained and would surface from time to time worse than before when she did see her father. She became a Christian and went to a retreat in France for a week. While there, away from all the pressures and rushing around of her normal life she began to think seriously about making a peace with her father. She started by praying the Lord's Prayer and when she came to the words "forgive them that trespass against us  " she would say I forgive you in her mind to her father. She told me that the words came from her mouth but slowly ( it was not a quick process ) they came from her heart. She still remembered incidents from her childhood with sadness but without the anger and much of the pain evaporated. She met up with her father who by now was an old man who had had many serious strokes. They were reconciled before he died. She had moved from darkness to the light of Christ and by following Christ's teachings of forgiving those that sin against us and in being reconciled to her father she became closer to God and found a real peace. To achieve it we have to set aside "self" and our own importance and trust in Jesus.

Caroline Byles

Pilgrimage Lines

We set out on Day One
walking sometimes briskly,
in the face of the sun;
eight miles from Selkirk to Abbotsford.
Circling round the Eildon Hills,
nine pilgrims seeking peace.

We meandered on Day Two,
as the sun shone fiercer still,
hearing more tales of Border History:
eight miles from Galashiels to Dryburgh,
skirting the glistening River Tweed,
nine pilgrims, walking for justice.

Maggie Davison

Synod Pilgrimage - Tuesday

Tuesday started with a good hearty breakfast at 8.00 p.m. which everyone enjoyed. We then met for worship at 9.00 a.m. in the second floor lounge.

Rowena started our worship by posing the question, we are on a pilgrimage of peace, but can there be peace without justice. We then joined together in the Gathering Words, these were taken from the Iona worship book.

Rowena then led us in prayer, where we were asked to pray using our hands  to convey the meaning of the contents of the prayer.

Graeme then read from Isaiah 42 verses 5-7. Rowena then spoke about a book she had read by the author Alan Bozak and his experiences in South Africa. Alan seemed to say that he raged about injustice and while I think we can all rage at things we read and hear about where injustice occur s, as a Christian I have found very little in scriptures that shows us that rage is the way to seek justice and peace.

We had all received a candle at our worship at Selkirk URC on Monday and were to carry it with us during our pilgrimage, Rowena passed here candle around and asked that we pray for a matter that was of concern to us relating to justice, we were asked to share our prayer verbally or silently. We then joined in the Lords Prayer and then Rowena concluded worship.

Melrose and Rhymer's Stone

Our pilgrimage commenced at 9.30 p.m. our first destination being Melrose. We left the campus  and made our way through the lower part of the town and made our way down to the river Tweed and commenced along the riverside route to Melrose, at one point veering away from the riverside and taking the woodland track. On our way we passed Lowood bridge and the chain bridge. The river flows very peacefully and it is sometimes difficult to place the scenery and tranquillity in a world where there is so much strife and unrest. We arrived at Melrose and decide that we deserves a coffee and a cake at on e of the local tea shops.

Chain Bridge, Dryburgh

From Melrose our journey was to take us eventually to Dryburgh Abbey. On setting out we passed the ruins of Melrose Abbey and Mary and Henry gave us a short potted history of the origins and facts about the Abbey. We then continued our journey to meet with Norma our mini bus driver at Eildon who had our packed lunches with her. On the way we passed Rhymer’s Stone and Mary told us the legend of Thomas Rymer who was taken by the fairy queen for seven and when released had the gift of truth so ever after he could never tell a lie.
We met with Norma and had our lunch sheltering in the shade of a farmers field.  Following a leisurely lunch we set out for Dryburgh via St Boswell where ice creams where purchased and Mary told us of the works of Grisell Baillie.

We then progressed to Dryburgh Abbey our route taking us through some scenic woodland. We arrived at Dryburgh Abbey via the suspension bridge and the Temple of the Muses. The Abbey is now a ruin and according to the placards at the Abbey it was reportedly destroyed by the English forces of  Edward Seymour, 2^nd Earl of Hertford in 1544.  

The Abbey although once a magnificent buiding is now ruin and one must wonder if we can ever have a world where peace and justice prevail as history would not seem to show that we have made

much progress in either matter.

We then returned to the campus to rest and refresh ourselves for our evening meal in Galashiels.

Danny Pigeon

Synod Pilgrimage - Monday

We numbered nine pilgrims walking from Selkirk to Galashiels, in the first day of our journey to mark Flodden 500. The weather was unusually hot and we were graced with the excellent hospitality of the ladies of Selkirk URC who provided tea and coffee to accompany our packed lunches. A short service led by our Moderator Rowena Francis followed and we were each given a candle to remind us of the peace and reconciliation theme of the Northern Synod Pilgrimage 2013. The tenth member of our team was Norma our minibus driver - a welcome sight at the end of the first eight miles



Selkirk Peace Garden

A visit to the Selkirk Peace Garden was a tranquil moment before starting the climb out of the town. Soon, we were among hills, sheep, horses and a buzzard or two, identified by our physical walk leader Henry Gowland. We mused over the miles and miles of our country where there are no people at all, just creatures of the four-legged variety and an abundance of insects enjoying the blistering sunshine more than us at times!

We had various stops along the way when our second spiritual leader Mary regaled us with snippets of history even pre-dating the 1513 Battle of Flodden. Our backgrounds may have been quite different, but we fell into the easy conversation of friends sharing a common purpose.

Our route followed the Borders Abbeys Way, passing Lindean and Cauldshiels Lochs towards Abbotsford House once home of Sir Walter Scott, while the Eildon Hills were never far from view. We felt our spiritual journey had started in a very special place

Olive Ford and Maggie Davison

Synod Pilgrimage 2013

Despite Chaucer’s preference for the sweet spring showers of April, Northern Synod members usually choose the searing heat of July for their pilgrimages.

This year we’re off again – walking from the Selkirk Peace Garden to the Crookham Peace Garden, marking the 500^th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden, over the five day period July 8^th to 12^th. Then on Saturday we shall join with a far greater pilgrim band who are sharing in the one-day ecumenical pilgrimage to Holy Island, commemorating the (temporary) return of the Lindisfarne Gospels to the North East.

Once again our synod pilgrim leader will be Henry Gowland, maps and compass at the ready, while his wife Linda and other volunteers have organised a lot of the practical arrangements for us. We are staying each night at the Heriot Watt school of residence in Galashiels, and relying on minibus transport to and fro for each day’s walk. But what may await us on the journey (though at least the weather forecast is encouraging) we are yet to find out.

Check this blog each evening: we hope will have news to share with you!

Leaving Jerusalem

At the Western Wall - Monday morning

Sunday ended with an evening walking tour through the old city – very quiet in some spots, but in others enlivened by Jewish Purim celebrations. At the Western Wall we could watch a fascinating mixture of spirituality, as Hassidim prayed and chanted right against the stones, while a little further back young men jumped around in fancy dress and with multi-coloured wigs. In the streets of the Jewish quarter we ran into groups and small processions who were clearly having a good time, whether or not embracing the traditional bounds of spiritual exaltation.

The Dome of the Rock

First thing Monday morning we were back in nearly the same place: Amir drove us back to the dung gate and we joined the long queue for the Temple Mount. Eventually we were through the security gates and looking down on the Jewish worshippers at the Wall as we climbed the covered wooden ramp (we noticed the riot shields stored near the top) and found ourselves in front of the Al Aqsa Mosque. Sadly neither the mosque nor the Dome of the Rock can be visited now (I’m glad I’ve done so in the past) but it’s still a splendid experience to walk around this area, and particularly to be able to see close up the tiles on the Dome of the Rock and on the various small shrines and buildings around.

From that point on, it was free time: some went shopping, while others of us found ourselves still doing serious stuff. Phil and I spent a couple of hours in the Citadel of David, having an English  guided tour by an Israeli volunteer. The views from the top were splendid – and it was interesting to hear about “new neighbourhoods” rather than what we now knew to be illegal Jewish settlements, and to hear the modern parts of the story told from a very different perspective from that shared with us over recent days.  But to be fair most of the 4,000 year story told through the museum exhibits was put across with humour and I think no obvious bias – and the Biblical narrative, while respected, was viewed with a degree of scepticism from time to time.

Back at the hotel we left Brian, who is staying on for a few days for various meetings, and said our heartfelt thank yous to Amir, who then drove us to the airport. The challenges of Ben Gurion security surmounted, and the one hour’s delay endured, we were eventually on our way home.

__________________________

I don’t feel ready yet to reflect more deeply on these past ten days than I have already done on a daily basis in this blog – where I appreciate I have often shied away from doing much more than simply recording the bare bones of our encounters. Many of them have been deeply moving, and nearly all of them have been deeply troubling. As we are brought face to face with the plight of the Palestinian people, we not only see one of the great fault lines in the contemporary world, but are also challenged in terms of our own human response. Do we care enough to act on their behalf? And if so, how are we to act?

I’m wanting more time for reflection, but meanwhile sign off this blog with the offer to come and talk to anyone who wants to hear more about our experiences and whatever might flow from them – and that’s an offer which I am sure will come equally from every member of the group.

Linda posted her final reflection on the URC blog yesterday:-

The question hangs in the air, What can we do? Every place we visited we heard the same five cries:

1.       Tell others of our stories

2.       Read and understand more about the situation

3.       Pray

4.       Bring others to visit

5.       Help financially

I think that provides at least the beginning of an answer to my questions.

 

 

Bridges and Barriers - our final day

It’s our final full day, and I’m feeling as confused and conflicted as when we first arrived.

St George's

Sunday is different here – even more than in deregulated Britain, it’s a normal working day, at least for the Muslim majority here in East Jerusalem. Weekends are basically Friday and Saturday. How the Christian community manages I don’t really know – but I suppose that is just a further aspect of the cry we continually hear, lamenting over the dwindling Christian population.

We attended the main service at St George’s Anglican Cathedral – an Arabic service, as we chose to be with the local congregation rather than the pilgrims and ex-pats who come to the later English language service. In fact, there were a number of English-speaking groups there, so a good deal of the service was translated, including the sermon which was preached twice. And the service book helped us to know exactly what was being said for much of the rest of the time. As ever, I found particularly moving the reference in the Eucharistic prayer to Jesus being “crucified here in Jerusalem”.

Brian with Bishop Suheil

After the service we had half an hour with Bishop Suheil, who reminded us once more of the plight of the Christian church in the region. His Anglican diocese includes Syria, as well as Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. He has been unable to visit Syria for over a year, and is fearful for the future of Christians there. Over two thirds of Iraqi Christians have fled their country in recent years, and much the same is very likely to happen in Syria. As for Jerusalem itself, in 1948 27% of the population was Christian: now the figure is around 1%.

Later we were back on the bus, with Amir driving us to Ramallah. Progress through the checkpoint was not too bad, and we were on time for our session with Addameer, where Gavin outlined for us his organisation’s support for Palestinians political prisoners, stressing that the Israeli government has used imprisonment as a policy since 1948, and particularly since 1967 has used it as a means to destroy Palestinian society. Much of what is happening is in clear breach of international law (eg only one of the 17 prisons used is in the West Bank: thus the occupying power is taking prisoners out of their country), but particularly concerning is the way in which there seems to be a deliberate targeting of children.

We were given so much information to process that it is hard to say much about it all so soon – and indeed I suspect we all will need quite some time to reflect properly on all that we have learned over this past week or so. But in the mean time, everything that Addameer does (other than its case notes and histories) is on their website – http://www.addameer.org.  As Gavin stressed, they have nothing to hide.

On the way home, progress through the checkpoint was slower. The IDF soldiers had their visors, and a shot of some kind of fired as we passed – probably a baton round. No doubt there had been some stone-throwing going on – the most common charge laid against Israeli children.

When we were with Bishop Suheil this morning he commented that not only is the wall ugly, but it does nothing to help bring people together. As the young soldiers boarded our bus and checked our passports, we could only begin to imagine what their continual presence must mean to the Palestinian people who have to undertake journeys through these  check points day after day – and bear much  more besides.

It’s now late afternoon, and this time tomorrow we will be getting ready to fly back home. Later this evening we hope to have a brief walking tour of the old city; and then in the morning, when we have some time to spare, we hope to get up on to the Temple Mount. But that will depend on the authorities – and in this case both Israelis and Palestinians have it in their power to deny access. The area was closed off because of incidents on Friday afternoon, and there seems to be a perception round that, especially because of the hunger strikers, the whole situation is hotting up again.

In a land of walls and barriers, peacemakers should surely be blessed, and Christians be ready to learn to build bridges.

Saturday in Jerusalem

We began the morning with a bus ride to the Mount of Olives, and a fascinating hour with Margaret who runs a kindergarten at the Lutheran Church. She shared with us some of the frustrations the Church experiences  with the Israeli authorities, who are withholding planning permission that  is being sought to develop some housing units which would provide an income stream to help education and hospital work. The hospital on the site provides the only radiation treatment for cancer suffers in East Jerusalem and across the West Bank.

But Margaret also shared some of her more personal experiences and concerns. Christians are paying higher rents and taxes to Israel, yet receive far inferior services compared with their Jewish counterparts. “And who is suffering?” she asked? – “Our children and our youth.”  There are problems with drugs and addiction among your people; but also there are concerns at the number of  unprovoked attacks made on them by conservative Jews who have been brought up to regard Palestinians as the enemy. “I pray for my children to come back home safely.”

Christians like Margaret living in East Jerusalem may have a Jordanian passport, and a Jerusalem ID and travel document. In the eyes of Palestinians in the West Bank they are lucky, as they are able to travel – even to fly out the country through Ben Gurion, though some are more restricted and have to cross the Allenby Bridge and fly out from Amman. But such journeys always require a visa, which is not necessarily granted.  Yet despite all these disabilities, Margaret insists that her job is to build bridges – and she mentioned an American Jewish woman who is involved with her in various  women’s projects and youth activities.

Living in occupied East Jerusalem she has rights to stay there for as long as she lives – but she has to pay her taxes, as well as her utilities bills. She is then entitled to the Israeli state’s high quality social services and health care – which is a great bonus compared with her Palestinians relations in the West Bank, where health care has all to be paid for.  Yet time and time again discrimination against Palestinians is seen – and no where more so than through the ubiquitous checkpoints. Margaret’s daughter is studying at university in the West Bank, less than a half hour journey away – yet every day the journey turns out to be one and half or even two hours. Despite it all, Margaret insisted that she and her people want to live at peace with the Israelis, and that they are against any form of violence, but as she described her daily life experiences she admitted “You have to be so tough that you can come through”.

St Anne's

From the Mount of Olives we took in the famous panoramic view of the Old City, sadly a little hazy today, and then made our way down the hill, stopping at the usual churches – Pater Noster, Dominus Flevit, and at Gethsemane the Church of all Nations. It would be good to visit these places, surely intended as places for reflection, in quieter times – yet knowing how much damager the Intifada did to shopkeepers and others involved in the tourist trade, something I saw for myself ten years ago, it’s really good to see the “pilgrim” crowds. We’ve been well led by Brian all the way, and he certainly has a gift in putting the essentials of a place into a few quiet pithy sentences – would that some tour guides could take note! He then led us to place I had never visited before, the Orthodox Church of the Dormition, down a very long flight of steps in the floor of the valley. How far below ground it must be I wouldn’t want to guess – but in Jerusalem, the further down something is, the closer it is to the time we are seeking to inspire us. If Jesus didn’t actually walk here, he walked somewhere at this level!

The Christian Quarter from the Austrian hostel

We climbed up into the old city, entering through the Lion Gate and visiting St Anne’s Crusader Church, a magnificent Norman building famous not least for its resonant acoustics. We are not, I fear, the most musical group ever to have visited the Holy Land, but we brought a touch of Reformed spirituality to the place by singing a verse of “When I survey” – and were complimented on our way out by the White Father standing at the door. But then, it turned out that he is from Middlesbrough.

We made our way along the Via Dolorosa, stopping for lunch at the Austrian Hostel and then enjoying the magnificent view from the roof, up to the Holy Sepulchre, and across to the Dome of the Rock. Then we continued along the Via Dolorosa, through the narrow streets and then up on to the roof of the Holy Sepulchre, passing the Ethiopian monastery on the roof, and descending the staircase that runs through their two chapels. Giving ourselves half an hour for another look round the church, we learned that a procession was due in the next few moments.

Fortunately I was up on the first floor where the Greek Orthodox chapels are, and with others of the group could look down on the Stone of Unction where every procession stops. Before long the church doors, which had been closed, were opened wide – and the dignitaries in all their finery were allowed in, headed by the Muslim “guardians”. The episcopal figure at the centre of it all was prepared just beneath us as we crowded against the stone edge of the balustrade, resting our cameras. I allowed a small child to creep in front of me and  view it all through the rails. Afterwards, his mother thanked me, saying “It was the first time he saw it”. Unfortunately none of us knew just what this “it” was.

After a time wandering on our own if we so chose, and a rest back at Notre Dame, we jumped into the bus and drove down to Gethsemane again. Here we rang on the door of the Russian monastery and were eventually allowed in to the service of vespers – which as well as having a particular beauty of its own, also gave the opportunity to enter the Church of St Mary Magdalene, one of the hardest for casual pilgrims to get to see. After an hour or so we left and had a quick conversation with Sister Martha (whom we met on ? was it Tuesday) outside – learning from her that “groups”, especially of Orthodox from various countries are increasingly a trial on the nuns’ patience!

Now it was time to go to Bethlehem once more, taking up an invitation from Khalil and Ellyanna to have  a meal with them in a restaurant that looks out on to the wall. To get there we were taken by bus as far as the check point, and then walked through the vast halls ourselves to get out on the Palestinian side. Of course, at that time on a Saturday evening everything was deserted, but one could easily imagine the whole area heaving with people early in the morning as everyone set off for work on the other side of the wall.



Arlette's house is on the left

As we walked into Bethlehem proper we were stopped by a woman who asked us if we could stay a few moments for her to tell us what the wall had done to her life. George and Arlette have a house and shop virtually surrounded  by the wall, as it snakes around the area of Rachel’s Tomb. They now lie in what is a threatening cul de sac, but which just over ten years ago was the main street leading into Bethlehem. In December 2002 when Bethlehem was shut in they were confined to their home for 40 days. Soldiers came at night and forced them outside, frightening their young children. Then the foundations of the wall were laid (originally planned to abut the house, but because sewage pipes were discovered there moved instead to the other side of the street) and the wall itself, nine metres  high, was built in a day. Because their house is more than nine metres high, they are not allowed on the roof: anything needing to be fixed requires a permit. And the effect on their business has of course been devastating.

All of this was in our minds as we made our way into the restaurant where our hosts welcomed us warmly, Khalil giving us a reminder of the disadvantages that Palestinian Christians, and particularly those from Jerusalem, live under. He was also generous in his praise for the continuing support and interest shown by the United Reformed Church, proposing toast to us all, but particularly to Brian, and Jane and Linda who keep the flame alive.

Conversation over the meal has helped me at least to put a human face on some of the scenarios and statistics we’ve rubbed up against over this past week – but all too much to do more than mention this late on in the day. And then the lift home by Ellyanne helped to ground it all in reality as we took over half an hour to drive back through the checkpoint at a very quiet time on an unbusy road. Would we keep our cool as she has learned to do (and doubtless thousands of others too)? At last we were there: and when the IDF young soldier saw that the passengers were all British they were suddenly very friendly, quite uninterested in looking at our passports, and all too ready to wave us through.

But when you don’t have a car full of Brits, no doubt it can all be very different.

And so to Jeruslaem.....

It was an eight o’clock start, with everyone  on time as had been requested, which brought us to Yad va Shem before eleven. We’d taken the Jordan valley route, with the steep climb at the end up to Jerusalem – and all along we’d seen red signs at the ends of roads leading to Palestinian villages warning Israelis that they must not go that way. Palestinians, as we know now, laugh at these signs and the suggestion that anyone driving through their fields might be in danger, and see them as another way by which the Israeli state divides peoples, and ensures that whether in areas A, B or C, it is clear who is really in charge.

Yad Vashem is a gripping reminder of the horrors of the fate that befell the Jewish people, and as such should be a place where we might all reflect of the cruelty of which human beings are capable. But here in Israel the story is told to the visitor as they walk through the museum in a very political way, not only to justify the foundation and existence of the state of Israel, but also it in effect to justify the political decisions and actions of successive governments. Quiet reflection is made impossible not only by the sheer numbers visiting, but also by the guides who block the way and explain again to their groups what is already explained in the exhibits – while putting a very definite slant on the story.

We who had been with Palestinians and heard their stories in recent days seem, comparing notes afterwards, all to have been struck by parallels between what Jews suffered in the 30s and what Palestinians have to suffer now. Of course, the holocaust is such a searing experience for the Jewish people that it is easy to understand the outcry when such a comparison is made, and certainly as the story moves into the 40s and the horrors of the ghettoes and the camps it is clear that this is a different and unique story. But how troubling that there should be these parallels at all.

On our way to Jerusalem Glenis had led our morning prayers on the bus. She had prayed that we might understand that all things we were to experience today will have a past, a present and a future. Today we have seen more about the past, which might help us understand some things in the present, but I think we will be left fearful as ever for the future.

Outside the museum are two bronzes – the one  showing the cowered Jews of the ghetto, and alongside it a representation of the new Israeli, powerful muscular and looking confidently to the future.  But is this the future that the leaders of 1948 envisaged? If we have come to Jerusalem as disciples of Jesus, we need to remind ourselves that the way we are called to follow is not a way of triumph, but of weakness and resignation.

St James's

From Yad Vashem  we moved on to lunch at Notre Dame, just outside the old city walls, which through a change of plans has now turned out to be our Jerusalem accommodation – and very comfortable it is too.  The afternoon was spent on a walking tour which took us from St James’s Armenian Cathedral, where we caught the end of the daily liturgy, across to The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Orthodox and Latins were in full voice competing with one another. And to add to the variety of church life, we also found ourselves in a Syriac Orthodox church where we had a fine rendition of the Lord’s  Prayer sung  in Aramaic by the church guide. Finally, we made our way to the Western Wall a few minutes after sunset, as the square was filling with eager enthusiastic Jews of every variety. Some of us walked up to the wall, surrounded by singing and chanting and fervent prayer. What a richness!

We made our way back from the Jewish Quarter to the Damascus, noticing that there was still a stream of Orthodox Jews (fur hats etc) making their way through the Muslim Quarter. What is that saying about population changes in the old city and East Jerusalem? I expect we will hear much more about these things in the coming days.

Sea of Galilee

If yesterday morning we were more like tourists, today we have become more like conventional Christian pilgrims. The challenge now has to be to connect it all up, and discover for ourselves how following in Jesus’s footsteps gives us the resources to deal with the justice issues and the quest for peace that have been very much the focus of our thoughts and activity for most of this past week.

One discovery today for at least some of us has been that he didn’t have very far to go. We’ve been on and off the bus all day (and we realise of course that he and his friends had to walk everywhere), but I don’t think anything has been more than ten or fifteen miles away. True, it’s a bit further up over the hills to Nazareth: but by once he’d come down to the lake, the whole of Jesus’s Galilean ministry was exercised in a remarkably confined area.

We began the morning with visit to Kursi – like Bet She’an visited yesterday,  one of Israel’s National Parks. (In fact it is situated within disputed territory, lying below the Golan Heights and being part of the land which was taken from Syria after the six day war – but we’re not concentrating  on such recent history today.) Kursi boasts the remains of the largest known Byzantine monastery in the Holy Land, probably built in the 5^th century. However, the Jesus connection is that this is the site traditionally associated with the Gadarene Swine. We duly climbed a little way up the hill to sense the potential for self destruction, and realised that this was an excellent start to the day as we were able to look across the lake back to the north western shore, and recognise where all the activity took place, and where now every spot is marked by a pilgrim church.

We began at probably the best known, the Mount of the Beatitudes. Whether or not this is the exact spot, it’s hard to doubt that he will have talked and taught somewhere on these hillsides. Maybe this is a church that does not sit easily with everyone’s interpretation of the text, but for all the excesses of religious tourism, no doubt many of the crowds (more than ten buses were in when we arrived at 9.45) come genuinely seeking a blessing. We were blessed in having a time together and being allowed a quiet place in the grounds to celebrate holy communion.

 Then we made our way on foot in brilliant sunshine down to the main road, to the sound of birdsong and in the company of darting swallows, while enjoying the sight of spring flowers in fields and hedges.

Crossing the road we visited the Mensa Christi Church, right on the lakeshore, recalling the story of Jesus breakfasting with his friends. And yes, the church shelters of course the rock which he used for a table!  Next door at Tavgha the Eucharistic meal is recalled in the most celebrated mosaic in the Holy Land, replicated on plate and bowl and chalice sold in the every souvenir outlet, yet still moving to see in its original state. Equally beautiful are the ancient mosaics of ibis and other birds, also protected in this modern church building.

Capernaum synagogue

After lunch (falafels again!) it was a case of “all aboard!” as sailed on the lake in a full sized tourist boat, which we twelve had all to ourselves. The sea was mirror calm and the sun shone over the lake, while a slight haze seemed to accentuate the beauty of the scene. Landing at Capernaum, we first visited the Greek church, and then moved on to the ruins of Capernaum – the last visit of the day. Here the Franciscan guardians have managed to build an unbelievably ugly church over the site – but today, unusually, it was open, and from the centre it was possible to look down into the actual ruins of the ancient church below.
To my mind more moving is the ruined monumental synagogue, dating only from the 4^th century, but built of a white stone which is laid on the basalt foundation of an earlier building. In an environment where every church seems to compete to assure the visitor that this was the spot, that he really was here, I like the idea that that earlier layer of stones may have touched his feet, and yet nothing is left to contain him.

Every Christian pilgrim has to make what they can of the story. Those of us from the more liberal traditions are liable to find ourselves using words like “allegedly” and “may be” rather freely – but of course there is no doubting that this is the lake, and these are the hills, and this is the whole natural environment that was the essential backdrop to his ministry and message. But it did not end here in Galilee. For Jesus, Jerusalem beckoned – and that’s the direction we will be travelling in tomorrow.

Nazareth

For much of today it has been almost as if we were real pilgrims-cum-tourists.

A tolerably early start from the Jericho Resort Hotel allowed us to be at the baptismal site just south of the Allenby Bridge before nine o’clock. To reach it we had to pass through an unmanned road block leading us into the Israeli territorial strip that runs the length of the border – a border which is marked of course by the River Jordan. Mine fields lie either side of the road, with dire warnings on the fences. The whole area is clearly prepared for any invading army.

Despite the early hour, we were by no means the first at the site. Quite a large group were praying and singing, while the workers who care for the site accompanied them (despite the notices asking respect for religious groups’ practices) on their motorised saws, bringing down dead palm leaves and generally tidying up for the season. A few other individuals were wandering round, and we ourselves shared our morning prayer time together as we sat on the steps leading down to the river. All of this under the watchful, but unthreatening eyes of a few pairs of Israeli soldier – while just a few yards away, on the Jordanian bank, other Christians were doing much the same. We were to hear later in the day about invisible barriers. The Jordan, it should be said, is very muddy and very visible – but what a barrier it represents.

From there we drove north up the Jordan Valley, where for much of the way the road follows the border fence. Many of the farms along this way are lush and productive, and there are countless date palms to give depth to the scene. Large water pipes are in evidence – and the productive farms clearly depend on copious irrigation. These, we can be sure, are the farms of Israeli settlers. Where the crops are poorer, the cause will be a comparative lack of water, which is a sure sign of Palestinian ownership. Yesterday we saw the Bedouin having to rely on a poor and distant water source, while the Israeli main supply passed right by their village. Now we were seeing a similar situation: Palestinians are allowed only something like 20% of the volume the Israelis may purchase.

We were stopped at the check point that leads into Israel proper, but were not delayed, and we were soon heading away from the Jordan and into the Valley of Jezreel, where we stopped at Bet She’an. Here we felt like real tourists as we explored the 400 acre park which contains the ancient city of Scythopolis and the imposing Tel. For most of us the temptation to climb to the top was too great, even though it lies at the far end of the site, and demands the effort of climbing hundreds of steps. No surprise then that we were a little later back at the bus than original planned: but well satisfied by the visit, and perhaps more than a little pleased to have had an hour or so with a totally different focus.

Back on the bus we were soon in Nazareth, where we spent a few minutes in the Greek Orthodox Church containing Mary’s Well, and then moved to a café round the corner where we enjoyed a fine falafel lunch. From there we made our way through the market to the Synagogue Church – certainly very much later than the time of Jesus, but still a place that for centuries has  commemorated his Nazareth sermon, and which retains an atmosphere of quiet reverence to this day. Jane read for us the verses from Luke 4 describing the event, touching our spirits. The Basilica of the Annunciation provides a contrast, though today the comparatively small number of visitors made it less off-putting than sometimes. The old Byzantine ruins in the “basement” were nearly empty when I sent down the steps, and there was a real atmosphere of prayer and quietness – even after I realised that the man on his knees in front of the grill was in fact taking a picture on his mobile phone.

From there we walked together through the streets to the YMCA, where we met up with Violette Khouri of Sabeel, the liberation theology organisation. Her presentation to us was clear and spirited, and we found answers to many of the questions that we had already been discussing in the bus. We learned how the Israeli Arabs (they are not allowed to call themselves Palestinians) are second class citizens in a number of ways. Though citizens of Israel they do not have Israeli nationality. They are obliged to live in specified locations, and their schools are not allowed to teach children their own history and traditions. Yet these Arabs make up 20% of the population of Israel. However, only 8% of this minority are Christians – ie just 1.4% of the population of Israel.

Violette described her people as having a lost identity, a conflicted identity, and an occupied identity, before going on to outline the story of Sabeel’s work in Nazareth, and weaving into this a number of her own stories as a mother, a businesswoman, and now an active participant in Sabeel’s programme. Christians of the eight denominations in Nazareth are now being encouraged to meet together. Jewish people who are prepared to cross the many invisible walls that run through Israeli society are also encouraged to participate in activities and understand the perspective outlined by Susan Nathan (herself a Jew) in her book “The other side of Israel”. Violette concluded by giving her own understanding of liberation theology, as a Christian voice raised in a non-violent way – “as Christ would do”.

A further hour’s drive brought us over the hills and down to Tiberias, and to our kibbutz hotel a few miles further north along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Tomorrow we will be visiting sites around the lake, and no doubt will have Violette’s words and personality in mind as we reflect further on the ministry of Jesus, and the manifesto to bring good news to the poor and relief to those who are oppressed.

Between Bethany and Jericho

Thanks to everyone who is reading this blog. You may like to know that an "official" blog from the group, written up by a different member each day, can be read at http://blog.urc.org.uk/


We are told that something 2 million olive trees in the West Bank that were being harvested by Palestinians before 1967 have been cut down or uprooted – the recent erection of the wall having added to this wilful destruction. However, we saw a few of them in their new homes today: on the traffic roundabouts leading into Ma’ale Adumim.

Ma’ale Adumim is the third largest Israeli settlement in the occupied territories. It has been built in the desert, but built in such a way as to make Israeli settlers feel that they are living in an ordinary community. Olive trees are part of their heritage and a sign of normality – and they and the palms and the lush vegetation all give the impression that this is just another suburb of Jerusalem, although they are using water at twice the rate as people in Israel proper, and eight times the rate that Palestinians are. People who live here are probably not religious fanatics and they may not have any clear political views, simply remaining blind to just how controversial the settlements are. Angela (our guide to Hebron on Sunday) had joined us as our bus reached the top of the hill up from Jericho to give us an introduction to the present situation with settlements and, complete with a bag full of maps, she then led us across the road to look out across the Judean wilderness.

By chance we shared the viewpoint with another group, who were being addressed by an Israeli, also armed with maps. As Angela countered his facts with facts of her own, we discovered that we were in the company of fellow Brits – members of the Conservative Friends of Israel. That there was little meeting of minds goes without saying, but the experience was a reminder (if we needed one) of just how intractable the whole situation is.

With the maps before us we were able to understand a little more of what is currently happening: in effect, Israel by developing the E1 area east of Jerusalem will completely encircle Jerusalem, and split the West Bank into two – reducing any hope  of a two state solution. And meanwhile, countless ordinary people’s lives are being destroyed by the development of the settlements, by the road system (ploughing in brutalist fashion through this precious Biblical landscape, and keeping settlers separate from Palestinians traffic), through building restrictions and through the whole wretched system of permits which prevents people from making simple journeys to places that are near on the map, but may require detours of some tens of miles.

And meanwhile, between Ma’ale Adumim and Jericho, just at the point of this planned land pinch, are people who are losing their lands and their livelihood. We moved on to visit Jahalin Bedouin people whose plight Angela had put before the British Conservative politicians who did not want to know. Stopping on the main road we hopped over the safety barrier into their village, where we were welcomed by Eid. His father was among the Bedouin who were expelled from the Negeb in the south of Israel in 1951 when their tribe refused to fight in the Israeli army. The land they are now living on is not theirs, but they have the owners’ permission to be there. However, pressure from the settlers on one side and from the army on the other has reduced their grazing grounds, so that they now have just 140 animals whereas ten years ago their flocks numbered 1600. If you think Bedouin life is all about camels forget it – their last one has gone, when once there were 25 here. “We are way under the red line” said Eid.

The only permanent building on the site is the school, provided by the United Nations, who keep a presence in the area – in fact their vehicle drove down the hillside while we were there. This is the only place we have been where neither teachers nor small children have been willing to be photographed: a six year old girl made her wishes very clear. What has happened that there can be such fear and suspicion among people? Well, at present the Israeli government is doing all that it can to move them away from this site to a piece of land which is really the Jerusalem garbage tip. Needless to say, they are resisting, and have active help and support from Angela and others in Israel. It’s a big problem for Eid and his tribe, but as he explained to us, “It’s not just a problem for the Palestinians, but a problem for the whole world.” Where, he asked, can there ever be two states, and how can there ever be peace, if the world allows this wedge of Israeli territory to be established?

Driving back up the hill and into Bethany, we made two quick visits. First to the Russian Orthodox School, where we heard from the Principal, Sister Martha, about some of the tensions that are part of living in Jerusalem. She took us up to the roof, from where we could see the wall snaking through the east part of the city – at this point dividing Palestinian from Palestinian. Not that Palestinians are always united: some  of her stories touched on the outbreaks of violence between Fatah and Hamas, when the school relied on the support of parents to keep children and staff from danger. The children are nearly all Muslim – Bethany is a Muslim village – but this Christian school recently managed to gain second place among school teaching of the Koran!

Then a quick visit to the Four Homes of Mercy – which thankfully, since time was running out, is really only one home now. The home in one form or other has been running for 70 years, and now is home to 60 residents, all of whom are severely disabled, most frequently through congenital conditions. Poverty and culture combine often to keep such people abysmally treated: a case in 2011 made the headlines, concerning two sisters who were kept chained to a radiator in a locked room until their sister at last came to their rescue. They ended up a the Four Homes of Mercy immobile and in a terribly distressed condition – but a few days ago, we were told, they were dancing with joy at the Valentines Day party. And sure enough, as we were in the midst of our lightning tour a few minutes later, one of them was walking down the corridor, smiling and keen to go to her afternoon session of occupational therapy.

We, by this time exhausted as well as moved by all that we had seen and heard, headed back for Jericho and lunch. After that, the final session of the day saw us at the YWCA headquarters, where we met up with Nazar, who introduced us to a group of women working in the food production project. Twelve women are employed in total, and they spoke to Linda about the security that this work has afforded them, and the satisfaction they have in meeting one another and being more open and aware of what is happening in the wider world. A variety of foods are produced here and either sold in the shop or marketed more widely across the West Bank. Some couscous has even been exported to Italy, proudly bearing the label Produce of Palestine,   

The work of the YWCA in Jericho began in the Aqbet Jaber refugee camp in 1948, focusing first on literacy and handicrafts and focusing as a community centre for displaced women and their children. The YWCA kindergarten work continues to this day – and local schools claim that the YW kindergarten “graduates” are easily identifiable through their attitudes of respect and awareness of others. After the second intifada the work took on a new emphasis of economic empowerment, which we were now seeing through the food production project, set up in 2001. Linked with this project, we learned, had been exhibition opportunities making the products better known, and of course staff training, as well as development of links with other NGOs.

Alongside the food project technical training courses has developed in subjects like hair dressing and English language, and participants have become more acquainted in human rights issues and in promoting gender equality. Men have also been encouraged to share in discussing such issues; and we were assured that the results had very much challenged stereotypes. Many men have been proud and happy to see such empowerment of the women in their family. And for all the pressures that people in Jericho live under, and perhaps women in particular, the work of the YWCA is growing – and their dream now is to develop into the villages to the north up the Jordan Valley.

Having said our thanks and goodbyes to Nazar, we had time for a brief drive up to the viewpoint below the Mount of Temptation. On the top of the  cliffs  behind us the ancient monastery clung to the rock face, while to the east the Mountains of Moab across the Jordan glowed pink in the light of the setting sun. For all its troubles and all its divisions, and for all that human beings have done to destroy  it, this remains a beautiful land. May the healing and the signs of hope that we have seen today yet outweigh the ugliness, hurt and despair that have been out daily companions.