Pack your most treasured possessions.

“Yesterday I saw a little boy walking home from school, and he was carrying a backpack that was much too large for him, and when I asked him why, I found that he had put his most treasured possessions in the bag, his family photos – he was afraid that his house would be destroyed while he was not there.”--Mazen Abu Diab

Israel is planning to demolish 88 Palestinian homes in Silwan, which is a village next to the Old City of Jerusalem.  Now, as if 88 homes wasn't bad enough in our own understanding of homes, I should tell you that Palestinian "homes" usually contain multiple families, in the ideal situation.  In the case of living in East Jerusalem, families are pushing more and more members into homes, just to keep their Jerusalem IDs.  If a family gets evicted and/or their house is demolished, they move in with another family.  Thus, 88 homes means that more than 1,500 people will be homeless.  The reason?   “The area … is one of the most important areas with regards to the history of Jerusalem, with holy sites important to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Because its significant importance to the more than 3 billion people of faith around the world, it is also a tourist destination.”  Moreover, “It is important to the future of Jerusalem that this area be treated with the utmost strategic importance. Emek HaMelech [Silwan] is not intended for residential development but rather it is intended to be an open public space.”  They're planning to bulldoze 88 homes, and uproot 1,500 people, for a park.  They believe that the space is where the home of David, from the bible, was located.  There is no certainty though.

In reaction to this, all of the West Bank had a "dr'ab" (strike) last Saturday.  Pretty much all of the stores, schools, and other businesses were closed.  It was monumental, because even the private schools followed the strike, which normally doesn't happen.  The governmental, or public, schools strike more often.  Bethlehem was basically dead.  

This is a good article to read about the Silwan village demolitions.   

My personal anecdote for this blog is completely unrelated to the house demolitions, but here it is.  One of the boys in kindergarten crawled onto my lap the other day and started playing with my scarf.  I wear a scarf/pashmina almost every day here, just to keep warm in the cold buildings.  He first pulled it from side to side, then eventually took it off.  He happens to be Muslim, which may or may not be why he did this.  He gently touched my collarbone, which was now exposed from not wearing my scarf and he said, "Hada helway.  Zay hic." (This is beautiful.  Like this.)  When I picked my scarf back up, he said, "La, la.  Helway badoun." (No, no.  It's beautiful without.)  It was a really interesting interaction with him.

Personal note, those of you who know my mom and know that she's visiting right now, know that she got here safe and sound yesterday.  We're going up to see Nativity Church and the Milk Grotto in a bit.  

**Pray for the people of Silwan.

**Pray for peace for both Israel and Palestine.

**Pray for Michelle as she starts her new life in Afghanistan.

Salaam,
Meredith