HEBRON REVISITED

Hebron Girls' Orphanage and School

(also housed the women's sewing centre)

Boys' Orphanage and School

School gardens

Sports and recreation centre

Newly built school for 1200 girls

Gates welded shut by soldiers

Warehouse which stored three huge refrigerator units filled with food

Ransacking of the warehouse kitchen

Warehouse doors damaged by soldiers breaking in

Warehouse emptied of clothing and supplies

Computers and office space emptied plus storage on upper floor

Entrance to first destroyed bakery

Second destroyed bakery

Boys living in 30-unit apartment building under threat of eviction

30-unit apartment building with 2nd destroyed bakery

plus grocery store still in operation

A couple of weeks ago, a Christian Peacemakers Team from Hebron attended our worship service at Redeemer and made us aware of a current situation in Hebron, a city of 200,000 people located south of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) which was established in 1962 to take care of orphans and needy families in Hebron has expanded through the years to become responsible for 2 orphanages, 3 schools, a dairy, sewing workshop, 2 bakeries, mall, 30-unit apartment building, and a newly completed school for 1200 girls scheduled to open this fall.

On February 26, the Israeli Army issued six military orders of closure and eviction for these facilities charging that the ICS supports terrorism, and on March 6 proceeded to carry out these orders in spite of the fact that the matter is currently before the courts and no decision has yet been reached.

So, on Sunday afternoon we joined a small group to visit Hebron and have a look at the situation. It was unbelievable to see what had been done. The newly completed girls school stands empty with its gates welded shut. On their raids on the warehouse, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have confiscated clothing, refrigeration units and shelves full of food stuffs, computers, stationery, and other supplies intended to fill the needs of the children, and have destroyed two bakeries. The confiscated goods alone were worth over $300,000, and the damage that was done to the warehouses and bakeries is beyond our estimation.

We were told that twenty per cent of the monies donated to support the orphanages and schools comes from the local community while the other eighty per cent comes from Europe, the U.S., and Middle Eastern countries. The IDF basically stole these donations and carted them off for whose use? Such wanton destruction is appalling. But to see it done outside the jurisdiction of the courts! Just another example that we’ve seen of the lack of human rights in the West Bank.

For further details and video, go to http://www.elcjhl.org/ “Orphanages, Services to Needy Children and Jobs under Threat in Hebron”

Just In: HEBRON At 1:00 am this morning, April 30th, the Israeli Military raided the Hebron Girls' Orphanage near the intersection of Salaam and Al Adel (Peace and Justice) Streets. Acting on orders issued by Major General Shemni, soldiers looted the workshop of all its sewing and processing machines, office equipment, rolls of cloth, finished clothing and supplies. CPT members documented, with still photos and video, approximately 40 Israeli soldiers emptying the workshop contents into 2 - 40ft. trucks. The estimated value of the physical material taken is $45,000 US. The cost in terms of the fear and terror instilled in the hearts of the little girls living above the workshop is much higher. For further information go to www.hebronorphans.blogspot.com

A WEEKEND IN THE SINAI

Taba

Gulf of Aqaba

St. Catherine's Monastery

Mt. Sinai in the background

And up we go!

Sinai Rose's Bedouin stop--end of camels
On foot from here on up.

The end is in sight!

At last--we've reached the summit!

On top of the world!

Let's rest awhile!

On the way to the Coloured Canyon

You mean the Canyon's down there?

Wow!

You mean we go through there?

No wonder we're exhausted!

Ahhhh!!!

Nuweyba on the Gulf of Aqaba

Shopping at the Bedouin Market

This is the life! Waiting for Dale..

Ma 'is salame - Au revoir!

Time is running out--only two and a half months until we fly home! Got to pack in as much as possible in the remaining time! Hence only two weeks after our trip to Jordan, we were off to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt for a 4-day weekend.

We were joined by a friend we met at Redeemer. Suzanne is a UCC (United Church of Christ) pastor from Connecticut here for a year of study. We made an awesome threesome!

Not to waste any precious time, we caught the 7 a.m. bus from the Central Bus Station in West Jerusalem for the four-hour drive to Eilat, Israel, where we crossed into Egypt. The border crossing was less troublesome than the Allenby Bridge to Jordan, but when is border crossing easy, especially in this part of the world!

We arrived at our resort in Taba—the Sol y Mar Sea Star—just before 2 p.m. where we discovered that we’d gained an hour and were there just in time for a wonderful buffet lunch! So after unpacking and resting a bit, we luxuriated in the all-inclusive features of the hotel. After booking our tour for the next day, we enjoyed the beautiful pools and deck chairs, walked the short distance to the hotel’s beach on the Gulf of Aqaba where we tested the waters and met some cute Bedouin kids, took advantage of the open bar for “happy hour”, and had a delicious buffet dinner. Exhausted after our early start, we turned in, unable to enjoy the luxury of a T.V. of our own. (That tells you how tired we were!)

The next morning at 8 a.m. we were off to St. Catherine’s Monastery. Located at the foot of Mt. Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery was constructed between 527 and 565. It is built around what is thought to be Moses' Burning Bush, which has a chapel built over it. It is a spectacular natural setting for priceless works of art, including Arab mosaics, Greek and Russian icons, Western oil paintings, paintings on wax, fine sacerdotal ornaments, marbles, enamels, chalices, and reliquaries. But of even greater significance is that it houses the second largest collection consisting of 3500 volumes of illuminated manuscripts (The Vatican has the largest). The Monastery even has a small 10th or 11th century mosque which was probably built to appease the Islamic authorities of the time.

St. Catherine's is a formidable fortification, with granite walls 40 to 200 feet tall, surrounded by gardens and cypresses. Unfortunately there were so many bus loads of tourists that it was impossible to move on our own and take time to view the works of art in the chapel where we were forbidden to talk and take pictures. Our guide had to give his explanation outside the monastery. Also, the mosque was closed and so we felt that we had a very rushed and inadequate view of the interior.

From there it was off the short distance to mount our camels for the 1 ½-hour ascent up 7,497-foot Mt. Sinai, believed to be the mountain on which Moses received the Ten Commandments. After dismounting our camels about 2/3 of the way up, we walked several hundred metres along a winding path until we reached the 750 “steps” that would take us to the summit where the Chapel of the Holy Trinity was built in 1934 on the location of the original chapel built in 363 and rebuilt by Justinian in 530.

After many stops and much huffing and puffing, we finally arrived at the top and were rewarded by a truly breathtaking view. The only problem with reaching the top was that we also had to descend and this time no camel eased the way. So, we clambered slowly down the rock “stairs”, and then following a different path from the one taken by our camels, arrived after several hours back at St. Catherine’s, rewarded all the way down by the amazing scenery.

The three-hour drive back to the hotel gave us a chance to rest so that on our return we could reward ourselves with a glass of wine—did I say “a”?—by the pool before enjoying another delicious late dinner.

The next morning we were off again, this time to the Coloured Canyon. The description sounded like a nice easy day compared with the trek up and down Mt. Sinai. At Nuweyba, our taxi transferred us to a 4x4 van. At first, the road to the Coloured Canyon was well paved, snaking through magnificent mountains and rock-formations of awe-inspiring beauty. Then, by a cluster of date palms, it turned onto a bumpy gravel road for about 15 minutes.

As we shakily descended from the van, we were shocked with the realization that in order to start our trek through the canyon, we had to descend 820 feet to reach the canyon floor!! Oh no! Twenty minutes later, we were ready to enter the 800-metre canyon. It felt like walking through a dry riverbed with walls reaching some 20 stories in height and rock formations varying from sandstone to limestone and granite with veins of basalt.

Except for a few obstacles, it was a fairly easy hike. At one point, we had to slide down through a vent, where the two sides of the canyon almost touched each other leaving a narrow opening which dropped several feet to the path below. A few minutes later, another obstacle appeared where we had to squeeze through an opening in the satiny smooth rock created by a huge rock and drop another two metres. So much for an easy hike!

We finally reached the end of the canyon and looked up only to realize that our 4x4 was waiting for us 820 feet above us! Fortunately a Bedouin tent and a cool drink awaited us at the top where we regained our breath in the 34-degree heat.

Our trip ended with a visit to the Bedouin market in Nuweyba. Sitting in a comfortable open-air tent on the Gulf of Aqaba, we regained our energy with our less-than-appealing box lunch, but made up for it by browsing through the shops before returning to the hotel.

We spent the rest of our weekend enjoying the resort and nursing our sore muscles; soon it was time for the 4 ½-hour bus ride back to Jerusalem. The excursions were tougher than we’d expected, but are we proud—we rode a camel for 1 ½ hours, climbed Mt. Sinai, and hiked the Coloured Canyon! Were we or were we not an awesome threesome!