For the first time in a very long time, we spent five
nights in the same place. And even
better it was with friends in their home!
The Maayah family ensured that our time in Palestine and Israel was a
highlight of our travels and very informative.
Tareq is a fellow in Christy’s Henry Crown class at the Aspen Institute,
and he and his wife, Natalie, and 3 children welcomed us into their home in
Ramallah, Palestine. They not only
hosted us in their new guest apartment, they also fed us, entertained us,
loaned us their car and ensured that we got the most out of our time there.
Luke and Ryan were ecstatic to be with kids their own ages
again. Zena, Sammeh and Maajed played
video games, watched movies and ran around constantly with our boys. Since we were there for several school
nights, we certainly managed to disrupt the normal flow of life in the Maayah
household.
In addition to connecting with our friends, we explored the
West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We loved
wandering through the old streets of Jerusalem and seeing the historic
religious sites – we visited sites that are among the most holy for Islam,
Judaism and Christianity, all within an area smaller than one square mile. We also spent one day in Israel proper
exploring Tel Aviv. Israel’s largest
city had beautiful parks and beaches and was a sharp contrast to what we saw in
Palestine. Tel Aviv seemed like a very
livable city and had a similar feel to many cities in the US or Europe.
Staying in Palestine was a very different experience than
we would have had staying in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Despite reading about the Middle East prior to arriving, we found we still
had large gaps in our knowledge of history and conflicts in the region. News and
history are often influenced by the source of the information and frequently we
hear only one part of the story. It’s no
different in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the bulk of our news in the US seems to come from an Israeli viewpoint. What doesn’t make the news is the state of
“martial law” that exists in the West Bank, and we saw and experienced first
hand the restrictions imposed upon the Palestinians. Our five days
there has left us with a more complete view of what is happening in
Israel/Palestine. Paradoxically, it
seems that there is no good resolution to the conflict while at the same time
it seems obvious that the current situation is untenable and a two state solution is necessary.
 |
| Birthplace of Christ |
Our travels over this past month have been a wonderful way
for us all to learn and experience different religions, especially in places
where religion is more central to public life than in the United States. We certainly never take anyone to the church,
synagogue, temple or mosque when they visit us in Boulder! We learned about Buddhism in Thailand, Laos,
Myanmar and Sri Lanka. We experienced
the Muslim way of life in Bangladesh, Jordan and Palestine. Finally, we learned more about Jewish and
Christian beliefs and history while touring the historic sites in Jordan, Palestine and
Israel. It is much easier to comprehend the stories in the Bible, Koran and Torah when you have stood in the sites
where the stories actually occurred.
For the first time in a very long time, we spent five
nights in the same place. And even
better it was with friends in their home!
The Maayah family ensured that our time in Palestine and Israel was a
highlight of our travels and very informative.
Tareq is a fellow in Christy’s Henry Crown class at the Aspen Institute,
and he and his wife, Natalie, and 3 children welcomed us into their home in
Ramallah, Palestine. They not only
hosted us in their new guest apartment, they also fed us, entertained us,
loaned us their car and ensured that we got the most out of our time there.
Luke and Ryan were ecstatic to be with kids their own ages
again. Zena, Sammeh and Maajed played
video games, watched movies and ran around constantly with our boys. Since we were there for several school
nights, we certainly managed to disrupt the normal flow of life in the Maayah
household.
In addition to connecting with our friends, we explored the
West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We loved
wandering through the old streets of Jerusalem and seeing the historic
religious sites – we visited sites that are among the most holy for Islam,
Judaism and Christianity, all within an area smaller than one square mile. We also spent one day in Israel proper
exploring Tel Aviv. Israel’s largest
city had beautiful parks and beaches and was a sharp contrast to what we saw in
Palestine. Tel Aviv seemed like a very
livable city and had a similar feel to many cities in the US or Europe.
Staying in Palestine was a very different experience than
we would have had staying in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Despite reading about the Middle East prior to arriving, we found we still
had large gaps in our knowledge of history and conflicts in the region. News and
history are often influenced by the source of the information and frequently we
hear only one part of the story. It’s no
different in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the bulk of our news in the US seems to come from an Israeli viewpoint. What doesn’t make the news is the state of
“martial law” that exists in the West Bank, and we saw and experienced first
hand the restrictions imposed upon the Palestinians. Our five days
there has left us with a more complete view of what is happening in
Israel/Palestine. Paradoxically, it
seems that there is no good resolution to the conflict while at the same time
it seems obvious that the current situation is untenable and a two state solution is necessary.
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