Peacemaking

This is going to be the quicket blog post ever, because I'm about to leave in (literally) 10 minutes to go on a Pardes tiyul to the Golan, and then to travel around the Galilee for 6 days with my friends Natalie and Emily.

So this weekend, I climbed a fence in the West Bank, and was helped down the other side of it by a former member of Hamas. But, that sounds way more dramatic than it was.

I went to a Peace Activists Retreat held by IPCRI in the Talithakumi school in Beit Jala. It was a weekend of firsts--first Arab bus ride, first knafe, first trip to Bethlehem. The school a German school founded 150 years ago by German nuns for Palestinian kids. It's located in an area that's relatively easily accessible to both Israelis and Palestinians from the West Bank, which is cool. And, IPCRI even managed to get visas for 7 people from Gaza to come, which is no small feat, since pretty much no one is allowed to leave Gaza (they requested 28 or so visas).

Friday, the first day of the retreat, was workshops led by participants. I went to laughter yoga, a discussion on the difficulties of dialogue under occupation (many Palestinians see dialogue as "normalization" of the Occupation), and one on a program that brings together Israelis, Palestinians, and Germans.

Friday night was an awesome concert, which you can see here, including drumming by my friend Ilan. Afterwards, I went with several other participants to a restaurant in Bethlehem, with a stop for knafe on the way. It was really nice, except when that we got back at 1am, the gate to Talithakumi was closed, and the guard was alseep. Hence the climbing the fence part, to be helped down the other side by my new friend Ahmed (who yes, was once a member of Hamas, spent 10 years in prison, decided to become a peace activist, and moved to Jericho).

And...Saturday I will have to tell you about another time, because I really must run now. I will edit/update this post after my travels to the north!

Purim!

So Purim was a little less eventful than expected, mainly because of rain. I didn't end up experiencing Purim in Tel Aviv; it was raining, the street party was canceled, and most of my friends who had planned on going changed their minds (boo). But, I certainly celebrated Purim in Jerusalem (Shushan Purim)!

Sunday night I headed to Pardes for a community megillah reading. On my way there, I saw many people in costume and getting ready for the holiday--it was definitely fun to be somewhere where dressing in costume is the norm instead of just for the kids. After the megillah reading, Pardes had a giant Purim spiel, with each class level doing a skit, as well as anyone else who wanted to (it included such highlights as "the Hamentaschen (Vagina) Monologues" and a teacher parodying Pardes life in song). Afterwards, I celebrated at a friend's apartment.

Monday, Natalie and I gave Mishloach Manot (gift baskets with food) to our neighbors, and headed to our teacher Meesh's house for a seuda (meal). Again, on the way there, we saw others celebrating, dressed in costume, delivering mishloach manot. Our teacher hosted an incredible number of students for a barbecue meal at her house--we even had enough people who knew different chapters of the megillah that we were able to have an afternoon reading for those of us (myself included) who'd slept in and missed hearing megillah in shul that morning! All in all, a good time, and really nice to feel that I was amidst a community celebrating with me, amidst a city celebrating with us.

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In other random news, last night Natalie and I were prevented from crossing Derech Hevron (a big street near us) on the way to a friend's birthday party. They had completely cleared the middle lane (usually for buses and taxis), and stopped all traffic on all sides of the intersection, including pedestrians. Why? Because Joe Biden was about to drive by, of course! So we got to see his convoy come by.