Communication Skills
I went to a morning service today at this beautiful little place called the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem and for the first time since I was a kid I took communion. That was a surprisingly powerful experience ... more so than I initially realized. Then I proceeded to get into an arguement ... ahm, I mean discussion ... with this Quaker woman after the service.
What I've been struck by here is the complete lack of communication of any sort that is allowed between Palestinians and Israelis ... admittedly in the past that communication was very destructive but yesturday I was speaking to a municipal workers at a small Palestinian town ... He is not allowed to have any formal communication with the council the runs the Settler community right next to the town (which is appropriating land from farmers who live in the town).
I made the comment to the Quaker woman that it is no wonder that there is a conflict when the two parties are not even allowed to speak with one another. I thought I was making a simple observation and I'm not really sure what this woman thought I was saying but she told me that I was taking an idealogical stance and that I should really study the situation further before I made statements like that. Whao doggy, you can easily get into trouble around here if you don't watch your P's and Q's!
Anyway, what I've seen of Jerusalem so far (just an itsy bitsy portion of the western segment of the old city), I really like ... it's an amazing town of maze-like, narrow, stone streets (streets is perhaps the wrong word ... hallways has more of the feel of it), packed with shops, people, colors and smells. Sensory overload!!!
Anyway, I'm off to the airport to pick up the CPT delegation.
Ma'salema!
I went to a morning service today at this beautiful little place called the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem and for the first time since I was a kid I took communion. That was a surprisingly powerful experience ... more so than I initially realized. Then I proceeded to get into an arguement ... ahm, I mean discussion ... with this Quaker woman after the service.
What I've been struck by here is the complete lack of communication of any sort that is allowed between Palestinians and Israelis ... admittedly in the past that communication was very destructive but yesturday I was speaking to a municipal workers at a small Palestinian town ... He is not allowed to have any formal communication with the council the runs the Settler community right next to the town (which is appropriating land from farmers who live in the town).
I made the comment to the Quaker woman that it is no wonder that there is a conflict when the two parties are not even allowed to speak with one another. I thought I was making a simple observation and I'm not really sure what this woman thought I was saying but she told me that I was taking an idealogical stance and that I should really study the situation further before I made statements like that. Whao doggy, you can easily get into trouble around here if you don't watch your P's and Q's!
Anyway, what I've seen of Jerusalem so far (just an itsy bitsy portion of the western segment of the old city), I really like ... it's an amazing town of maze-like, narrow, stone streets (streets is perhaps the wrong word ... hallways has more of the feel of it), packed with shops, people, colors and smells. Sensory overload!!!
Anyway, I'm off to the airport to pick up the CPT delegation.
Ma'salema!
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