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We left Nablus this morning heading for church at Zababdeh:
At Zebabdeh we visited the lovely St Matthew’s church. It was Pentecost and we hoped to celebrate Pentecost with the congregation there, but fortunately for them (unfortunately for us!)most of the congregation had been granted permits to travel to Jerusalem for Pentecost. So we had our own short service in their church and then enjoyed their hospitality. We met Janet and her children.
St Matthew’s Church Zababdeh
Janet showed us around the church and showed us the library which the church has recently opened for the use of the local community. They also have and ICT suite and a guest room.
Beneath the church is a clinic also for the use of the local community.
The church has a congregation of about 70 and a Sunday School of 25-30, a young adults group and a womens group.
Janet then took us to see the Latin Catholic church down the road a much larger church with a congregation of 700.
We were then treated to a delicious lunch prepared by women from the church – chicken and rice with vegetables.
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Our next stop was in Jenin at the refugee camp. The refugee camps hold refugees from the 1948 war when many Palestinians were forecibly displaced from their homes which were then demolished.
In Jenin we visited the Freedom Theatre. This was established in 2006 as a continuation of the Stone theatre which was started by Arna Mer Khanis. Arna had come to Israel in 1948 with an Israeli group against Palestinians. However she later married a Palestinian and wished to give something back to the Palestinian people and so had started the Stone theatre during the first intifada (early 1990’s) – a time when many children swere unable to go to school because of curfews.
In 2002 the theatre had to stop when the camp was attacked by the Israelis with bulldozers. Houses were bulldozed without giving time for people to escape. There were many children living in the camp who saw their parents killed and there were many others died because ambulances were not allowed in to attend to the injured. Many adults and children were extremely traumatised.
When Arna’s son Juliano returned to the theatre he found that most of those who had run it had been killed and so he opened the Freedom Theatre in 2006. The theatre aims to offer drama therapy to traumatised children and young people. It is a theatre and multimedia workshop and it also offers journalism and creative writing courses as well as cinema workshops. These all give the chance for children and young people to have a voice to say what they would like to change in their communities.
Juliano was assasinated in front of the theatre in 2011. He was loved and admired by everyone and they are determined to continue the theatre in his memory. The killer has not been found and the motive is unknown.
The Freedom Theatre Jenin
Freedom Theatre in Jenin
The theatre also has the “Freedom Bus” which goes out into the community through the whole West Bank. They also have links with Jordan and soon with Egypt. The theatre tours countries around the world and hope to visit the UK next year. They are in the process of establishing “Friends of the Freedom Theatre” in the UK.
From Jenin we drove to Nazareth. This meant that we sere leaving the West Bank, which made us feel a bit sad. We had to say goodbye to our Palestinian guides, who could not pass through the check point into Israel. A stark reminder of the Palestinian situation. At the check point the coach was pulled to one side and a guard with a large machine gun boarded the bus and scruitinised all out passports. We also had to open the luggage compartments of the bus. We were let through fairly quickly and continued our journey to Nazareth.
We first pulled up at a large very fancy looking hotel with signs to spa and swimming pool. But this tuned out to be a mistake! Our hotel just had the same name but was in the Old Town!
Nazareth is a city in Israel but is a Palestinian city with 60% of the population being Arab. The Hotel was the Golden Crown Old City. It was about 6 months old we were told. Julie and I went for a short walk to get our bearings in the immediate area before dinner and an early night!
10 days in May 