Middle East muddles: land of war

Lots and lots of stories – some heartbreaking, and some amusing – of a life under what is called ‘the occupation.’

Visiting an electrician who lives down the street from our classroom: He used to work as a camera technician for the Christian TV program – 100 Huntley Street, and he returned to Beit Sahour a number of years ago to continue doing media work in Jerusalem and to build a house for his family. As of 2000, when the intifada (resistance) began, his permit to travel to Jerusalem has not been renewed, and he lives from the earnings of his one-room appliance repair business. He can't afford to continue building onto the foundation of his house, and has been dipping into his savings in order to put his children through school.

Walking back to our hotel: there is a small boy who lives in a third story apartment along the way. As I wind my way through the steep cobblestone streets, he always asks, "Whash yur name?" I tell him my name, and he never fails to remind me: "I'm Shorge [George]."

Going to a nearby home that was shelled with incendiary ammunition by an Israeli military outpost after some shots were reportedly fired at the outpost from someone in the neighborhood: According to our guide, the fire department arrived, but was shot at by the Israeli outpost. The incendiary ammunition caused a fire and burned the second floor of the house clean.

Hearing an American-born mother talk about a bombing by F-16 jets: The family lives across from the police station, and recalled how it was bombed one night a few years ago. Her family took shelter in a cave underneath their home. The ground shook and the air was filled with the roar of explosions, and she explained that in those moments of the attack she was no longer able to protect her children, and for that, she lost "all compassion" for Israelis.

Meeting with a man who spoke about the four times when his house was demolished because of two missing signatures on his zoning and construction permit: He hired a lawyer to defend him, and when pressed by the lawyer, the Israeli construction permits office responsible for managing the permit had lost the file, and the offending permit application was found to be missing.

Visiting the Herodion, the summer mountain vacation home of Herod the Great: Twenty minutes into our visit, as our guide explained the features of the interior tunnel system, there was a deep growl that seemed to come from directly below us. I first thought that it was some sort of military vehicle nearby until our guide stopped talking and got a serious look on his face. A few moments of silence, and then the ground began to shake gently, a few inches back and forth. We calmly walked to the nearest exit and were informed that there had been a magnitude 5 earthquake originating in Jericho. No deaths were reported, but a few ceilings at the Knesset (Israeli parliament) had sustained some damage. Back on the bus, our tour guide joked that the resistance group Hamas had claimed responsibility for the earthquake; there's some Palestinian humor for you.