Moving to At-Tuwani

I wanted to write a quick update. I'm tired. It's not just the sun every day, or the long days of meeting with peace organizations and activists- I have had one good night sleep since being in Israel/Palestine. I'm not really sure why I'm not sleeping. I wish I could. I try. At first it was the roosters. The roosters crow every two minutes. I didn't grow up on a farm. I figured that there was some ingrained timing mechanism that all roosters have that make a rooster crow at dawn and never before. Well these rooster crow from 2-7 in the morning, right outside every window. (Not to mention the snorers- I'm really bad at sleeping with those who snore. I can never beat them to sleep, and then I'm stuck). Anyway, this post isn't anything magnificent. I just wanted to share that we're leaving Hebron in the morning to travel to small village called At-Tuwani. They have around 250 residents in a more desert like area. A settlement is built on the adjacent hill and the community has had problems with Israeli Settler attacks. CPT has a full time team in Tuwani to help curb some of the violence and harassment. We'll tour the village tomorrow, walk the kids to summer camp around the Settlement, and stay with one of the Palestinian families for dinner and hopefully a good night sleep. The next day we'll come back to Hebron for another day and half before going to Jerusalem.

I will leave with a few quotes from a reconciliation organization working in Bethlehem, Wi'Am. Zoughbi Zoughbi is the director and founder: "I am a Christian, but of a different sort from the Christians of the West. I am a Christian who believes in the resurrection but I see Jesus still on the cross. He is still on the cross because our political, economical, and social circumstances have been resurrected. This is our hope. We are thankful you are here (talking to CPT). It is important for the psyche of the oppressed to know other nations care for them."

"We have chosen hope, but hope has yet to choose us. In this way, we have chosen the nonviolent struggle. The land where the wall now protrudes into Bethlehem was the best place. Over 800 businesses have been lost to the construction of the wall in this section of Bethlehem. We are trying to maintain a shift away from guilt or victimhood toward communal responsibility. Blaming others is toxic, paralyzes us. I am on who would like to deny Israel an enemy. For me, nonviolence is a way of life and a strategy."