Deacon Dave in Hebron, Palestine

11 Aug 08

Wonderful news !! Arwa’s visa appeal was approved. We don’t have to pay another £515 to apply again. I need to take her passport to Jerusalem and hopefully they will give her the visa soon. God willing we can come to England around 10th Oct.

More good news !! Fatima and Mohammad who were evicted from their home in the Old City have had a baby boy who looks very fit and healthy. Fatima had an awful time of it. She also had a gall stone that needed to be removed but they had to wait until the baby had been born. Then they were asking her to wait until November unless she had the money to get the operation done privately. Arwa managed to pull some strings with the officials and she has had the operation already and not had to pay. She has been in terrible pain but she seemed fine when we saw her last night. Very happy and proud !

Greetings from Hebron !

I arrived safely into Tel Aviv on Tuesday night. I was anxious about Israeli immigration because I had heard that all internationals were getting short visas; only as long as they said they were staying. They used to give a 3 month visa to everyone whatever you told them so I normally tell them I am staying in Jerusalem for 2 weeks to visit the holy sites and pray. If I tell them I am staying more than 2 weeks and that I don’t have a return ticket then I would get pulled aside for the more intensive questioning. In the event she took one look at my suit and collar, asked me what I was doing and didn’t ask how long I plan to stay. She gave me a moments panic when she asked me my father’s name and then told me to wait while she went off. I thought she had gone to get her supervisor but she came back with a pile of cards, stamped 3 months in my passport and gave it back with a card. As I hurried away I looked at the card to find that the Ministry of Tourism are assuring me that “Israel Loves Me” in a nice heart design. I’ll have to show it to the soldiers as they sometimes forget !

I am on my way back to England today. I write this from the departure lounge of Ben Gurion Airport. I managed to get through security without too many questions.They thought my Palestinian wedding shoes were a bit dodgy but then so did my sister ! The smart suit and clergy collar got me through again ! My friend Pandora with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme from South Africa got the full 5 hour questioning and bag search and strip search.

Our plan is to return again in June July and August.

Unfortunately Arwa has been refused a visa to settle in the UK. I have 28 days to appeal that decision at a tribunal in England. We need to be able to produce documentary evidence that she is capable of earning money and will not be dependant on benefits.

Hey friends !

I am at my mother's for the weekend. I leave for Palestine tomorrow afternoon.

The good news is that I have arranged to meet Arwa's father to discuss getting engaged to be married. We are both excited about that.

The bad news is that ISM Hebron sent me a message after I had paid for my ticket telling me I am not welcome to work with them in Hebron or to stay in their appartment there. Apparently they are concerned that our relationship will cause a scandal in the neighbourhood; not very likely. So I don't know where I can live or what work I can do. I just need to trust God that all will work out for the best.

Off again ! I have booked a ticked to go back to Palestine on Sep 3rd. I hope to stay for almost 3months again and be there for the olive harvest. I am very much looking forward to seeing my friends in Tel Rumeida again.

For those who are close to Sheffield you are warmly invited to join us for a Palestinian fundraiser to help pay for the trip. Naji will be cooking his wonderful Palestinian food, starters and main course for £7.50 or a donation.
New Roots Café, 86 Spital Hill
Friday 27th July
7pm Food
8pm Tel Rumeida Project film

If anyone has any equipment they are able to donate to the project that would be very useful. We are particularly in need of digital cameras and video cameras. The Israeli settlers have realised the value of what we do and they now target cameras to steal or destroy.

I am planning to return to Hebron for a further 3 months. I was not planning to go back until the summer but the local Palestinians from ISM contacted me and asked me to come back soon as they need someone with some experience to be responsible for all the new international volunteers spending time in Tel Rumeida.

I shall leave Sheffield on Valentine's Day, spend a few days with my family and fly from Heathrow at 20.25 on Saturday 17th Feb. There is a 7 hour wait in Muskat (where ever is that ? we all ask. Turns out to be in Oman on the far corner of the Arabian peninsular.) I arrive in Amman too late for the bus to Hebron so I will need to stay the night and head off in the morning. It is not far from Amman to Hebron but it can take a long time to cross the border at the Allenby Bridge. I will change buses in Jerusalem.

I have arrived safe back in England. I am staying with family now and hope to get back to Sheffield tomorrow.

I was expecting great difficulties in getting through security at Ben Gurion as they are usually very hard on internationals who have spent time in the Occupied Territories. Many of my friends ahve been searched and intensely interrogated for over 3 hours. They have been strip searched and had all their bags opened and examined in detail. I wore my clergy collar and a smart jacket and actually had no real problem getting through. I told them I had been visiting holy places, praying and staying at a convent in Jerusalem, all of which is true. Luckily they did not ask me more.

I got my stitches taken out on Sunday. I am making a good recovery.

I shall be leaving Hebron today (Tues). It will be very hard to leave my friends behind. I plan to stay at Ecce Homo in Jerusalem for 2 nights before flying back to London on Thursday. I am expecting a lot of difficulties with the police at Ben Gurion airport who normally do extensive searching of bags and interrogations of internationals leaving Israel.

I shall visit family and then I am hoping to get to Brize Norton on Saturday and catch a lift back to Sheffield from there.

See you soon, some of you !
Dave

Well here I am in Israel. Seems pretty unreal in this flashy modern airport building. It's pitch black outside. I'm waiting for a more respectable hour to catch a shuttle bus into the Old City to Ecce Homo convent.

Flight was ok. Food was passable. Both flights got delayed but since I knew I would have to wait at this end I wasn't bothered.

Met an interesting Egyptian man on the Milan flight. Ibrahim from Cairo, a gentle Muslim who thinks we just need to get rid of our leaders to be able to live in peace, since the vast majority of ordinary people just want to get on with living their lives in peace.