For the first time in a very long time, we spent five nights in the same place. And even better it was with friends in their home! The Maayah family ensured that our time in Palestine and Israel was a highlight of our travels and very informative. Tareq is a fellow in Christy’s Henry Crown class at the Aspen Institute, and he and his wife, Natalie, and 3 children welcomed us into their home in Ramallah, Palestine. They not only hosted us in their new guest apartment, they also fed us, entertained us, loaned us their car and ensured that we got the most out of our time there. 
Luke and Ryan were ecstatic to be with kids their own ages again. Zena, Sammeh and Maajed played video games, watched movies and ran around constantly with our boys. Since we were there for several school nights, we certainly managed to disrupt the normal flow of life in the Maayah household.
In addition to connecting with our friends, we explored the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We loved wandering through the old streets of Jerusalem and seeing the historic religious sites – we visited sites that are among the most holy for Islam, Judaism and Christianity, all within an area smaller than one square mile. We also spent one day in Israel proper exploring Tel Aviv. Israel’s largest city had beautiful parks and beaches and was a sharp contrast to what we saw in Palestine. Tel Aviv seemed like a very livable city and had a similar feel to many cities in the US or Europe.
Staying in Palestine was a very different experience than we would have had staying in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Despite reading about the Middle East prior to arriving, we found we still had large gaps in our knowledge of history and conflicts in the region. News and history are often influenced by the source of the information and frequently we hear only one part of the story. It’s no different in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the bulk of our news in the US seems to come from an Israeli viewpoint. What doesn’t make the news is the state of “martial law” that exists in the West Bank, and we saw and experienced first hand the restrictions imposed upon the Palestinians. Our five days there has left us with a more complete view of what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Paradoxically, it seems that there is no good resolution to the conflict while at the same time it seems obvious that the current situation is untenable and a two state solution is necessary. |
| Birthplace of Christ |
Our travels over this past month have been a wonderful way for us all to learn and experience different religions, especially in places where religion is more central to public life than in the United States. We certainly never take anyone to the church, synagogue, temple or mosque when they visit us in Boulder! We learned about Buddhism in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. We experienced the Muslim way of life in Bangladesh, Jordan and Palestine. Finally, we learned more about Jewish and Christian beliefs and history while touring the historic sites in Jordan, Palestine and Israel. It is much easier to comprehend the stories in the Bible, Koran and Torah when you have stood in the sites where the stories actually occurred.
