Nutshells

In a recent conversation with friends, I briefly mentioned that I was still trying to reconcile myself to the fact that I was "a blogger."  That I would sometimes mention "my blog" in day to day conversations.  That each experience was filed away as "blogworthy" or "unblogworthy."  It was then brought to my attention that if you only blog once a month...you're not really a blogger.  My 57 year old father then informed me I don't even use the terminology of the blogworld (oops...blogosphere?) correctly, as I've been saying "new blog" instead of "new post."  So I've been relabeled as either a lazy-blogger, an inept-blogger or, perhaps, just somebody who sometimes writes stuff on the Interweb. 

To refocus the tone of the blog, from the slightly ranty nature it took on in the past post, I've got some new personal information to update: I've wrapped up my English classes at Alrowwad Center (the pictures are of my last kindergarten class) and just finished my first week at a new internship at Defence for Children International. The office is in Ramallah, which means that Monday through Thursday I commute from Bethlehem through Wadi Nar.  Wadi Nar translates to Hell Valley, named for its rather thrilling twists and turns.  It's manageable though, as I've made an aces On The Go Playlist.  An hour goes by rather quickly when you're hanging out with Van Morrison, Toots and the Maytals, the Talking Heads, and the Spanish version of "You've Got A Friend In Me" from Toy Story 3.  DCI is really great so far.  I'll be working on some very exciting reports, learning a lot, and meeting truly impressive people.  My main project will be writing report on the recruitment of Palestinian children into the armed conflict. 

Last Saturday I ventured outside of Bethlehem with a friend on a day trip to Jenin, an incredibly beautiful city.  We arrived without a schedule but got a couple of kids from Jenin Camp to show us a great view of the city from a nearby hill, heard some stories about Jenin's role in the second Intifada, saw the Jenin Freedom Theater, and were invited over to a family's house for coffee (which turned into tea, bread, french fries, more tea, a bit more coffee, some sliced tomato and a glass of Sprite. The ride home was a bladder test for both of us).  This week, unfortunately, Jenin has taken a sharp turn.  Two days after our visit, the director of the Jenin Freedom Theater, Juliano Mer Khamis, a Palestinian-Israeli man (the son of the woman, Arna, who began the theater) was shot and killed.  It is still unclear who committed the crime.  Regardless, it was an incredible loss.  In his blog, Shalom Rav, Rabbi Brant Rosen has written some beautiful words about Juliano Mer Khamis, and has a link to a documentary about the theater and Arna.

More concerning developments are coming out of Gaza each day as Israeli airstrikes continue.  The nine strikes on Friday alone brought the count of those killed between just Thursday and Friday to 14.  Some of these are thought to be Hamas militants, while others have been confirmed as civilians: a mother and daughter, an elderly man, and two other unidentified men.  There have also been claims that the army is using white phosphorus again.

In the continuing investigation of the Itamar murders, the army has conducted its fourth major raid of the village of Awarta, outside of Nablus.  According to Ma'an, this last raid was conducted just after midnight, and lead to the arrests of over 100 women, some of whom were in their 60s.  Night time raids that lead to the detention of boys and men is shockingly common in the West Bank, and I've almost become used to hearing such stories.  But hearing of the detention of women is much more unusual.  When I've asked peole why they think this occurred, most believe the women will be interrogated about the actions of their husbands and sons. 

That is life here right now is an extremely tiny nutshell.  Yella, bye