the myth of security and why we believe the news

All I have to say is that if you ever want to feel like a common criminal for any reason, just try to get in or out of Israel. They make the innocent even believe that they are subconsciously a terrorist.

Right from the beginning of our journey, when we first arrived at JFK, I could tell these were no-nonsense, highly trained people. They are skilled in making you confused, asking the same questions, rapid fire, phrased slightly differently each time, aiming to make you weak in order to expose any lie. At first, I found it a bit humorous in spite of myself, and was trying not to smile during the process. They even took a member of our group for more intense questioning and search, and we didn't see him until they escorted him to the gate a few hours later.

Then I saw the separation wall snaking it's way up a hillside divided between the West Bank and Israel...setting aside the twisted ideology behind it, it's so hideous and ugly looking that I couldn't believe my own eyes. Huge grey cement slabs, probably 20 feet high, slowly being linked together along the entire (disputed) border. How could anyone honestly think that this could bring peace? It's ugliness only heaps tremendous, unbelievable insult to unapologetic injury. I understand that Israel wants to be safe from terrorists, but this is the kind of behavior that creates them, and elects Hamas to Palestinian power. (And btw, I took a tiny piece of the wall that had broken off.)

The irony of it is that as Americans, we could easily pass through borders - to the West Bank and to Jordan and back - if we went as a group. They didn't even come on the bus to check us out, but just waved us through. Even the day that a few of us went into Bethlehem (in the West Bank) to visit Munther and his friends was a breeze, though it was interesting to see the difference between the two sides. After the bus dropped us at the border, we strolled through the security checkpoint into Bethlehem, our passports hardly even glanced at. Coming back into Israel proper, the security setup made me feel like I was in some sort of bizarre sci-fi movie. First, we couldn't figure out where to go because none of the doors would open, until we noticed that we were supposed to stand in line around a corner where a revolving door only let one person through at a time, yet again our American presence helped us to pass through in a timely fashion.

Crossing by ourselves, Sandrine and I without the rest of the group, was another story. Just getting TO the Jordanian/Israeli border was an adventure in itself, and though it doesn't necessarily have to do with security, I can't let this go untold. We trusted our tour guide Omar to set us up with a private taxi to the border...the price was good and he even came to the Turkish bath in Amman to pick us up that morning, but not long into our ride he said something to the effect of us having to change cars halfway because the police wouldn't like his car. We weren't communicating 100%, so I thought maybe he was trying to remind us that he couldn't drive us across the border, which we already knew. But no. We stopped at the last town before the crossing, another car pulled up behind us (just an unmarked, regular old car), we were told to get out and jump in this car with a different driver. So we paid the first guy, assured that we wouldn't have to pay this new guy. "Welcome to Jordan!" he greeted us with, and then 5 minutes later we were at the border. "Quickly, quickly!" he said, dumping our bags on the sidewalk, just down the street from the border gates. We stood there, somewhat perplexed as he peeled off, back in the direction we came from...still not quite sure what that was all about.

Between the Jordan and Israeli side, we had multiple adventures, including meeting some interesting characters while waiting for the shuttle for over an hour, almost getting kicked off the shuttle because we didn't have any Jordanian dinars left (who pays for a shuttle? It cost us $4 each to drive less than a mile down the road!), losing the battle I fought with the Israeli security guard to not put my film through the xray machine (am still quite bitter about this...if my film is exposed, I'm going to have to give someone over there an earful), but handsdown, the ultimate adventure was just getting past the passport control girl who made me feel as though she was staring at a computer screen which detailed hundreds of international terrorist indiscretions that I was somehow unaware of. "Do you have another passport?" she asked. I laughed. "No," I said, more soberly. Then, trying to be more helpful, "I mean, except for my old expired passport." She just shook her head, but kept looking at her partner questioningly. WHAT was on that computer screen? I would really like to know. Of course this was the day of Palestinian elections, so maybe they were extra suspicious of dark haired women, traveling alone between the West Bank, Jordan and Israel. Sandrine got the same line of questioning, but of course she DOES have another passport, only she didn't have it with her. It's all these little things that really do make you question if you are a schizophrenic criminal of some sort. They finally let us through, but we were both pulled out of line to be searched at the next checkpoint as well.

The Ben Gurion airport - forget it. We were questioned before we even got in line, then scanned, then searched with forensic testing of some sort, at which time I was told that my Dead Sea mud was a security risk and had to be checked in a separate box that they provided. I debated for a minute before I finally asked the guy, "Do you mind...can I ask why the mud is a security risk?" To which he replied (kindly - he was one of the nice ones), "Well, you can ask, but I cannot tell you." After all of this, I was able to finally approach the ticket counter. At the passport control station, I realized too late that I had gotten in the wrong line when I saw the mean-looking girl checking passports before me, but I decided to stay and just be nice, hoping that would get me through. Fat chance. "Why did you cross at Allenby bridge?" she demanded. I explained that Jordan was a part of our study tour, would she like to see my letter from the school? "No. Did you visit any other Middle Eastern countries?" "No." Shaking her head, she picked up the phone and told me to go with the approaching man. Sitting in the waiting area, a woman came out a few minutes later. "What is your grandfather's name?" I blinked. "Which one?" "On your father's side." Then, "What is your father's name?" She seemed satisfied, and I was allowed to go after a few more minutes. The thought that they can just pull up this information on me is somewhat unsettling. And alas, one more xray machine and checkpoint to go through before heading down to my gate.

After all of this, I still have to ask, are we really secure? I have to say that I am of the opinion that it would not be that difficult to pull off another 9/11, but if we can maintain the illusion of security, then people will feel safe to fly and travel and spend lots of money. I mean, for crying out loud, they go to all this trouble, but then they give us metal forks and knives on the plane...even glass bottles! Heck, even a pen could do some damage. I don't really want to go into detail, as I think I may have already crossed the line, but as thoroughly as they scanned me, there are still holes. They never even checked my person, nor my coat of many deep pockets...they didn't even get in all the pockets of my bags. Some things xrays don't pick up. Terrorists know this.

I'm not saying this to try to frighten anyone. Quite the contrary. I think we need to wake up and realize that we can't live under this pretense of security when anything could happen to anyone, at anytime. We don't know when our life will end, and though we do need to live wisely, wisdom is not based on the news, which brings me to my next point.

Think about it: does the news exist to tell the truth, or to sell advertising? I would argue the latter, and in order to get those high paying advertisers, it has to be popular. In order to be popular, it has to be sensational. Get the picture? Even as a newswriter for my college paper, I could see that what was printed was controlled by the powers that be, whomever or whatever they may be. Think about this: would you feel safe in Philly or [insert your city here] if all you knew about it was based on the news? Murder, rape, corruption, and an occasional "MONSTER SNOW STORM"? Yet you know this isn't Philly because you live here. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT LIFE IS LIKE IN THE MIDDLE EAST BECAUSE WE ONLY SEE IT THROUGH THE EYES OF THE MEDIA. On top of that, we just plain don't understand Middle Eastern culture (of course, it's fair to say that they don't necessarily understand ours, based on their perception of Western women).

At any rate, when it's your time to go, it's your time, and no amount of security or studying the news will be able to prevent that. It's also helpful to remember that these people live in the Middle East for a reason: it's their home and they love it and feel as safe there as we do here. Even the 2 single, Western women that Sandrine and I met and had lunch with in Amman feel at home and comfortable to walk around - even in the "bad" parts of town - with their heads uncovered. The locals are passionate, warm, and welcoming - like Lina, whom I met only through the blogging world and who took an entire afternoon to show us downtown Amman, and like the Palestinian girl that we met on the sherut (a shared, mini-van taxi) who invited us to her house for dinner (though we weren't able to go).

If you made it through to the end of this post, props to you...and I would encourage you to continue to think about what it means to be secure and why we trust the news!

cate meredith

Does anyone else see Beth in her? Maybe it's hard to tell from this photo, but her eyebrows, little nose and cheeks, and her chin and lower lip all remind me of Beth! Neil might have a different opinion.

Well, it's 5:30am and I've been wide awake for 2 hours. Not too bad though, considering that I crashed last night around 8pm, so hopefully by tonight I'll be back on schedule. I keep thinking about what in the world I'm going to write about a month of travel and study and meeting new people in the Middle East. It feels as though an entire year has been compacted into one month...I guess it's kinda like the post-mission trip syndrome, but somehow more intense. I'll come up with something that is hopefully interesting but not too much like drinking from a fire hose.

from the other side of the river

Sandrine and I are having a blast in Ammon. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone that we've spent the past month with, but the class is over, and now we can just relax, meet new people, and get a real feel for the city. We'll be crossing over to the other side tomorrow, the day of the Palestinian elections, so please keep the whole situation in prayer. We'll be enjoying another day in Jerusalem before heading back to Philly on Friday.

Congrats to Neil and Beth on their baby girl!

just checking in

Wow, this time is going by so fast! Hard to believe this is our last week here before going to "the other side" of the river. This past week we were traveling all around the "Shephelah" (lowlands) and the Negev (southern desert wilderness). The highlights were definitely the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea (see picture above...the buoyancy is so strange, very difficult to swim in, as you can see Charis is having a difficult time trying to get over to us!...and the salt is just disgusting, no words can truly explain), Masada and Qumran.

Today we spent our free day in Bethlehem with Munther, visiting his church, having an incredible Palestinian meal in a Bedouin-type tent restaurant, and just strolling around the town. Tomorrow we're off again for the week. Need to go shower and pack!

insanity by internet instability

Ok, well the internet connection here (or lack there of) is enough to drive one completely mad, so I think I'll just have to skip most of the pics for now. We'll try for a few more:


THIS is exciting to me. A very recent archeological dig (you can see it's still going on) whereby they believe they may have found David's palace, just north of the temple mount walls. The problem with excavation in this land is that it's all under somebody's backyard or olive grove or - worse yet - their house!

I finally met my Bedouin boys! This may have been my only chance, given the current state of things in this region. Please pray for our safety and that we don't have to cut any part of our trip! Man, look how pale I am compared to them. Well, after hiking along that precarious ridge in the wadi for a few miles on the way to Jericho, I think I picked up a bit of sun, thankfully.

around old city

A humorous picture of the "Cardo" - a main street through the center of the Old City that was built in the Byzantine Era (after the Romans). The history of this place is another element of confusion in this place. I like this picture because of Sandrine's and my blurry heads on the bottom right. A blurry Joy back in the middle too.


The southern end of the Mount of Olives today. Tombs. White washed tombs. Sound familiar? It was the same in Jesus' day. You can see it from the southern steps of the temple mount, where Jesus very well may have been teaching, as was the custom in that day, when he called the Pharisees a bunch of white washed tombs.

first impressions

Since we arrived here a week ago, it has been nothing but non-stop sun-up to sun-down hauling ourselves around this tiny, mixed up country, listening to lectures that are more like the most incredibly rich sermons you could ever imagine...not because this city is anything like it was in Jesus' day, and definitely not because of all the tacky monuments, spiritual relics and churches (sometimes even more than one!) on every possible holy site...no, it is precisely in SPITE of all of this that the land itself speaks volumes into this text that we honor as God's word. Without seeing it for yourself, you cannot possibly understand what scripture is talking about when it mentions particular roads, valleys, nations, peoples, trades, seasons...etc, etc. All of those verses that we dismiss as untouchable for a Sunday sermon? It is no understatement to say that I have been ministered to more on these obscure scriptures in the past week than I ever imagined possible. Though I am exhausted from our unceasing travel and study, this is more of a spiritual retreat than I ever imagined it would be!

I still have my old-fashioned 35mm film camera with me, and you can be sure I'm taking lots of fun photos, but in the meantime, we can thank Charis and modern technology for a few snapshots of what we've been up to thus far:

Our first day here, poor Charis is a bit jet-lagged (as we all were), yet we took off to explore the market in Old City (built in the Roman period, after the time of JC). Notice the Orthodox Jewish men running up behind her...for some reason, they always hustle through the streets. I think I remember hearing about that somewhere, but I can't remember the reason why...

This is what I mean by a "mixed up country." A church tower (whose bells we hear all day long) and a Muslim minaret (perhaps one of the hundreds which put out the Islamic call to prayer 5x a day and a Jewish school (unseen) which are all joined within one building complex. This sounds ideal, and indeed there are those who seek to live peacefully with each other, but underlying that is the ideology that each believes that they truly have the rights to this "land."

shalom

We're here! Jerusalem is BEAUTIFUL. Pictures don't do it justice. Had a good flight, getting used to the jetlag and looking forward to the weeks ahead. So far I've been spoken to in Hebrew a few times and the scary security guy at JFK asked me what my Hebrew name was. Heh heh.

Back to class! Will blog as I get the chance.

happy new year!

Well, I did it...I finally managed to stay in on New Year's Eve and just relax with a few friends. Well, relax as much as you can when 3 of us are packing for a month of travel. Poor Roshini, she just hung out in my papasan while we flitted about, trying to get our laundry done and figuring out what in the world to bring. But in the end, we managed all to just drop our preparations and enjoy each other's fellowship...so much so that we missed the midnight countdown! We shared about our thanksgivings to the Lord for the year 2005, had a time of prayer and picked a "verse for the year" out of a bag. Mine was one that Sandrine had chosen, Jeremiah 15:16:

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

Yes, Lord, may your word be the delight of my heart! Amen. Believe it or not, even as a seminary student with a biblical studies emphasis, it's still not difficult to find your heart far from God and far from delighting in his word. Theology is a unique subject to "master," because one cannot merely study and master God. By it's very nature, theology has to master you...and only in this will we find true heart change.

Praise the Lord for his faithfulness throughout the years! Even when we are not faithful. His kindness truly does lead us to repentance...even when perceived difficulties or sorrow become the means by which he brings new life to our hearts.

Hmmm...better get packed: less than 3 hours until I have to leave for church, then head up to NYC to fly out tonight.