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The other night one of our neighbor’s houses in the Nazareth suk caught on fire, destroying everything inside. Fortunately, the stone buildings hold out pretty well in fire, but the narrow city streets do make it difficult for a fire truck to get close to the house. A makeshift fire hose was constructed using extensions of garden hoses until firefighters could arrive. No one was hurt, but the event shook up a lot of the neighbors, as they all know each other quite well.
George Bush has received all sorts of media coverage from his three day visit to Israel and the West Bank. There has been mixed responses from both sides, mostly skepticism from the Palestinians about Bush’s ability to bring about real change in the region based on his unhelpful influence during the first seven years in office. Conservative Israelis are mostly nervous about his comments to create a Palestinian state and halt settlement expansion.
However, some of the changes that Bush is asking for are historic, such as calling Israel’s presence on Palestinian land as an “occupation” and saying “The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.
No speech by Bush would be complete without at least one linguistic slip-up or bad joke, the most memorable occurring in his meeting with Palestinian President Abbas where he noted that his motorcade didn’t have any trouble passing through the checkpoint, while Palestinians suffer daily with this hardship (Watch the video below).
The following articles and video clips offer a variety of commentaries surrounding his visit. Only time will tell what realistically could happen, and it will be interesting to be here while it all plays out.
BBC: Bush uses strong language in Mid-East: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7182363.stm
New York Times: Many Palestinians Offer a Bleak Opinion of Bush: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11jericho.html?ref=middleeast
Video: Al Jazeera analyses Bush’s checkpoint gaffe - 10 Jan 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
Video: Gaza resident reflects on Bush’s visit - 10 Jan 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
Jerusalem Post: Palestine can’t be swiss cheese - http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1199964895518&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Bush prays in Bethlehem amid sea of barricades - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i725x-kcFW0tmiDrWiqq0VuOX1iw
CNN: eporter offers Bush a Gaza, West Bank misery tour: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/09/btsc.wedeman.bush/index.html
American Jews living in Israel protest Bush’s visit on the day prior to his arrival.
Photo by Steve Dintaman
The Eastern Mennonite University Middle East Cross Cultural study seminar leaves from Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning and will arrive in Egypt on Saturday. The group is led by Linford and Janet Stutzman and will spent the spring semester in Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank, Greece and Italy. Remember them as they begin this journey of learning.
For more details about the program, go to http://www.emu.edu/crosscultural/mideast08.html, where they will be posting photos and updates.
Check out EMU’s press release: http://www.emu.edu/news/index.php/1585
Check out the blog from the Drape family from Seattle, WA. They stayed with us at the Fauzi Azar for a few days in December and are now in Asia, visiting friends in Thailand and Cambodia.
http://drapesonthego.blogspot.com/
photos: touring with the Dintamans