I met Marwan, whom you see strangling Ahmad, last Thursday, when he popped into our #18 bus going to Jerusalem just as it was pulling out of the station. I must have smelt, because the only open seat was next to me. He took it, and I found out he is a graduate of the Friends school and has two kids there now.
"There's a camping trip on Saturday, you should come," he said. It's a good thing I heard about it from him, because the email announcing the trip listed tent and sleeping bag and a torch and outdoor cooking supplies on the "to bring" list, none of which I have. But he assured me I'd be fine, if a little dewy, with blankets.
Well among the about 12 of us who went to Ei Kenya, we schlepped enough stuff to outfit an army, so I ended up with a tent of my own and a sleeping mat (I carried a wok in my free hand going up).
As Marwan, his wife Rania, and their magnificent daughter Leen drove me westward toward our site, we could see the Mediterranean. This is indeed a small country!
We could also see three settlements, areas that Israel has seized and declared part of Israel, where Israelis live, Palestinians are banned, and watch towers survey the surrounding Palestinian villages. Our hill was so delightful I am surprised it too hasn't been established as a settlement. "It's only a matter of time," said Eman, Ahmad's mother.
In the James Joyce stories that my 11th graders are looking at, we're watching for the theme of failures in communication between characters. Our young male narrators often harbor strong feelings of injustice suffered, but don't complain.
InWhen she had gone I began to walk up and down the room, clenching my fists. "
"Araby," a young boy about to miss out on an outing to the bazaar market fumes. "
In "The Sisters," a boy hearing another man slight his late teacher says "I crammed my mouth with stirabout for fear I might give utterance to my anger. Tiresome old red-nosed imbecile!"
In "An Encounter," another young narrator hears his friend described as naughty, and confides "I was going to reply indignantly that we were not National School boys to be whipped, as he called it; but I remained silent. "
Why do these boys hold their tongues? Is if for the same reason that the Israelis march into Palestinian territory and take the hilltops they want? Do both the boys and Palestinians know that those in charge won't honor their claim to justice?
It's difficult to say what degree of anger is productive. Proverbs 16:3 says "Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city." Being thoughtlessly reactionary is one thing; standing up for oneself is quite another. Without retaliating by assuming warrior mentality or pledging to "take a city", it feels there must be ways of pursuing justice peacefully. Jeanne, of Ramallah Friends Meeting, doesn't buy Israeli products, and has her own marvelously productive victory garden (complete with nicely symbolic olive tree).
In the face of what feels like injustice, knowing where patience should end, and defiance should begin, is a challenge my students will all face, if they haven't yet.
"There's a camping trip on Saturday, you should come," he said. It's a good thing I heard about it from him, because the email announcing the trip listed tent and sleeping bag and a torch and outdoor cooking supplies on the "to bring" list, none of which I have. But he assured me I'd be fine, if a little dewy, with blankets.
Well among the about 12 of us who went to Ei Kenya, we schlepped enough stuff to outfit an army, so I ended up with a tent of my own and a sleeping mat (I carried a wok in my free hand going up).
As Marwan, his wife Rania, and their magnificent daughter Leen drove me westward toward our site, we could see the Mediterranean. This is indeed a small country!
We could also see three settlements, areas that Israel has seized and declared part of Israel, where Israelis live, Palestinians are banned, and watch towers survey the surrounding Palestinian villages. Our hill was so delightful I am surprised it too hasn't been established as a settlement. "It's only a matter of time," said Eman, Ahmad's mother.
In the James Joyce stories that my 11th graders are looking at, we're watching for the theme of failures in communication between characters. Our young male narrators often harbor strong feelings of injustice suffered, but don't complain.InWhen she had gone I began to walk up and down the room, clenching my fists. "
"Araby," a young boy about to miss out on an outing to the bazaar market fumes. "
In "The Sisters," a boy hearing another man slight his late teacher says "I crammed my mouth with stirabout for fear I might give utterance to my anger. Tiresome old red-nosed imbecile!"
In "An Encounter," another young narrator hears his friend described as naughty, and confides "I was going to reply indignantly that we were not National School boys to be whipped, as he called it; but I remained silent. "
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| Leen, above, and the boys in me in some old storage cave |
Why do these boys hold their tongues? Is if for the same reason that the Israelis march into Palestinian territory and take the hilltops they want? Do both the boys and Palestinians know that those in charge won't honor their claim to justice?
It's difficult to say what degree of anger is productive. Proverbs 16:3 says "Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city." Being thoughtlessly reactionary is one thing; standing up for oneself is quite another. Without retaliating by assuming warrior mentality or pledging to "take a city", it feels there must be ways of pursuing justice peacefully. Jeanne, of Ramallah Friends Meeting, doesn't buy Israeli products, and has her own marvelously productive victory garden (complete with nicely symbolic olive tree).
In the face of what feels like injustice, knowing where patience should end, and defiance should begin, is a challenge my students will all face, if they haven't yet.
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