"When times are hardest, your friends need you the most"

Dispatches from Palestine

This morning I crossed the border from Jordan to Israel via the King Hussein Bridge, making my way to the West Bank where I am attending the Christ at the Checkpoint conference. Because of the sensitivity of security, I haven’t shared about these plans and did a media sweep (sorry to those of you worried by my deactivating Facebook!). But the crossing went smoothly with the usual hurdles and long waits (I arrived at 7:30 am and got to Jerusalem by 12:30 pm - a two hours drive, 104 km).

Already I’ve met other Americans with long ties to the Middle East who are coming to the conference. I recently learned 150 people from overseas will be in attendance, 70 from the local area. It’s remarkable to see, and a testament to the deep bond of so many of us to this region. So far we’ve heard four people have been turned away. A woman I met at the airport in Amman said it well: “when times are hardest, that's when your friends need you the most.”

I first came to Israel and Palestine in 2000 to study and returned the next summer, right in the middle of the second Intafada. In 2022, my family spent a month of my sabbatical here in Bethlehem, at the same university hosting the conference. This is my first time back. Everything is both familiar and strange from two years ago.

Before coming to Bethlehem I spent a couple hours in Jerusalem. It was eerily quiet. So many shops closed, the streets bare. The same is true in Bethlehem. No one was crossing the checkpoint. I’ve never seen that before. It also feels so safe and that feeling is especially strange knowing the horrors 58 miles south of us.

I’ll be writing about the conference here and what I’m learning from Palestinians during the week. I hope you’ll join me!