Thursday, October 20, 2022
by Janae Novotny
We began our day with a new bus and a new driver. A discussion of itinerary changes was the first order of business. Zoughbi updated us on overnight developments. A Palestinian sought by the Israeli Defense Forces for killing an Israeli was apprehended and killed. This provoked a wave of violence throughout the West Bank last night and a call for a general strike today. After some discussion, Joan and Zoughbi concurred that our planned trip to Hebron this morning was too risky. So, in another exercise of the flexibility required for this trip, we headed off to Herodium, an Israeli National Park.
Just outside the visitor center we paused for a thought-provoking devotional led by Lynell Caudillo on the meaning of “home”. Jesus says in John 14:1-3 that home is in His presence.
Herodium is an impressive and beautiful archaeological site, an enormous complex of palaces built at the direction of Herod in the third decade BCE, after he was crowned King of Judea by Rome. Remaining for visitors to explore are ruins of the mountain palace-fortress repurposed late in Herod’s life as a monument to house his tomb (and presumably assure the immortality of his imprint on the land and history). We explored the ruins, enjoyed the amazing views from the mountain top, and walked down through the tunnel network to the tomb. Finally, we marveled at the excavated royal theater and admired the uncovered paintings of imaginary windows framing landscapes, buildings, and animals.
Our next morning stop was Solomon’s Pools (the Turkish Suluman’s Pools), three huge reservoirs built to store water for Jerusalem. The first pool was built in the Roman era; the next two were constructed by Suluman the Great. Jerusalem received water from these pools until 1967 when the aqueducts were destroyed. We were touched by an unplanned encounter with the head of the local Palestinian village council, who asked us to “tell Americans that we are oppressed and Americans don’t like injustice.” He continued, “We Palestinians love all people-Christians, Muslims, Jews. We want to live peacefully. We all believe in God; we are all sons and daughters of Adam. God created all of us to love each other.”
In 1991 Israel declared the area “state land” and the family began their legal fight to prove keep ownership of the farm. The decades-long legal fight continues to this day. Their legal case has been marked by too many court-imposed delays to count, often unannounced until, for example, they appeared in court with the 50 witnesses required by the court to establish the fact that the Nassars indeed own the land. For decades, the courts, both military and the Supreme Court, have imposed hurdles for the Nassars to clear, without a final recognition of the Nassar’s ownership of the land.
Meanwhile, the Nassars have faced other obstacles and dangers: they been physically threatened and assaulted by armed settlers; their vines and orchards repeatedly burned or bulldozed by settlers or the military, in addition to enduring severe beatings. Although these actions are illegal, no action is every taken against the perpetrators.
Throughout this ordeal, the Nassars purposefully refuse to be enemies or victims. They have creatively persevered. When Israel blocked the road to the farm, they used a longer, back road through the village below. When they are denied permits to build a house, they move to caves. When they were denied access to water, they dug cisterns to collect rainwater. When they were denied access to electricity, with the help of friends, they installed solar panels to generate their own electricity. Their creative responses to Israeli obstacles is inspiring.
Daoud explained to us that their Christian faith informs their non-violent, creative and constructive response to their situation. “We refuse to hate. All people were created in God’s image and not to hate.” They open the farm to visitors to learn about their story and go home and tell others. Volunteers from around the world come for short stays to help with farm work. The Nassars also invest their energy in projects helping the nearby Palestinian village of Nahalin. Learn more about their thought-provoking story at www.tentofnations.org.
The ride home was an adventure as we traveled past evidence of the day’s demonstrations and encountered a world-class traffic jam of vehicles trying to navigate surprise road blocks. Thanks to Johnny’s incredible driving skills and the help of a stranger who ran in front of the bus directing traffic, we successfully navigated the jam and arrived home safely.