Joys of Jerusalem at Christmas

December 24, 1999

Dear Family and Friends:

Greetings from where "it all began" for the three monotheistic faiths! Holy days for all converge appropriately during this millennium countdown as Hanukkah, Ramadan and Christmas overlap in a rare coincidence of history. And curiously even the heavens appear to be entering into the festivities with the brightest full moon in 133 years and stars are twinkling with greater brightness as if they are competing with the lunar display.

The political and religious intrigues and petty cruelties continue around us often in front of our eyes. Though there seems to be some authentic reasons for hope as Syria and Israel have set out on a conversation that could lead to some major adjustments in borders, return to the Golan of 50,000 refugees from the Damascus camps, and maybe even some relief to the awful de-stabilization in Lebanon and justice for the 350,000 Palestinian refugees languishing in and around Beirut, in'shallah. If the Israeli promise is real this time about a cessation of the illegal settlement building in the West Bank and Gaza, and the move by the Minister of Justice to end the 51 year "state of emergency" and resulting administrative detentions, maybe some serious progress could be made on the peace negotiations with the Palestinians and return of their occupied lands and Diaspora. The problem in the past has been that a mis-perception has been created by stopping building tenders for more housing units while the agreement violating expansion has gone on by thousands of new starts.

So in the spirit and hope of the Blessed Season here is our annual list of 10 Jerusalem Joys trusting that even this bit of positive reinforcement will play a small part in building critical mass for just and comprehensive peace, or at least jointly managed conflict, during the first years of the new century:

1. There are three Christmases in the Holy Land…Western on December 25-26, Eastern on January 6-7 (our Epiphany), and Armenian on January 19-20. And in 2000 the senior leaders from each are coming! This will be a hilarious logistical feat.
2. Shared Holy Days in December do make for softer hearts and more attentive spirits for (almost) all citizens of the Holy City. There does seem to be more effort this year to understand "the other" even to the extent that it appears Israeli officials have flung open 7 questionable "state of emergency" closure-induced Jerusalem checkpoints on "prayer days" so that the Christian and Muslim holy sites are more accessible by Palestinian faithful.
3. Oranges, clementines, tangerines, pomelos and strawberries have just come into season in time for Christmas dinner, with great bargains on fruit in Jericho! Takes some getting used to for a Minnesota boy.
4. Friends come in droves, especially at this time of year. It is always good to see this amazing city through the eyes of those seeing it for the first time. Of particular note for Getmans and other Minnesota readers: Philippe Piot, his wife Colette, and youngest son Antoine from Chambery, France, are with us for Christmas to explore Jerusalem and Jordan. Phil was the American Field Service exchange student in my hometown of Luverne in 1957-8. They ARE family after a wonderful 40+ year friendship and many summers of children exchanges!
5. The Words of the Incarnation are not only in the Scriptures but also in the faces and sights and sounds of the places where Jesus walked and taught. Karen has of course set up her favorite Christmas crèche manger scenes from Mexico, S. Africa, Peru, Israel and Palestine…but we go regularly to see the real Place and surroundings. Always a moving encounter at the deepest levels of being. Wonderful music is in abundance this year with string ensembles along with a chorus of young Palestinians and expatriates performing in the sacred spaces.
6. There is great wonder and encouragement in the friendships with courageous Israelis and Palestinians who counter their governments' destructive policies and misappropriation of resources with grassroots efforts to establish small-scale models of hope, peace and reconciliation. Especially those involved in the Rabbis for Human Rights, Open House, the Rapprochement Center, Israelis Against Home Demolitions, the Palestinian Land Defense Committee, Musalaha, Sabeel, the Hamoked Center for Civil Rights, and the many email web sites that create space for truth in dialogue. They remind us of some "greats" from other past conflicted places. It is too soon to give up hope!
7. We continue to find pleasure in the remarkably free Israeli press in which journalists dare to say things about injustice that we from the outside would be at risk to say. You wonder some days if very many read the poignant stories of inequity and state sponsored suffering. But my guess is the truth is filtering into the corporate subconscious, and even government bureaucracies, and will play an important part in change and a future with more civil society. Look for books and articles in particular by Amira Haas, Gideon Levy and Daoud Kuttab.
8. Our work and our colleagues are a source of considerable daily joy. We see previously marginalized communities deciding what their top priorities are in education, health and rehabilitation, etc. To see them set out to change their mental and physical state of being under oppression with small empowerment assists by World Vision's professionals in partnership keeps us going some days. Our Gaza manager, Yasser, a faithful Muslim, says often "I love being the hands and feet of Jesus to the poor". And we love watching and assisting him!
9. One of several joyous millennium surprises is that on December 4 for the first time in history all of the heads of the ancient (2 Greek, 2 Latin, 2 Coptic, Russian, Romanian, Maronite, Franciscan and Syrian) and modern (Lutheran and Anglican) churches gathered to pray and confess solidarity together in public. The occasion was the inauguration of Bethlehem 2000 in Manger Square. The joys of ecumenism were never so real as church leaders, lay people and curious Muslims (including Yasser Arafat) gathered from all over the world to witness this unusual sign of fealty to Christ and His Kingdom. The music and prayers were transporting. And,
10. The streets and structures are alive with the happy sound of renovation activity. For the first time in memory (since 1967!) even the severely under served Arab side of town is receiving a major face lift, with new streets and sidewalks, and every steeple, cupolo and dome it seems is being restored and regilded, with gold or silver. The anticipation probably of all the expected year 2000 tourists as well as changing "the facts on the ground" for the approaching final status Jerusalem negotiations have motivated city planners and church wardens alike. Physical structures of the Holy City at least are brilliant. Hopefully a sign of things to come in the interior geography of a shared city as well. New streets and domes of gold are an approximation of the heavenly Kingdom of streets of gold and mansions for all.

In closing, by way of reminder of a central theme of the Reflections through the year I want to share comments from two readers who responded to last months "Guest" offering.

Bill Turpie, a TV journalist from Boston who is a 30-year friend, commented: on the inexplicable and capricious act of destroying those Palestinian homes only three minutes away from the very desks from which the order to demolish was signed. I have just been putting a piece together on the holocaust and find strangely mirrored images of the way Nazis carried out their isolation of the Jews. It is upsetting but so typical of the human condition to treat others as they have been treated. A professor of sociology from the University of Cologne has done a study on the reactions of ordinary Germans to the government propaganda against Jews as less than neighbors. In fact, they would stop using personal names for people they knew and started just calling them Jews. All of which led to a dehumanizing and then to the ability to put these nameless, less than human entities into the ovens without feeling deep remorse.

It is troubling and hopefully those on the "third way" can find a way to draw appropriate attention to the humanizing importance of seeing ones neighbor as a person.

Fred Taylor, the director of FLOCK, For the Love of Children, and a more recent good friend from our church in DC, St. Marks, underscored the theme by saying:

…to entertain the idea that there could be a future without the current nation state structure is very radical, but like you and Steiner, I think it is necessary to explore. Professor Max Stackhouse from Princeton Seminary says "the Gospel stands in freedom, which means that there is always a third possibility beyond the either or dichotomy in which we are conditioned to think". In other words, there is always another possibility besides "you cannot get there from here".

Here's a holiday toast to joyful living in the knowledge that our heavenly Father has proven that He is always about the Third Way and there is always the possibility of getting There! Especially during this season of three Christmas celebrations!

Merry Christmas with prayers for more joy and peace in the year 2000,

Tom Getman
World Vision Palestine
Box 51399
East Jerusalem, Via Israel
972-2-628-1793, Fax 626-626-4260
Thomas_Getman@wvi.org or tomg@wvpal.org

PS: A Christmas eve media alert: Karen and I had the privilege last night of being in the studio audience in Bethlehem for the taping of BBC's long running "Any Questions" Christmas Eve radio show to be broadcast tonight at 8 o'clock GMT on 92-95FM and 198AM…for those of you in the British Isles or who have BBC on your internet radio connection. Four distinguished panelists included the Anglican Bishop, a Jewish Rabbi, a British politician and a Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. It is one of the most revealing interchanges about the situation here you will ever hear.

Finally, a fitting word from the Prophet Isaiah about hope for the new Millennium in Jerusalem:

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her, Rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her…for this is What the Lord says, "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the Wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be Carried on her hip and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts Her child, so will I comfort you and you will be comforted over Jerusalem". When you see this, your heart will rejoice… 66:10-14