December 2, 2002

Curfew in Beit Jala

[Bethlehem, West Bank] Curfew was lifted for a few hours, so I made a neighborhood relocation. There was a lot of activity around my house. Soldiers had entered the building again in the middle of the night, and detained a group of young men living here for an hour or so. They threw sound bombs around -- those things really give me a jolt -- and it's just generally "militarily noisy," so I needed a change of venue. JZ was hanging out by himself in a nice house in Beit Jala, so he invited me to come over join him. And it was great. I think it was the best curfew I've had.

Ordinarily, the part of Beit Jala facing the Israeli settlement of Gilo would not be my first choice for a respite from the local fighting. I remember when I first arrived here a year and a half ago, you could count on a lot of shooting between Beit Jala and Gilo. Many nights I watched red tracer bullets fly back and forth in this area. But now the situation has changed. There may still be occasional shooting from Gilo, but with curfew, most of the activity is concentrated in other areas. So I grabbed my computer, my guitar, a book, some eggs, and taxied my way there.

And actually we had a pretty good time considering it was curfew. To all of you under curfew, I'd advise spending a few days with JZ. It's a real learning experience. He taught me how to cook some new foods -- like sausage and vegetables over curried rice. He taught me how to do a few guitar tricks -- like improvisation and some simple bass work. He told me interesting stories of his round the world adventures -- like tales of spicy Latina women (excellent) in Chile, the Trans-Siberian railroad in Russia, and cold Buddhist temples in Japan. JZ even got us to make an Advent wreath and share a home Advent service.

And in return I showed JZ how to make a tuna-onion-pasta dish Yazeed made for me during one of the previous curfews this year. So JZ is putting together a "Curfew Cookbook." Keep watching this site for more details.

We sat on his roof and watched tanks crawl up and down Hebron road. We watched APCs run through Beit Jala. We yelled at friends and neighbors a quarter of a mile away. They waved back. And we watched the building of the infamous wall that separates the West Bank from Israel.

Curfew was lifted again for a couple of hours, so JZ headed to Tel Aviv to renew his visa, and I came back home. But I don't think this curfew will be quite as much fun. Already I hear the march of Israeli military machines returning.

This building facing Gilo has taken some shots.

Har Gilo in the background, the tunnel road to the left, and construction of the new fence in the middle.

JZ searching for a simple piece that even I could play.

Some of the curfew was spent working.

"Did you hear about the time I scored the winning goal?" Kids listen to JZ's story.

Neighborhood children playing.