Peter Quilty, a priest of the Townsville Diocese has just finished a three month stay at Tantur in Jerusalem, and has been entertaining and enlightening us with his weekly emails. We hope you enjoy them too - and consider all that he has to say about the country and its trials and tribulations.

Monday, 21 February 2005 9:12 PM

Subject: Tantur warming........ I think!

Dear Friends all over,

Just getting in a little earlier than usual as we do not have evening prayer before dinner today (Sat) and we have five Brits coming to see what Tantur is like as well, so we will have to "sell" the place to them and show them a few of the things that we have learned in the last month or so.

Weather has finally warmed up a little. No longer below freezing but got to C12 degrees the other day and was quite warm on one of our outing days.

Now for the week in review!!

Monday we had a perfect day, unusually crisp and clear, and we were off to the south

west - out near the Mediterranean coast to places called Bet Guvrin Caves and Bet Maresha, about 40kms SW of Jerusalem; to Mitze Masuah or the British Park), about 30kms WSW; then to Tel Bet Shemesh, about 20kms due W of Jerusalem, and then near Jerusalem at Sataf Guvrin and Maresha and Shemesh. These are all Old Testament sites where the various tribes fought and lived and built new 'cities' over older ruins, so what we saw were sites that went back several thousand years. We also saw in some of the caves dug recently (relatively speaking - about Byzantine and Crusader times!), some remarkable ways of excavating the chalk under the top layer of rock. A large hole, of about 1-2mtr diameter, was made in the rock, which is itself only about 1mtr deep. The chalk was then gouged out from underneath in a circular fashion, while still continuing to go deeper and deeper and wider and wider until they ended up with a cave about 25mtrs deep and 30-40mtrs wide with a series of pillars left to support the cave. The chalk was used for the plaster with which most walls were and are lined.

Then we went on to Tel Bet Shemesh, where there has been very little excavation carried out for some reason or other - it looks as if it would be a very worthwhile site, covering about 5 hectares - but maybe the locals, (who appear to be all 'settlers' - Israelis who have simply taken over Palestinian lands with Government backing), do not want too many pilgrims, tourists and students coming into 'their' area and seeing the devastation that they have wrought on the previous Arab/Palestinian populace. The actual area of the Tel is at the head of the valley in which the Ark of the Covenant was brought and kept for quite a long time, before being brought up to Jerusalem.The valley there is one of those classic places for battle - the head of a valley and the enemy forces approaching from the coastal plain up into mouth of the defenders! Again, it is another of those places that make the scriptures come alive.

The British Park or Mitze Matuah, is a saddle on a ridge line that runs from the Jerusalem ridge down to the coast through whole series of ravines and twists and turns. It means that up on at the top one gets a really good view to the coast and back to the hills of Jordan in the East, over the range on which Jerusalem and Bethlehem stand. Looking to the Mediterranean it is possible to see north almost to Haifa and south to the Gaza strip. Even as we watched we saw the Israeli jets flying down to Gaza always looking for their 'enemies' so they can blast them off the face of the earth!! In this park we went for quite a long walk through the 'bush' where there are lots of wild flowers and low scrub - very few tall native trees in this area.

As we came back towards Jerusalem from the west our driver, Samir, took us through winding road similar to the road through Kuringai Chase, in Sydney, and suddenly we were at the top looking over Jerusalem from the western slopes and valleys (over 400mtrs deep). From here we then walked round and round the terraces and slopes on the side of the valley wall right down to the bottom of the valley. We saw lots of classic irrigation on the terraces, perennial springs that have run for thousands of years - and I saw lots of steep drops!!!!! - that kept me very close to the inside of the path/steps!

When we got home, Michael McGarry, our Rector, was chasing soldiers off the property as there were a number of them that had come on illegally as usual - very stressful for him, but the soldiers get the message!

Boy! that's a lot for Monday!! Tuesday should be shorter.....

We had a new lecturer for Tuesday, Ed Breuer, an Orthodox Jewish academic, and

he was talking to us on the early chapters of Genesis and the Jewish interpretation of these. Again, another learning curve and I'm thinking I may have to learn a little Hebrew! It makes one realize just how difficult it is for Scripture scholars to try to teach us 'dummies' some of the more complex matters in the scriptures and give us a explanation that we are able to follow and understand!

In the evening Michael took three of us to a Public Lecture at the David Hartmann Institute - which offers courses in inter-religious and inter-faith dialogues - and the lectures were given by a Jew, a Muslim and a Christian. The basic message of the talks was on Political Morality as influenced by the Religious Faith of the three great Monotheistic Religions, particularly in light of the current "troubles" in Israel . It was a very good evening and brought up some excellent Q's and A's - and none of the lecturers hesitated in facing awkward questions that were raised by some ultra-rightists that were present (the Jewish professor gave very direct answers - a bit like a straight right to the jaw!!). He, by the way, does not lecture in Jerusalem , but in Tel Aviv, so he's probably considered 'beyond the pale' at any rate and perhaps wouldn't get a post in Jerusalem .

Wednesday and again a new lecturer, Petra Heltd. She is a lovely lady, is a Lutheran Pastor, Professor of Patristics and Orthodox Theology, and her studies were on Orthodoxy - again fascinating and rewarding and helping us to realize the anxiety that the Orthodox feel every time they come into close contact with us westerners, especially us Latin Catholics. We have over the centuries, given the Orthodox a dreadful time and no wonder they distrust us - this, of course, is one of the other complicating factors of the whole Mid East situation. Getting Jews to the conference table is one thing, but to get all

the Christian factions to it is a bloody miracle!!!

Some of our team saw this in action the other day at the Holy Sepulchre, where they experienced the 'battle of the thuribles' and the 'smoking out of the other' as each side tried to outdo the other with incense and smoke in their adjoining sanctuaries, besides singing in ever louder cadences against the other!!!!! I'll try to get a photo of this some time!

Wed. afternoon walked into Jerusalem , through some new areas, not lost! But did find bookshops and the credit card took a heavy hit again!! West Jerusalem is very different from some of the other parts; it's just like our cities, except the shops don't have awnings. Even a McDonalds - all kosher...of course.

Thursday we had another trip, this time to the Mount of Olives and the various shrines that are on the mount and down the hill into the Garden of Gethsemane .

There is a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church of St Mary Magdalene half way down and it was open so we had the chance to see it as well. Sadly, up at the top of the Mount is Bephthage - of Jesus getting onto the colt of the donkey - and now, through this suburb the Israeli Govt is constructing a further part of the Separation Wall, despite all the resolutions of the UN, the International Court of Justice and many countries who have protested. The Vatican is working on this too, as they are able to argue that it is against the freedom of worship that is guaranteed for all the holy sites, as the wall effectively cuts off some of the sites.

Down the bottom is the Church of all Nations, a peaceful, beautiful spot cared for by the Franciscans and in the area of the Garden of Gethsemane . All the very old olive trees there are now protected by a high fence so people don't strip the trees!

Spent the rest of the afternoon in the Old City , looking for artists- and books!!

Then went to lecture on "Christianity and War" given by James Carroll SJ, who is a well known US professor, writer, peace activist and supporter of the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. It was very good - obviously because he agreed with me!!!!! So difficult to try to remain neutral and objective.

Ed Breuer was back with us on Friday for more study of Genesis and Abraham and others. Again more enlightening material and shows the value of any Hebrew study in an appreciation of the nuances of textual variants - but I think I'm too old to start on Hebrew, maybe just stick to my Hebrew phrase book! One wonders how anybody could dare to give just ONE interpretation ! We also found how lacking in accuracy was the NIV version of the Bible, which is so readily available at home. DO NOT use it, even if they are giving them away!!

Saturday we had Mustafa Abu Sway for more on the subject of Islam. He is a wonderful man and so committed to this land and its people - all of them - and he has a deep respect for all other beliefs. It was a marvellous experience on Saturday to be able to have him share really deeply with us the sorrows and fears that he has for his children, his wife, his family (extended) here in this land where his family go back hundreds of years. And he feels for all people of good will, and he knows many Jewish families who also share his concern. He related much of this to the Islamic Faith and it gave us all a much deeper understanding of the true Islam. It is through him that we learned, for example, that Al Jezeera, the radio and TV broadcaster, is one of the major players in the communication world here in the Mid East and is not some little tin-pot extremist, radical rabble-rouser that I had gained the idea of through our reports back home.

Saturday afternoon, after siesta time, went shopping down the Hevron Road, just through our back gate and past the Wall about 200 metres to a good little supermarket and pharmacy that are being slowly forced out of existence by the Wall that is now being fixed right across Hevron Road. The Wall is supposedly to protect the Jews who visit Rachel's Tomb, and who are now the only ones allowed to visit this holy site. This just inflames the situation even more as the Tomb is holy for Muslims and Christians as well, and so now, on a Friday evening and Saturday (Shabbat) the loudspeakers in the houses and cars are turned up full force whenever they know that there are Jews at the tomb. We hear all this very clearly at Tantur as we are up the road and above the area where this is all happening - and in the meantime the Israeli Govt continues to proclaim that Bethlehem is the "most dangerous place in the whole of Israel "??????????????? I wonder whose fault!! None of us has experienced anything but great hospitality from any of the people we have encountered there. At any rate, shopping was good and we told them that we will always come to them as long as we are here.

Today it has been trying to rain without much success, but that was OK for us as two of us went to the St Joseph 's Syrian Catholic church for Mass this morning. It was all in Aramaic, Jesus' own language. We had a great time; coffee after Mass and a good yarn to the people who were there, some spoke English, and to Fr Elias who had to go off to Amman , in Jordan , for his next Mass and then Jerusalem this afternoon for his last one - he has a Vatican passport and this helps!!!! He has invited us to concelebrate when we are there next, but more importantly is willing to have a good talk with us as well. That will be very interesting.

This afternoon we went into the Old City to the Sisters of Sion at Ecce Homo, a college like Tantur and also a holy site, of Jesus before Pilate and the trial. We had Lenten Evening Prayer there after a good tour of the whole place. There are three Aussie Sisters there and we have to go back to see them some time.

All our Anglican friends, from UK , who are here for a 'look-see' seek came along too and we are looking after them well.

Now before bed, I'll give you all a few websites for details about the Israeli/Palestinian situation. If you can pass these on to other friends then that is all the better. Several of these are in "Speaking The Truth About Zionism" edited by Michael Prior, published by Melisende ( London ), a book of articles by various people involved in the dialogue process over here and very good.

Websites:

www.between.lines.org ;

www.Btselem.org ;

www.electronicintifada.net ;

www.lawsociety.org ;

Not In My Name, is www.NIMN.org ;

and Salem on www.salem.org

www.arij.org and this one tells of the actual work that is taking place at the moment separating the peoples of this land.

There is an organization over here called "Iraeli Christian Embassy, Jerusalem ", which is a right wing fundamentalist Christian Zionist organization with strong support in the Bible Belt of the US , and big money from there too, and it is 'bad news' for the Palestinians. It has a website at: www.icej.org.il/about.html and they also have a following among some of the fundamentalists in Australia .

I think it's time I got this sent. So, God bless you all, keep well.

Regards,

Pete.

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