We have had several days of torrential rain - wonderful for the farmers and the land, as everything was getting very dry. However, this makes moving about more difficult. Last night there was four inches of rain flowing down my usual path through the camp. All the houses are close together and the water from the roofs drains straight into the street, so I had to navigate waterfalls from above and water gushing out of pipes in the wall.
This morning I went on a visit to the Checkpoint. The International Observers (EAPPI) have recorded 5777 people going through the checkpoint between 4am and 7am in the morning. Some people coming from the south have around 1.5 hours travelling to get to the Checkpoint. Wages in Israel are around 3 times those in Bethlehem, hence the reason why people put up with what seems to be intolerable treatment.
I overheard one person say this morning, "Before I came to this conference, I did not know what a Christian zionist was. I have discovered that I have two in my family!" For me also, this is a new experience and I have to think about the relevance for my role in advocacy. I hope to write about this next week when the conference has finished.
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