Jerusalem 2009

September 2009. An important date that I’d been looking forward to since I could remember... Not that I had had that specific month and year planned or anything. This just happened to be the month and year in which I finally took my first trip ever to Jerusalem. And it almost started to look like a dream that would never materialize… plans and talks made each year to go visit ‘this time’ and never actually going through with it for a variety of reasons. But at last it came.
Two weeks filled with experiences I sometimes anticipated and others not at all. Writing it all down would fill a 500 page book all on its own. Or maybe twice that amount?
But it seems it all boils down to a few particular things for me.

Politics.
Israel.
Israelis.
Jews.

Israeli Palestinians.
Palestinians.
Muslims.
Jesus.
Christians.
Christian Palestinians. Mixed Palestinians… Non-Palestinians or Jews gravitating towards the Holy Land. Story of part of my ancestors…

For me, this experience underlined the importance of a Christian presence in that land but also the heartbreaking feeling and realization that this community is smaller than I could have imagined.

I would like this space to bring forth exposure to Christian Palestinian narratives, or just to Christian narratives of all kinds set in that land. I’m also very interested in any kind of folk tales that may have been passed on orally within Christian communities. I’ve done enough research by now to know that most, if not all, communities throughout the world seem to have a corpus of oral stories and so I presume there may be such stories of Christian Palestinian origin. Despite my unfruitful attempts thus far (besides a few stories that may have been told in my own family), I believe it’s worth further looking into. Who knows what else this could lead to? Eventually I'd also like to write this blog in French, but as I like to say, let's do one thing at a time (even though being a woman, I have mastered the art of multi-tasking! :) ).

I hope you will join me and contribute in this experience. Blessings +