City of…

This past week has been an important one both for Muslim and Jewish communities around the world.

Muslim communities celebrated Lailat al-Qadr (“The Night of Power”) on September 15, the holiest day in the Muslim calendar; and today celebrated the Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Jewish communities around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Eid mubarak and shana tova to all those celebrating. Prayers of peace and blessings to all.

There have been a lot of moments this past year of my life when I’ve moments of sudden realization about what I was doing a year ago. This week has had a lot of those.

Last year, on the day of Lailat al-Qadr, I went to Qalandia checkpoint (in the West Bank between Ramallah and Jerusalem) with my friend Peter and members of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program. The reason we were there was to monitor a situation that happens every year around this time. Thousands and thousands of Palestinians attempt to come into Jerusalem and pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque on this holy night. Many of them are denied entry and turned away. Last year, we watched families get separated, as men were told to stand in one line and women in another, unable to wait for members of their family if they got through, not knowing whether or not the rest of their family had been denied or let in.

You can read my post from that day last year here.

I’m just going to share some pictures, which I think mainly speak for themselves–sort of a “what I was doing last year” culture shock album, if you will. You can see the rest of my pictures by clicking here, and see Peter’s pictures by clicking here.

Mounted police charge into a crowd of women at the checkpoint

The women's line with armored personnel carriers in the foreground

The men's line

Kurt Vonnegut's subtitle for "Slaughterhouse Five" was "The Children's Crusade"

Photo by Peter Miller

Photo by Peter Miller

Photo by Peter Miller

Photo by Peter Miller

Photo by Peter Miller

Photo by Peter Miller

Photo by Peter Miller, coming back through Qalandia checkpoint