The new EA team is now in Yatta.  We had a handover ceremony on Wednesday. The outgoing teams said this: We pass onto you the calling to walk in the Light with the people of (name of placement e.g. South Hebron Hills). May you walk with kindness, hope, patience and love so that you are blessed and are a blessing to all. Nkosi, an EA from South Africa, and Leif sang and after some other singing and readings, the Bishop from the Redeemer Lutheran Church spoke about Christians in the Holy Land.

After the lunch, I went to Ramallah as I had not visited the city previously.

On Thursday, we had debriefing. However I went to Al Tuwani and hiked for awhile in the hills and once again caught sight of the desert and some of the villages from a hilltop. It was my own way of letting go of the work here, a pilgrimage of sorts.

Today I joined the Women in Black to protest the occupation

What will I take back from this experience? I have become close to my teammates as we shared the personal impact of what we saw – the events that brought anger and grief. And our enjoyment walking together, visiting villages and, of course, sharing in the hospitality of the locals.

There is much work ahead. Advocating for an end to occupation, for a just resolution based on international law, is now our task as EAs. Over the next week, I put together a presentation about what I witnessed. I knew about the occupation coming here but not the full depth of it and its effects on the occupied and the occupiers.

Inshallah