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BY CAROL THORNTON

Our son, Ben warned me, 'Mom you should not go on vacation to a war zone.'

I quickly explained that we were not going on vacation. Andy and I had signed up to participate in an educational tour to learn about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The Earlham College Peace and Global Studies Department was sponsoring the trip with Tony Bing, a former professor of mine, as the leader.

The Quaker influence in this region reaches back to 1869 with the creation of the Friends School in Ramallah and continues to this day. The opportunity to understand some of the issues that have kept this part of the world in turmoil for literally thousands of years was not to be missed.

We left with 'open hearts and open minds' but very little background knowledge about the Holy Lands beyond Biblical studies. In the spring I read 'Blood Brothers' by Elias Chacour, which describes the forced displacement of his boyhood village of Biram by Israeli soldiers in 1948 to create a homeland for the Jewish people.

Throughout many harsh experiences, Elias? father insisted that the Jewish and the Arab people are 'blood brothers' with a deep connection and a love of the same land. This book led me to seriously consider the people who lived in Palestine when Israel became a nation. The world celebrated the creation of Israel, but what became of the Palestinians?

The realities of daily life for the Palestinians in the West Bank under Israeli occupation became apparent on our first day in Jerusalem. We were stopped at numerous armed, military checkpoints in our travels and quickly learned that freedom of movement is severely restricted here. In fact, the United Nations has documented more than 700 checkpoints and other military obstacles across the West Bank.

The Separation Barrier, much of it concrete walls 26-feet high, is under construction. These walls isolate and encircle Palestinian areas, often separating families, farmers from their fields and even students from their schools. Also, a separate modern road system is in place for Israeli travel slicing the West Bank into even more pieces with the inadequate Palestinian roads often blocked by mounds of

rubble making the routes impassable. It was heartbreaking to observe these realities and to learn that this oppressive infrastructure is built with the U.S. dollar.

The Separation Barrier completely encloses Bethlehem and two neigh-

boring suburbs. Shops along the main street are boarded up because the street dead-ends into the Barrier Wall. We were the only tourists in a large, well-stocked souvenir shop.

Our travels included presentations from religious leaders, peace activists and community workers. We heard perspectives from Christians, Jews and Muslims. When visiting Bethlehem, Andy and I stayed with a Palestinian Christian family. Our host family greeted us warmly with a delicious meal.

After dinner, their niece drove us through the narrow streets of Bethlehem, stopping for ice cream and a brisk walk through town. She explained that there are three evening activities: driving within the limits of the wall, walking and going to restaurants, which most people cannot afford. We did it all in one night!

In Bethlehem we also toured the Deheishe Refugee Camp established in 1948. (That year, 800,000 Palestinians were displaced from 523 villages.) It is incomprehensible that people are still surviving in refugee camp conditions after almost 60 years.

Our experiences left me with many images. None of them remind me of the peaceful little town we sing about at Christmas time.

Other images include our visit to Al-Tuwani, a small Palestinian village of subsistence farmers in an isolated desert area near Hebron. Jewish settlers have established an outpost community over the hill and have been a constant source of harassment. Christian Peacemaker Teams sent volunteers to provide a supportive presence.

However, last year the settlers contaminated the only well with dead chickens and spread rat poison in the sheep fields. The pastoral setting with young girls drawing water from the well, elderly women weaving colorful patterns, and wide-eyed, curious boys scurrying about underfoot was a picture of a peaceful but primitive life. I felt transported back to biblical times. How could violence find its way here?

Our stay in Kharbatha with a Muslim family brought new realities of daily life for many Palestinians to our attention. In this isolated village the Israeli government only allocates 12 hours of water a week.

Also the Israeli destruction of homes built by Palestinians was evident on our short walk through the village. Although we did not speak the same language or share the same faith we met a friendly group of people who have a deep love for God, their families, their olive trees, their homes and their land.

Ben was right. We entered a war zone, but for Andy and me it was the right thing to do. We left on this trip 'with open hearts and open minds,' but returned forever changed. Now our eyes have been opened as well.

Carol Thornton and her husband, Andy Thornton, the director of West River Camping Center, made this trip to Israel and Palestine in August.