On Saturday I went on a Field Study to Abu Ghosh, the only Arab village allowed to remain along the Jerusalem Corridor during the war of 1948. There we met with their Head of Education, Issa Jaber who told us some of the history of the town and offered some insight about how it was to live as a Muslim in a Jewish state.
We met him at our first stop of the day: the Church of Notre Dame de l’Arche d’Alliance. The church was built over the remains of a Byzantine church - ceramic tile work is still visible in many places. The current church was built in 1917 and commemorates the house of Abinadab in Kiriath-jearim where the Ark of the Covenant stayed for 20 years, until David brought it to Jerusalem. (See 1 Samuel 7 and 2 Samuel 6). The church even has a picture of David playing "the organ" before the ark.
The church is visible for miles around, along with the statue that sits atop it: Mary, holding Jesus, standing on the Ark, facing towards Jerusalem.
The Christian population in Abu Ghosh is basically non-existent. The church is kept up by a few nuns who live there and run a guest house, but no services are held in the church. It does see use, however, twice a year when the town has its semiannual Classical Music Festival.
Our second stop was also a church and monastery. This church, the Church of the Resurrection, dates back to the crusader period, for the most part. It was built on top of a fort of some sort constructed by the 10th Roman Legion. It commemorates the New Testament site of Emmaus. The tradition connecting this place to Emmaus is quite late, as far as traditions go, and therefore seems rather unlikely to have settled upon the correct location, theologically appealing though it may be. At any rate, the church has some lovely, newly restored, crusader-era frescoes and wonderful acoustics.
After this second church Issa took us to his house where his wife had spent all morning preparing an amazing lunch for us. Throughout our time with him he told us about various issues affecting him and his community. Education is a huge issue for him, as the head of education in Abu Ghosh. Biblical studies are required in the curriculum prescribed by the state, as well as Jewish history and literature. Islamic studies are not required, nor is space alloted for Islamic History and Literature, which is clearly something of an issue for the Islamic community. It would be like America being required to teach Chinese history and literature - instead of American history and literature.
We also learned about various other pars of life - marriage traditions and the importance of coffee. (Note: never serve coffee until nearly the end of the visit, make sure to use sugar, and if you are offered coffee, drink it!)
Over all, it was a refreshing visit. Abu Ghosh has a very unique history in Israel. It's a nice contrast to Jerusalem where religious tensions always run high, especially in this recent news. Issa reflects the general desire there for peace among the three major religions of the country as a chairman of ICCI.
After we left Issa and Abu Ghosh we stopped at Castel (pronounced kast-el...like it looks, but coming from the same word as castle). Castel was a site of great importance in April of 1948 as the Jews fought to gain access to Jerusalem. It also has great grass.
On top we took some time to discuss the events of April 1948, the taking and re-taking of Castel which allowed the road to Jerusalem to be held for 11 days. We then looked around at the view. For a geography geek like me it was a great view.
It was a good day. Quite informative. Lots to think about. And, of course, as on any good field study, there were flowers:
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