Land

Today I went to a beautiful area about 20 minutes south of Bethlehem. Although beautiful, it is an area of conflict. An extended family owns a large piece of land that is surrounded by settlements. The Israelis want the land, and the family has been in and out of court for years in an effort to keep their land. They are not allowed to build structures on it, so they have dug caves out of the hillsides. If the land is not in use, it is evidently easier to confiscate, but when permits for construction are denied, how can it be used? I went with a group of Palestinian young adults to support the family. We met the owner of the land and planted grape vines. It was more of a symobolic gesture of standing in support of the family than in helping further the agricultural use of the land, and it was a wonderful experience for me to meet others and see how this conflict over land affects real people. I hope and pray that this Holy Land will one day be a peaceful land as well.