A house divided

Nabeel Al-Kurd

Nabeel Al-Kurd has unwelcome neighbors living in the front half of his house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem. Here is his story. His family was one of 28 refugee families that received homes from Jordan and a UN agency in 1956. They were promised titles to the land in three years, but never got them. Then Israel occupied Jerusalem in 1967. They built an addition in front in 2000 (without a permit, because they couldn't get one) to add a living room, kitchen, and bathrooms. Nabeel says, "Before I could even sleep in it, a Judge came to the house--for the first time in Israel--to take the key."

Nabeel offered to destroy the illegal addition, but authorities would not let him. They wanted it for Israeli settlers. After he finished paying a fine of more than $20,000, they let a Rabbi from Brooklyn, NY move in the front of his home at the end of 2009. Nabeel says the court recognized errors in the case but refused to correct them. Now the settlers are trying to make him pay rent for the three rooms in which the 12 members of his family live, but that case is stalled in court.

Front addition of house occupied by Israeli settlers

Tent erected in protest beside the addition

Nabeel says the Rabbi shares his part of the house with five or six young people, who are not good neighbors. He said sometimes they throw water, trash, or urine toward his part of the house, so they have had to put up blankets for protection.

Blankets put up for protection from the settlers

Palestine map obliterated by settler grafitti

According to Nabeel, 13 families have been evicted from Sheikh Jarrah, and nine others, including his own, have eviction orders pending. He says, "They may have the power to evict me, but the court has accepted our map of the property so maybe we will be able to stay." The family's story, from the perspective of his teenage son Mohamed, is told in a film called "In My Neighborhood," produced by Just Vision.

Rev. Naim Ateek

The visit to Nabeel's house confirmed what we heard earlier today: "We live in a broken and unjust world," said Anglican priest Naim Ateek at the Maundy Thursday service at the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.  In the service we prayed for an easing of movement restrictions on Palestinians, and freedom for hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoners. In his homily, Rev. Ateek said "The community of faith must continue to subvert the hierarchical structure and live in the horizontal structure modeled by Jesus when he washed the disciples' feet."

Foot washing at St.George's

I had a foot washed this evening by the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, in St. George's Church. After the service, we had a half-hour procession to the Garden of Gethsemane, where we meditated, reflected, and sang "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord," with a full moon over the olive trees, much like Jesus mght have seen. I prayed for Nabeel's family.

Procession forming in front of church

Full moon over Gethsemane