Home hospitality in Haifa

I'm relaxing in the home of our friend Fakhira's parents, Elias and Labebe Halloun. They are Christians in the predominantly Druze town of Isifiya (or Usfiya), a suburb of Israel's third largest city, Haifa.

Some of the Hallouns around the dinner table

7 of their 9 grandchildren

The day began like a spy novel with a swift and silent pre-dawn collective taxi ride from Jerusalem (arranged by Fakhira) to a crossroads in Megido where by telephone coordination between the two drivers I was transferred to Elias's waiting car. We drove through the Druze town of Daliyat Al-Carmel with its old buildings and five-colored flags. After stopping to see the homes of two Halloun daughters, we caught up with Labebe and I walked  part way with her through the pine forest up a high hill with a commanding view to the 1883 sanctuary and monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Order (a bit of a misnomer,I believe, because the priests were not barefoot but sandaled). 

Carmelite Church

After the mass in the small chapel, the Polish priests told me the reason part of the service was in English was that they had not yet learned the whole ritual in Arabic. We sat down in the courtyard to enjoy tea, coffee, and many kinds of pastries. Before long the site was visited by seven large busloads of Nigerian pilgrims. 

Elias told me that in the Haifa area there are 240,000 Jews, 30,000 Arab Christians, and 10,000 Arab Muslims, and they live in relative harmony in districts that are separated  by custom rather than by law.

Balut

Up near the church I saw a tree with bizarre hairy acorns like nothing I had ever seen. Elias said they are called balut, and they are used for animal food. 

Elias speaks Arabic with his wife, but Hebrew most of the time. He had a good job with the Haifa water company and retired with a pension. Interestingly he is completely loyal to Israel and does not feel any discrimination as a second-class citizen, although human rights groups told our Interfaith Peace-Builders delegation that there are many subtle and not-so-subtle differences in treatment given to Jews and non-Jews in the State of Israel.

In the afternoon we sunbathed and swam along with thousands of others on  Haifa's miles and miles of lovely soft sandy beach on the Mediterranean.

And after dark we had a breathtaking view of Haifa's lights and the Baha'i Shrine from Mt Carmel.