A Jew & a Quaker Work for Justice
Jean Zaru is a Palestinian Quaker who speaks and writes about current life in occupied Palestine. What is a Quaker response? I listened closely as Jean spoke at the RamAllah Friends Meeting last Sunday. "I'm not saying that the oppressed are blameless, but it's hard...
Talking with Jewish Settlers
On a cloudy day Jonathan and I took a bumpy bus-ride to Gush Etzion where Palestinian Ali Abu Awad started talking to Jewish settlers. We heard the following story from 3 settlers. The three work for the program Roots. They organize after school programs for both Arab...
Peacework in Hebron Palestine
Hebron is a tinderbox. There are confrontations daily. Before the sun rises the melodic cry of the muezzin drifts across the dark city. People cook their tea and have pita, yogurt, and diab (mix of tahini and grape syrup) for breakfast. Hebron, maybe 1/2 million...
From Europe’s End to Asia’s Beginning
I've completed El Camino, and now I immerse myself in the thick problems of conquest and domination. My friend in Seville wants to go on a trip in to Cuba before it is wide open to US traffic. Cruise ships will be going there next May. How strange is that? Let's rush...
Light on El Camino
"Walking I'm listening to a deeper way... All my ancestors are behind me, "be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands which come before you." Linda Hogan Why am I doing the Camino? I have a meaningful job, a loving family, and...
El Camino after 35 Days
We are climbing the Cordillera de Cantabrica expecting soon to be in Sarria. Our high point today was 4360 feet. We woke up at 6:30 to a drizzle and left at 7:30 with a steady rain. The Holm oak and the chestnut trees swallowed the stoney path. It was hard walking....
Don’t Give Up Before the Miracle!
Yellow arrows are the most common waymarks on the Camino. In addition to arrows there are yellow scallop shells on a blue background posted on road signs and on two foot tall cement posts. In larger towns and cities the municipality usually embeds metal scallop...
Leaving Castille
EE Camino de Santiago is so beautiful. Parts of the trail are over 2,000 years old, built by the Romans in their quest for Spanish gold. We sail past fields of vineyards, our backpacks bobbing up and down—each foot placed carefully on uneven paths. Wheat, barley, and...
Day 15 Sobre Milagros
I had no idea that it would be this hard—not excruciating—but I'm aware of footcare and muscles each kilometer. It makes me wonder at the miracle of survival and of the many angels on the road. Paulina, a stranger invited me to dance. I managed one dance and late that...
Breaking Through or Breaking Down
Coming down the steep hill on our second day into the town of Zubiri, I blew out my left knee. On our fourth day, leaving Pamplona, we climbed El Alto del Perdón (the height of forgiveness), with the beautiful iron statues of perigrinos (pilgrims) past. Climbing down...