CPTnet
January 18, 2001
Beit Jala Update: December 23, 2000 - January 12, 2001

Saturday, December 23
Anne Montgomery and Bob Holmes had a meeting with the Mayor of
Beit Jala. They discussed CPT's project and the activities of the
Municipality.

Sunday, December 24
The Hebron and Beit Jala teams celebrated Christmas Eve in Bethlehem
with a dinner party in Beit Jala and worship at Christmas Lutheran
Church. In the afternoon a rainbow appeared over Beit Jala and Gilo
settlement. Most of the shelling of the Bethlehem district has come from
the army base in Gilo.

Monday, December 25
In the evening the team participated in a torchlight walk from Shepherd's
Field in Beit Sahour to Manger Square in Bethlehem. Although the turnout by
internationals and Israelis was lower than in previous years, several
thousand Palestinians, internationals and Israelis participated.

Thursday, December 28
In the morning, Montgomery and members of the Hebron team met with
staff of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center to discuss plans
for an alternative conference which will include two groups coming to
Hebron. From there they went to Beit Sahour where they participated in an
international march to an Israeli military camp, the "Crow's Nest,"
situated in the middle of a Palestinian residential area. The march was
well attended by Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals.

Wednesday, January 3
Montgomery and Jamey Bouwmeester joined a delegation from the Fellowship of
Reconciliation (FOR) for the day. In Beit Sahour they toured homes and
factories that had been bombed from the "Crow's Nest." Many of the homes
were
destroyed beyond repair and will have to be razed. In one home the
children had decorated their Christmas tree with machine gun bullets and
tank shells that had been shot into their bedrooms.

Monday, January 8
At about 5:30pm there was a momentary burst of Palestinian rifle fire from
near the team's house. The shots were aimed at Gilo settlement, more
than a kilometer away. There was no return fire from the Israelis

Tuesday, January 9
Bouwmeester and Montgomery joined the FOR delegation again. They
had planned to help rebuild and repaint Palestinian homes in Beit Sahour
that had been bombed. Unfortunately, as the group arrived at the house they
were going to repair, they saw smoke rising from a nearby home that had been
bombed
only a moment earlier. The group decided that it was unsafe to remain in
the area for the day.

Friday, January 12
Because there had been no shelling in Beit Jala for almost four weeks,
and because when there is shelling most of their neighbors leave for the
night, the team closed the Beit Jala project.

The CPTers working in Beit Jala will rejoin the team in Hebron, where
shelling continues.