22nd November
Bethlehem.
Following the last night at the house of which I previously wrote, in order to try to protect his family from further humiliation and fear, the father asked that some of our friends stay with his family, in the belief that in the presence of foreigners the Israeli army will behave more properly. Because I cross checkpoints so regularly, and am reliant on Israeli immigration officials to allow me into Palestine, I am unable to go for fear of being blacklisted. But some others friends that aren’t as hindered as I, have happily gone to sleep at the house for the last three nights, and a strange thing has happened.
Despite promising to come every night with increasingly unpleasant soldiers, the Israelis have not been back. There is no way of knowing why this is, but it is possible that it is either coincidence, or that the phone is tapped and the army knew they were there. Either way, it is a short-term reprieve but I am very concerned for what will happen when the family is left alone again.
