The posts from 20-28 March 2014 were originally posts formatted for Tumblr. Click here to see the original blog.
A fantastic afternoon today with 15 year old pupils and their English teacher from St George’s School, one of many institutions run by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. The students at the school are approximately 10% Christian and 90% Muslim. They told us that they see themselves primarily as Palestinians together, not divided by religion. Many make best friends with others of a different faith. We talked much about marriage and future educational and employment prospects. For a Muslim girl to marry a Christian boy would be difficult. The students tend not to proselytise one another, but sometimes young adults change faith for the sake of marriage if they have to.
Most Palestinians cannot hold an Israeli passport. For foreign travel they sometimes obtain one from Jordan. But without Israeli citizenship they cannot serve in the Israeli Army and this hinders their futures. They are also limited in their education beyond the school and told they will be barred from restricted professions such as being a pilot or working as a nuclear scientist.
For these young men English was their second language, yet they spoke with eloquence, passion, hope and intelligence about their faith, their nation and their futures.
