I used to be strolling down a slope and pondering to myself: How
do the narrators disagree over what gentle mentioned a couple of stone?
Is it from a dimly lit stone that wars flare up?
Darwish, Mahmoud. “In Jerusalem.” Translated by Fady Joudah, The Butterfly’s Burden, Copper Canyon Press, 2008.
Ma’a salama is a manner of claiming goodbye in Arabic. It actually means “with peace.” As my time in Jordan attracts to an in depth, I wish to finish with peace.
It’s no secret that the Levant area has seen numerous battle. I’m scripting this on the Could fifteenth, which is the seventy fifth anniversary of the Nakba, or disaster: the day when the state of Israel declared independence and a whole bunch of hundreds of Palestinians had been violently expelled from their homeland. Seventy-five years later, the battle is ongoing, and no finish to the violence is in sight.
Residing in Jordan, the Palestinian subject is unimaginable to keep away from. A majority of Jordan’s inhabitants is of Palestinian descent, and the West Financial institution is only a few hours away. I regarded over the border into Palestine and Israel a number of instances this semester. What made this particularly unsettling was that the border usually coincided with websites of non secular significance: on the Jordan River, the place Jesus was baptized; in Um Quais, the place Jesus forged demons right into a herd of pigs and we might see into Syria, Israel, and the West Financial institution; on the Crimson Sea, which God parted for the youngsters of Israel.
- Baptism Website
- Um Qais
- Aqaba on the Crimson Sea
At first of the semester, earlier than our first tour to the Jordan River baptism website, I learn the story of Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings. It talks about Elisha parting the water of the Jordan River:
He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “The place now’s the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he requested. When he struck the water, it divided to the suitable and to the left, and he crossed over.
2 Kings 2:14, New Worldwide Model
“The place now’s the God of Elijah?” I’ve discovered myself asking this query quite a bit this semester. The land on the East and West banks of the Jordan River is revered within the three Abrahamic religions. Is God nonetheless current on this land, hundreds of years after the occasions of the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran? God parted the water of the Jordan River for Elisha; will God reply when the water of the Jordan dries up? When water turns into yet one more casualty of the Arab-Israeli battle? Does God nonetheless care about injustice and battle on behalf of the oppressed?
Jordan River
I’m not leaving Jordan with any solutions, only a deep love and respect for this little nation bearing the brunt of a lot battle.
And final however not least, Salaam.
Darwish, Mahmoud. “To a Younger Poet.” Translated by Fady Joudah, Poetry, March 2010.
