I am excited to be approaching our day of departure for the Holy Land!  I hope to post daily content on this blog, with daily reflections.  One of the graces so far in preparing for this pilgrimage was through a woman I met last Tuesday at a Care Facility where our church serves.  I introduced myself to her and due to a number of factors I failed to catch her name.  I asked a second time, and then asked what country she was from.  She said, "Palestine".  I told her that I was going to Palestine in a week's time.  She replied with her eyes welling with tears, "There is no Palestine.  Only Israel."  She went on to tell me that she had come to Canada as a refugee. 

I looked up "Palestinian refugees" and found the following from Wikipedia: (I have left the reference #s so you can follow-up the information sources). The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is an organ of the United Nations created exclusively for the purpose of aiding those displaced by the Arab–Israeli conflict, with an annual budget of approximately $600 million.[24] It defines a "Palestine refugee" as a person "whose normal place of residence was Mandatory Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli conflict".[12] UNRWA aids all "those living in its area of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance"[12] and those who first became refugees as a result of the Six-Day War, regardless whether they reside in areas designated as Palestine refugee camps or in other permanent communities. A Palestine refugee camp is "a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and to set up facilities to cater to their needs".[12] Only around 1.4 million of registered Palestine refugees, approximately one-third, live in the 58 UNRWA-recognised refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.[12] The UNRWA definition does not cover final status.[12][25] 

The following piece on Youtube helped to refresh my historical memory 'Crash Course on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict': (you may have to copy and paste to your browser) https://youtu.be/1wo2TLlMhiw

To travel in the Holy Land is to be entwined in history, theology and politics.  I hope to gain a better understanding of the people of the Holy Land, both Palestinian and Israeli.

I hope that through this blog-portal, you will come along with me.  Yours along the Way, Pastor Paul