Holy Land Trip

John & Gloria, Deb Redditt and several others are on their way to the Holy Land. Here is a picture of John & Gloria, one of John & Mohammed from the 1999 trip.
Here is John's first article; he will be posting here as he can, so check back often.

His name is Muhammad.

His name is Muhammad, and he is a lot of different things. He works at the New Imperial Hotel in Jerusalem. He is the Chief Engineer or the Maintenance Supervisor or the Concierge or the Breakfast Cook or the Host, even though he probably has none of those titles. In the Middle East, titles and responsibilities are not quite as regimented as they are here in the U.S. Muhammad does a little bit of everything.
It was at the New Imperial that I first met Muhammad seven years ago. My wife and I were on the first day of a three-week trip to the Holy Land. We were traveling alone and had decided to find a different hotel for our second night. What we found was a home. As we walked up the over hundred year old steps, Muhammad met us at the top. He showed us a room with a balcony looking down on the streets of the Old City, just inside those stonewalls that you see so often on TV. It was like having a box seat at the best show in town as the crowds walked by on the sidewalks below – Jew, Christian, Muslim of all types and all dresses, all rushing to different religious services or other meetings.
When we came back the next day, Muhammad met us again at the top of the steps. He got us to our room and then told us to come back downstairs when we unpacked. When we got back to the lobby, he called us into the kitchen so that he could give us some "Muhammad coffee" (very strong with grounds in the bottom of the cup). We began to learn each other’s stories.
His name is Muhammad and his nationality is confusing. He was born in Jericho when it was still controlled by Britain, but he is not British even though he did live in London for a while. Soon after his birth, Jericho was given to the new country of Jordan, so Muhammad has a Jordanian passport, but Jordan no longer claims him. His apartment is in the suburbs of Jerusalem in land that is called West Bank, so he is sort of Israeli and sort of Palestinian. Sometimes he stays in a room at the hotel for days or weeks, because he knows if he goes to his apartment he may not be allowed to travel back to his job. He showed me where his apartment is. You can see it from the balcony. He just often is not allowed to go to it, even though his daughter and grandchild are there. Life in Israel can be confusing and draining.
Muhammad wanted us to see Jericho, so on our third day in Israel we traveled with him to Jericho. That meant a walk and three taxis rides each way. He showed us the remains of Jericho from when "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho". He showed us the Mount of Temptation. He showed us the remains of a great Arab prince’s house. He showed us Yasser Arafat’s house. He carried us to the center of town to the market. As we walked around the market a man came up to me and asked if I was from America. When I replied that I was, he asked me why I was there. I told him that I had come with Muhammad to see Jericho. This amazed the man. That I, an American, would be in a completely Arab area with a Palestinian who was showing us around. He did not think that Americans did such things.
We traveled back to Jerusalem in a taxi with several bags of bananas. "They are the best bananas in the world. Jericho bananas. Just taste how sweet they are." Muhammad was right. They are very good. For him they are the taste of his childhood.
This week my wife and I and five friends will begin a two-week trip to Israel (I hope to be sharing with you some of what we see and do while we are there). On Tuesday at about lunchtime, we will walk up the steps of the New Imperial. We will be back home in Jerusalem. And I hope Muhammad will be at the top of the stairs. Then I will know that I am home.
His name is Muhammad, and he is my friend.