from Kufr Malek to Taybeh

Kufr Malek's 1,116m above sea level and it was bloody cold when we got there!! The wind was howling, it rained all night so next morning our guides had to make the decision to cancel this last stretch of the walk which would have been 5.5km. Mud and slippery stones could have made it dangerous. Reluctantly we piled into a mini bus to Taybeh. It's the only completely Christian village in Palestine, boasts an excellent family-run brewery and is supposedly the place where Jesus sought refuge before going to Jerusalem to be crucified. The beer was superb!

Then the visit to St George's church with a talk by an amazingly informative and energetic priest, Father Raed who's involved in all sorts of peace initiatives and practical and economic ventures. He'd a great sense of humour and once we'd got past the religious stuff was fascinating on the politics. Taybeh has an amazing ruined Byzantine/Crusader church which again John's photos will show you. Animal sacrifice used to be the norm (and still is on occasion except now the offerings are given to the poor, not to the gods). You'll see the chain and hook at the entrance and wooden chopping block. This visit stood us in good stead at Tel Aviv airport when we had the usual "where have you been" and "why". You can't say "seeing Palestine and how its people live under occupation" so we were able to convince our young examiners that we were followers of the gospels with all that we'd learned that day.

http://tinyurl.com/Masar20110308