by Mary Ellen Meyer

[Note: Meyer was a member of CPT's November 2007 delegation to
Palestine/Israel.]

On these Hebron Hills

           walked Abraham and Sarah

                        and David, the king.

Climbing over rocks and between boulders

           as they picked their way

                       from village to village.

They saw ancient vineyards and olive groves as we do,

           and looked at the beauty

of the surrounding hills.


Now the rubble of demolished houses

           mingles with the age-old rocks,

                       and we climb over both alike,

Trying to comprehend the tragedies

           of the intervening millennia.


Children with their backpacks

           walking to school in early morning,

                       dark eyes shining.

Not knowing what danger

           might come down

                       from the hills above.

Needing escort to walk safely,

           or else to walk three times as far.

                       What gives hope to persevere?