Don’t Do Anything I Wouldn’t Do

The photo of Old Jerusalem was taken from the third floor terrace of the Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) guesthouse. This is where we’ve been residing during our initial training. The guesthouse is located on Via Dolorosa and is literally next to the first Station of the Cross which concludes at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Given my entry experience at the Tel Aviv, I am especially grateful to be here. In preparations for the trip, we were advised to be prepared for various questions about our intent and purpose of our trip and this could be an extensive process with multiple security agents. First and foremost we are to always be truthful in our responses. WCC/EAPPI is transparent about its work. Most of the Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) in our group entered Israel without incident. However, a few of us were detained for more intensive review. It took me 3 hours.

One of the security agents who questioned me got right to the point. “I am familiar with the Ecumenical Accompanier program and I want you to be very, very honest with me.” After more interactions with her and another agent, she handed me an approved visa and concluded with “I have one piece of advice for you and I want you to listen carefully. While you are here, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”I n other words, don’t share anything that would portray Israel in a negative manner.

I’ve been mulling over her advice over the past couple of days. I certainly want my actions to be respectful of various perspectives – Israel’s focus on security and defense as well as Palestine’s focus on freedom and dignity. Then I was reminded that we have the mind of Christ (Corinthians 2:16) as our core compass. His perspective is much harder to adopt than an Israeli security agent’s but infinitely more satisfying.

Regards,

Michael

From MC blog