Jordan, thank you for sharing this reflection with me. So much of it resonates with me.
On my first pilgrimage, I was sidelined and interrogated by an Israeli soldier right off the plane. I guess I have a sympathetic looking face. It rattled me and woke me up to the situation. I remember trying to search for certain topics online at the hotel computer and that I couldn't find them... "Ah, so this is what it means to not live free," I thought. (Let alone what I experienced in the West Bank.)
Oh Lord, bring peace!
I'm glad you're writing and planting seeds, Jordan.
Jordan, Beautifully written as are all your work. I visited Beirut in 1983 but have never been in the Holy Land. I pray for your continued safe travels and especially your bringing people together in peace. Matt
Bless you, Jordan, of course we can remain connected! I very much appreciate what you are doing, and your writing against antisemitism and value your response on this. Indeed, I rather hope that our mutual responses and dialogue here may serve as some sort of example on how to remain calm and civilised even when disagreeing. And, can I add, what a pleasure it is to dialogue with you. God bless (of course, I know He does!) and we shall remain in touch. I look forward to reading (if with a critical eye, here) your future mailings.
Paul, I too am glad we can have this dialogue! I hoped that Digging Our Well could help generate and be a space for dialogue, so I’m glad that it has in this case.
Your experiences are very similar to my own. I appreciate you sharing. After we met briefly back in Amman (you were on your Fulbright, I believe, and I was working with the Orthodox Church), I next was sent to work with a protestant church in Ramallah and a human rights org in Jerusalem. That experience was cut short by interrogation at the border crossing at Allenby and I found out (only years later) that I was banned for 10 years, ostensibly for ‘lying’ about the ‘real reasons’ I was in the country (volunteering with organizations, which I had not shared with the border guards for fear or being denied entry). I appreciate you putting into perspective the privilege that I had even to spend the time that I did in Israel and the West Bank. As painful as it is to know that I likely cannot return, especially now that I have publicly criticized Israel’s systemic racism and inhumane treatment of Palestinians, so many friends and contacts of Palestinian or Arab descent have never even been able to visit.
Ariel, I'm glad we can reconnect here on Substack. Thank you for sharing your experiences at the border, and for the important work you did in the Middle East.
Oh Jordan - you are so humane, so lovely in your intentions, and I know you mean well. You have many Palestinian friends and so many contacts in the Arab world. And you have done so much good to combat Islamaphobia with your writing. I endorse that wholeheartedly and I much admire your work particularly in the US where things seem to be polarised rather more than they are here in the UK. But - while I understand that you feel in your conscience morally to speak out at this time and in this way, welI, I wonder if it is really wise. Of course, you know only too well that there is another side to this. Israel, for all its faults - and as a nation they are many - is surrounded by countries committed to its elimination. It necessarily adopts extreme caution with those who may be committed to the death of its people. Would you expect anything else, given the history of Israel and the Jews? The attack by Hamas on 7th October last year was an act of monstrous barbarity that could never be morally justified. Those who took part in whatever capacity - and I include supporting, marching and sympathising - were and are on the continuum from deluded to wicked, in perhaps many cases very wicked. That attack is in serious danger of being forgotten in the effort to switch attention to the ongoing Israel/Palestinian struggle. Morally, they are not the same I'm afraid. 'By any means necessary' equals precisely the end justifies the means, which neither you nor I as Catholics could ever endorse. Unless you combine your writing on behalf of the Palestinian cause with at least as strong writing against what happened on October 7th I am afraid your sympathies - forgive me! - I am sure unintentionally and perhaps even understandably betray your deeply felt and admirable morality. So - once more, forgive me but I venture to suggest that to speak out as you have at this time may add fuel to the fire. At the least it will emboldened those many who in their self righteousness consider that attacks on Jews and their supporters are now justified. And to add fuel to that fire is, to say the least, unhelpful. So - here, Jordan, I fear we must part company. Or at least, diverge in company if only for a time. That said, I continue to endorse your struggle against Islamaphobia. I only hope, too, that with your contacts at this time, who surely respect your knowledge and your voice, you can help to dampen down the antisemitism, intimidation and intolerance that terrifies so much and so many of my Jewish friends and that bodes awfully for the future of an area of the world that we both love so much. I look forward to reading future pieces that help in that respect too. Once again, forgive me - and may God richly bless you and your family, Jordan. P.
Dear Paul, thank you so much for reading and for this thoughtful and charitable comment. Like you, I believe that our Catholic faith calls on us to speak up and advocate for the rights of all—Israeli and Palestinian. Along with my writing on the Palestinian experience and some of the deeper issues with Israeli policy, I have written and spoken out publicly against antisemitism and in support of the Israeli and other hostages taken by Hamas, calling for their immediate release. I'll point you to those pieces, in case they're of interest: https://jordandenariduffner.substack.com/p/calling-for-ceasefire and https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/unchristian?fbclid=IwAR2j_w6ib7rj9HnggH0MLsUWAqQYBWeTDssxLExigsMAsUvRjpJoWrickQo. I certainly hope that this work does not add fuel to the fire, as you say. My intention and goal is to raise awareness about the longer history and realities of what is occurring in the Holy Land, and to ensure that the dignity and rights of all, Palestinians and Israelis, are honored and robustly defended.
Jordan, thank you for sharing this reflection with me. So much of it resonates with me.
On my first pilgrimage, I was sidelined and interrogated by an Israeli soldier right off the plane. I guess I have a sympathetic looking face. It rattled me and woke me up to the situation. I remember trying to search for certain topics online at the hotel computer and that I couldn't find them... "Ah, so this is what it means to not live free," I thought. (Let alone what I experienced in the West Bank.)
Oh Lord, bring peace!
I'm glad you're writing and planting seeds, Jordan.
Wow, thanks for sharing these experiences, Angela.
Jordan, Beautifully written as are all your work. I visited Beirut in 1983 but have never been in the Holy Land. I pray for your continued safe travels and especially your bringing people together in peace. Matt
Thank you, Matt!
Bless you, Jordan, of course we can remain connected! I very much appreciate what you are doing, and your writing against antisemitism and value your response on this. Indeed, I rather hope that our mutual responses and dialogue here may serve as some sort of example on how to remain calm and civilised even when disagreeing. And, can I add, what a pleasure it is to dialogue with you. God bless (of course, I know He does!) and we shall remain in touch. I look forward to reading (if with a critical eye, here) your future mailings.
Paul, I too am glad we can have this dialogue! I hoped that Digging Our Well could help generate and be a space for dialogue, so I’m glad that it has in this case.
What fun! And a cross-pond US/UK dialogue too. It is a pleasure, J.
Your experiences are very similar to my own. I appreciate you sharing. After we met briefly back in Amman (you were on your Fulbright, I believe, and I was working with the Orthodox Church), I next was sent to work with a protestant church in Ramallah and a human rights org in Jerusalem. That experience was cut short by interrogation at the border crossing at Allenby and I found out (only years later) that I was banned for 10 years, ostensibly for ‘lying’ about the ‘real reasons’ I was in the country (volunteering with organizations, which I had not shared with the border guards for fear or being denied entry). I appreciate you putting into perspective the privilege that I had even to spend the time that I did in Israel and the West Bank. As painful as it is to know that I likely cannot return, especially now that I have publicly criticized Israel’s systemic racism and inhumane treatment of Palestinians, so many friends and contacts of Palestinian or Arab descent have never even been able to visit.
Ariel, I'm glad we can reconnect here on Substack. Thank you for sharing your experiences at the border, and for the important work you did in the Middle East.
Oh Jordan - you are so humane, so lovely in your intentions, and I know you mean well. You have many Palestinian friends and so many contacts in the Arab world. And you have done so much good to combat Islamaphobia with your writing. I endorse that wholeheartedly and I much admire your work particularly in the US where things seem to be polarised rather more than they are here in the UK. But - while I understand that you feel in your conscience morally to speak out at this time and in this way, welI, I wonder if it is really wise. Of course, you know only too well that there is another side to this. Israel, for all its faults - and as a nation they are many - is surrounded by countries committed to its elimination. It necessarily adopts extreme caution with those who may be committed to the death of its people. Would you expect anything else, given the history of Israel and the Jews? The attack by Hamas on 7th October last year was an act of monstrous barbarity that could never be morally justified. Those who took part in whatever capacity - and I include supporting, marching and sympathising - were and are on the continuum from deluded to wicked, in perhaps many cases very wicked. That attack is in serious danger of being forgotten in the effort to switch attention to the ongoing Israel/Palestinian struggle. Morally, they are not the same I'm afraid. 'By any means necessary' equals precisely the end justifies the means, which neither you nor I as Catholics could ever endorse. Unless you combine your writing on behalf of the Palestinian cause with at least as strong writing against what happened on October 7th I am afraid your sympathies - forgive me! - I am sure unintentionally and perhaps even understandably betray your deeply felt and admirable morality. So - once more, forgive me but I venture to suggest that to speak out as you have at this time may add fuel to the fire. At the least it will emboldened those many who in their self righteousness consider that attacks on Jews and their supporters are now justified. And to add fuel to that fire is, to say the least, unhelpful. So - here, Jordan, I fear we must part company. Or at least, diverge in company if only for a time. That said, I continue to endorse your struggle against Islamaphobia. I only hope, too, that with your contacts at this time, who surely respect your knowledge and your voice, you can help to dampen down the antisemitism, intimidation and intolerance that terrifies so much and so many of my Jewish friends and that bodes awfully for the future of an area of the world that we both love so much. I look forward to reading future pieces that help in that respect too. Once again, forgive me - and may God richly bless you and your family, Jordan. P.
Dear Paul, thank you so much for reading and for this thoughtful and charitable comment. Like you, I believe that our Catholic faith calls on us to speak up and advocate for the rights of all—Israeli and Palestinian. Along with my writing on the Palestinian experience and some of the deeper issues with Israeli policy, I have written and spoken out publicly against antisemitism and in support of the Israeli and other hostages taken by Hamas, calling for their immediate release. I'll point you to those pieces, in case they're of interest: https://jordandenariduffner.substack.com/p/calling-for-ceasefire and https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/unchristian?fbclid=IwAR2j_w6ib7rj9HnggH0MLsUWAqQYBWeTDssxLExigsMAsUvRjpJoWrickQo. I certainly hope that this work does not add fuel to the fire, as you say. My intention and goal is to raise awareness about the longer history and realities of what is occurring in the Holy Land, and to ensure that the dignity and rights of all, Palestinians and Israelis, are honored and robustly defended.
Be well, and I hope we can remain connected,
—Jordan