I traveled to Zababdeh, a town in northern West Bank near Jenin, to tour the local olive oil business on the anniversary of Arafat’s death. As I traveled from Bethlehem to Zababdeh, I passed a long line of buses with Palestinian flags fluttering out the windows, all headed to a commemoration in Ramallah. After three ...
I spent many Sundays in Zababdeh since July 2010, celebrating with Fr. Firas and his congregation at St. George Melkite Church. Though the services were in Arabic, a few things were still familiar: the rhythm of prayers, the passing of peace and the children staying occupied by giggling and playing games in the back of ...
To help local women earn money to supplement their family’s income, Fr. Firas and his sister, Dema, started a sewing project in Zababdeh. Dema manages a staff of six women, both Muslims and Christians, who sew clothes for an Israeli company. Fr. Firas considers it a sweatshop because of the unfair wages the women are ...