Article June 3, 2002 Issue

For love of Jerusalem

By Luisella Jaques-Deraney

A wall of smoke  rises above the horizon and dissipates into the azure sky. Burned tires and large rocks block the road. Not a soul in sight, but the tension in the air can be cut with a knife. I quickly turn back to avoid the possibility of another round of combat between the Israeli army and the young Palestinians. I pray all the way home—not only to remain calm and feel in my heart that God is present, but also to recognize that no place in the world is deprived of His healing power.

While I was in Jerusalem, experiences like this were common. When I arrived there in 1987 as a worker for the International Committee of the Red Cross, I did not expect to witness what was later called "the first intifadah" (Palestinian uprising). But it was in the fall of that year that the Palestinian people began a grass-roots movement of organized resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Shortly after arriving in Jerusalem, I was struck by the deep contrast between the hospitality of the people of this poignantly beautiful land and the climate of violence and tension that reigned there. Striking, too, was the fact that although my work required my constant presence in areas where no one's safety could be guaranteed, my stay in Jerusalem—which lasted more than a year—was remarkably peaceful. I hold an indelible memory of that time, as well as a deep love for the Middle East.

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