Howard Shippin's Page

I stepped back into Rishikesh across a gulf of 30 years. I had forgotten that the Ganges moved so rapidly. The town - the famous shanti-town, is brasher and noisier now: bhajans blaring across the river, slick re-mixed versions of religious songs souping from disk shops. Motorcycles, jeeps and old Ambassadors honking at every wandering yak or sadhu. More cowshit, more monkeys, more people everywhere. A local election in full-swing with staccato speeches offered at full volume from slow-mo… Continue

I’m sitting here on my patio, taking in the cool night air, listening to Kate Bush, thinking of my trip to India in a few days. There, across the valley, in Na’alin, a family is grieving the death of their child, killed yesterday by live ammunition. His family had tried to keep him home, away from the daily demonstrations against the barrier - whose construction continues unabated while discussion flows back and forth on MePeace. Had the boy lived, he could have been proud that even as a child h… Continue

The children of Askar refugee camp, Nablus had a message for us. They concluded their summer camp in Wahat al-Salam - Neve Shalom tonight and invited us, the residents, for a final party. They began by dancing a very professional dabke, dressed in traditional costumes. Then they performed a play. Beforehand they told us that this would reflect a re… Continue

Last night, in the framework of the Jerusalem Int'l Film Festival, was the first public screening of the first two episodes of Chaim Yavin's ID Blues (Teudah Kehula in Hebrew). The series very effectively explores relations between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel (i.e., those who carry the blue Israel ID card). As with his previous series Land of the Settlers, Yavin puts to good use his credentials and qualities. Na… Continue

M, originally from Barcelona and now in Jerusalem, had been a volunteer in Wahat al-Salam during the 2nd Gulf War. All the other volunteers had fled, before the airlines cut their flights. Since that time I hadn’t seen her. I only knew that she had initially gone to live in Efrat (the West Bank settlement), where she had converted to Judaism. I assumed that she was still there and happily married to a religious Jew. On Saturday afternoon, she suddenly showed up on our doorstep, together with a… Continue