“The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know; for salvation is of the Jews.”
-John 4:22
The picture above was taken at the spot where these words were spoken. The ugly cement that you see behind the large stone chalice is pretty new, but looking into the hole with a flashlight, one can see the old bricks constructed around the well. The church built around it is orthodox, and I must say, I’m developing an affinity for Greek Orthodox artwork. The pictures are simple, and they all use a very “tasty”, deep blue paint to fill in the negative space (not pictured here). Also, unlike Catholic Churches, there are a lot less pictures of Mary!
If you know the story about Jesus and the Samaritan woman, then you know that Nablus is in an area known in ancient times as Samaria, from which the Samaritans get their name. Needless to say, they live really close by.
They have an interesting situation here. Actually, the Samaritans have the best situation in all of Israel / Palestine. They drive Israeli cars, have Israeli passports and all the rights of Israelis, but also have all the rights of Palestinians. The Israelis view them as Jews, but Yasser Arafat also embraced them, which is what gives them this unique status. They’re free to practice their faith openly, which means that they keep the Passover, which is an event that is known to draw people from all over Israel.
In the little community on top of mount Gerizim there’s a museum with a small number of artifacts such as weaponry and religious clothes, as well as their version of the Torah. They use a different form of Hebrew, which you can see below:
The Samaritans do all of their pilgrimage festivals upon mount Gerizim. The reason they worship there is partly because it was the first place Joshua built an altar when the Israelites conquered the land; but they also believe it’s where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him. Their interpretation of the Torah is that this is the place that God chose for them to sacrifice. So naturally, they think it’s the mountain of the Lord. To be fair, it’s a place with a number of biblical events, and definitely an important spot. If you read farther in the passage of John 4 you’ll see that the Samaritans also accepted Christ as the Messiah in this same area. Maybe the families who still keep their traditions continue to be blessed for the faith of their fathers?
But then again, very recently they numbered at only around 400 people. Now they are up to 800, but they have a lack of women in the community. Hence they do what they can to make converts as well as bring foreign women in to wed. Many of these women come from Ukraine! Why? I have no idea. But there it is.
Nablus itself is a beautiful old city. The main square is distinctly middle eastern, and definitely does not feel like Israeli controlled places. Part of that has to do with Nablus being a very conservative town, the majority of which are Muslims, with the western part of the city housing about 600 Christians.
I got a chance to speak with an Anglican priest in a church that is built right beside a mosque. Like everybody else I’ve spoken with in the West Bank, he feels no tension of religious persecution or conflict with people from the other major religion. Most people here respect each others faith, and desire to live out their lives in peace with their neighbours. I haven’t even come across Jew hatred; only anger at the Israeli state.
The priest told me that Christians in the West Bank have more breaks than Muslims when it comes to dealing with Israel. Christians are generally issued entrance permits more easily when desiring to cross the checkpoints into Israel, and every Christmas 500 Christians are allowed to use the Ben Gurion airport to fly out and return. Many Palestinians have been forbidden, or at least severely restricted from using the airport since 1947, so it’s no small thing! The priest wasn’t exactly excited by this, however, as he sees the favour shown to them by the Israelis as an allowance that divides them from their Muslim neighbors and causes strife.
Like many places in the West Bank, members of the community here in Nablus died in the conflict with Israel. Without getting into the conflict and politics, I’ll tell you that there’s a square in the city which used to be busy, but has since become very quiet. During the second intifada there was a route between buildings that filed into the square which the Israelis used to come through when they were hunting their opponents. A number of civilians were killed when some of the houses were destroyed by Israeli soldiers, who are now remembered by way of a memorial etched in stone. Besides that, there are numerous posters with the faces of beloved resistance fighters hung throughout the old city market.
It’s very hard to forgive a people who have killed your wives, children, friends, and family members. You can see how they feel about it:
We’ll take a quick walk through old city in the next set of pictures, and you’ll see a couple photos taken from inside one of the many soap factories. Nablus is known for its soap production, and the square that you just read about actually happens to be on old soap road, as in years gone by it once had several factories all competing on the same street.
This archway pictured above leads to old soap road. The new factory is in another part just outside of the old city, and you can see below where the soap is churned using minimal ingredients of sodium chloride and olive oil.
As you can see, Nablus is a very pretty town. Although it is very conservative, and not a place I would like to live, it is known as the City of Science, the City of Fire, and the Bride of Palestine.
Many conflicts have happened here, and not just between the Palestinians and Israelis. Nablus has always been an important part of the region, and members of the city revolted against Ottomans, Egyptians, and also the British, which is in part what has earned Nablus the title “City of Fire”. It’s a place that one is unwise to tell the Israeli border control that one is planning to visit, as the Israelis have dubbed it the “City of Terrorism”.
From biblical times to the present, this spot has been an important stronghold for entering into the rest of the Holy Land, as well as a hub for economy and trade. Today, it is also well known for it’s Knaffeh, a sweet dessert filled with goats cheese, which is served fast and hot to eager locals and tourists alike. For more on that, however, you’ll have to come visit for yourself.
Salaam
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