c. 2008 Religion News Service

JERUSALEM _ Hala Jahshan, a resident of the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, isn’t a Muslim, but like many Holy Land Christians feels enriched by the Ramadan traditions of Muslim neighbors and co-workers.

“Palestinian Muslims and Christians live together, we share the same destiny and we join in each other’s celebrations,” said Jahshan, who greets tourists at the Melia Center, an embroidery cooperative for Palestinian women.

While holiday celebrations have the potential to underscore differences and exacerbate tensions between religious groups, Palestinians say holidays like Ramadan (which ends here on Sept. 30) tend to bring Christians and Muslims _ and sometimes even Jews _ closer together.

“Christians and Muslims have lived side-by-side for centuries so of course we share in each other’s festivals and holidays,” explained George Sa’adeh, deputy mayor of Bethlehem. “We attend the same schools, work in the same offices. We don’t differentiate.”

Sa’adeh, a Palestinian Christian, says his Muslim colleagues and neighbors make a point of inviting Christians to the daily Iftar meal, when religiously observant Muslims break their 12-hour fast. He, in turn, invites Muslims to Christmas and Easter dinners.

To make it easier for Muslims to observe the month-long Ramadan fast, the Bethlehem municipality shortened the workday for all employees by one hour.

Some humanitarian groups and other non-governmental organizations give holiday gifts during Ramadan and Christmas, “but it depends on their financial capability,” Sa’adeh said. “Our municipality doesn’t have the money, but we feel the good relations, the respect and mutual understanding is even more important.”

Freres College in Bethlehem, a Catholic school run by the Lasalle Brothers, maintains its regular schedule during Ramadan but makes allowances for Muslim students, who comprise just under half the student body.

“We let the students do what their faith tells them to do,” says Michael Sansur, the school’s principal. “Fasting students are excused from eating lunch, of course, and are allowed to opt out of exercise in the sun. We don’t want them to get dehydrated. We’re flexible.”

Sansur said his school, like all Palestinian schools, will be closed throughout the three-day Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of Ramadan and begins here on Oct. 1. Both Eid al-Fitr and Christmas Day are Palestinian holidays.

Standing with a couple of friends outside the tall stone walls of the Greek Orthodox St. Dimitri’s School in Jerusalem’s Old City, 17-year-old Zahi Khoury, who is Christian, says he makes a point not to eat in front of Muslim schoolmates on fast days “because it wouldn’t be nice.”

“We’re friends and brothers,” said his pal, Ibrihim Nasereldeem, a Muslim, playfully punching Khoury’s shoulder. “Religion isn’t a big deal.”

Still, even with all the good will, sometimes resentments build.

“If we want to go and buy something to eat in the shuk (market) the Muslims refuse to sell to us, even though we’re Christians,” said the owner of an Old City kiosk. “I have to admit, it upsets me.”

The owner, who did not want to share her name “because I don’t want any trouble,” said most residents of the Christian Quarter do not routinely socialize with their Muslim neighbors.

“For the most part we lead separate lives,” she said. “Maybe it’s better that way.”

Because Israeli Jews and Arabs rarely socialize in their spare time, an invitation to an Iftar meal, Christmas dinner or a Passover seder is something to be savored.

“Just last night I went to the home of my friend, Ibtisam, for the Iftar meal, and it was wonderful,” said Elana Rozenman, the Jewish executive director of TRUST-IMUN, an Israeli organization that tries to build bridges between people in the region. “Ibtisam cooked vegetarian food out of respect for our kosher dietary needs. We had a deep discussion about the treatment of women in Islam and Judaism.”

Rozenman, whose son was badly injured by a Palestinian suicide bomber several years ago, said it’s “a shame that our cultures live so separately within Israel. It’s sad that so few Jews have the opportunity to be welcomed into a Muslim home.”

Hala Jahshan, who works in the embroidery cooperative, will have a cup of coffee in the company of her fasting Muslim co-workers, “but only after asking permission to do so.” Her daughter leaves her lunch sandwich at home because eating in front of Muslim friends would be “disrespectful,” she said.

Given the importance of food during their respective holidays, Jahsan said she finds it “natural” that much of the conversation between Christian and Muslim Palestinian women relates to mouth-watering lamb stews, succulent roasts and delicious home-made salads.

“I ask them about the food they’ll prepare to break their fast that evening, they ask about our traditions. We share recipes.”

Breaking in to a smile, she says, “It’s a kind of love.”

KRE/LF END CHABIN850 words