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EASTER-PALESTINIANS Apr-9-2007 (650 words) With photos. xxxi
For Palestinian family, West Bank Easter reunion offers joy, freedom
By Judith Sudilovsky
Catholic News Service
BIR ZEIT, West Bank (CNS) -- Elena Tarazi, 20, had not seen her family members since Christmas, and when they arrived from the Gaza Strip the day before Easter she and her mother burst into tears.
Tarazi has one year left to complete her bachelor's degree in finance at Bir Zeit University, but as a student from Gaza without an Israeli travel permit she is able to see her family only at Christmas and Easter, when Israel relaxes travel restrictions.
Visiting the West Bank also offers the Tarazi family a little freedom.
Tarazi, her three younger sisters and cousin piled into a taxi to spend their first afternoon together shopping and eating ice cream, enjoying the nearby city of Ramallah, said 15-year-old Markianna Tarazi, who bought two pairs of shoes and a pair of pants.
"I love seeing my family, my sister, a change in scenery," she said. "We are doing what we like to do, what we can't do in Gaza."
In Gaza, the Tarazis can only move around by car -- both out of fear of the internal fighting between Palestinian factions and to avoid any conflicts regarding their mode of Western dress -- and sometimes when the situation is too dangerous they do not even leave their house, said Markianna.
"Some people in Gaza think we are alien, because of Hamas and (fundamentalist) Islamists," added her older sister, noting that family members have very good relations with their secular Muslim neighbors.
In March, the younger Tarazi children did not go to school for 10 days, said 16-year-old Bader Tarazi, Elena's cousin who accompanied his relatives on the five-hour journey from Gaza. They traveled through the Israeli-run Erez checkpoint -- where they were ordered through several mechanical scanners by the voices of soldiers sitting, unseen, in booths behind bullet-proof glass -- and on to Bir Zeit. Under normal circumstances, such a trip would take less than two hours.
Nabil Tarazi, 48, an engineer with the Palestinian Department of Public Works, said he is glad his family was given the travel permits so they can see his oldest daughter on the holidays, but, he said, "It is not enough."
Marina Tarazi, 48, said she misses her daughter, but there is no university in Gaza for Christians.
"There are Islamic universities and they have to study the Islamic religion and have to wear the Islamic dress and read the Quran," she said.
As Holy Saturday turned into Easter Sunday, adults and children remained awake, talking, laughing, playing cards, watching television and playing on the computer.
Though the Tarazi family is Greek Orthodox, the Rabies, their Bir Zeit relatives, are Catholic, so the Tarazis joined them for Easter Mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. This year, as happens every four years, the Catholic and Orthodox Easters coincided.
As the two families filled two pews in the church, 7-year-old Lories Tarazi squeezed between her mother and Elena; as they waited in line for Communion, she stood happily, leaning against her older sister.
Later, both families gathered at the Rabie home for an Easter lunch of mansaf, a traditional Bedouin dish of rice, lamb, roasted almonds and yogurt sauce, and roasted chicken stuffed with rice.
"It is amazing to have my aunt and uncle and cousins here. I am so happy," said 15-year-old Rosan Rabie.
As family members licked their fingers of the last traces of the melting ice cream cones they had for dessert, the children prepared for an afternoon outing back to Ramallah, where Elena planned to take her siblings and cousins to the amusement park. The adults planned to join them later.
Nabil Tarazi said he would take advantage of the time to meet up with more of his friends -- perhaps to enjoy a glass of beer of vodka along the way, something he cannot do in Gaza.
END
Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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