Inauguration of new School year

Inauguration
Mass

Yesterday was the inauguration of the new academic year of our theological institutes. This year the Dominican Ecole Biblique did not join in. Almost 150 students, professors and staff of our franciscan theological seminary, the Studium Biblicum and the Salesian university attended the event, which consisted of a Mass presided by the Custos of the Holy Land. It's always exciting for the students especially the 1st years. New adventure. For the final year students, it will be a time to remember.

The new school year always means that our libraries have to be ready for the rhythm of researches, demands for photocopies and books. I had to get the library staff of both libraries to prepare for it. There's been a lot of administrative and structural changes to both libraries so a little getting use to is necessary by the staff.

The other day the newspapers carried an article about the cultural war in Jaffa. It's been mostly a city of peaceful co-existance between jews and arabs - the arabs being the majority. But now a radical rightwing jewish group has come to buy up property, setting up fences, employing military security, carrying guns, mocking and taunting the arabs. They seem to be determined to create a separation between the races just like in Jerusalem and the settlements in Palestine. Arabs and local jews of Jaffa came up to demonstrate against this. There is a name for this encroaching jewish takeover of land and culture... it's called judaization.  http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.745649

Meantime a major in the army has identified 2 cities that could become the flashpoints of the new war, and they're ignored by all the newspapers which prefer to highlight Gaza and Hebron. The cities are Jenin ad Tulkarm, 2 relatively unknown places. Jenin is where Jesus healed the 10 lepers but only one came back to thank him. http://www.timesofisrael.com/while-hebron-gets-the-press-jenin-and-tulkarem-are-the-sleeping-giants-israel-should-be-worried-about/

Well let's hope all these threats to peace will not disturb our students this academic year.