Solidarity at the Bethlehem Star Hotel

By SUSAN BALZER
When curfew was declared early Monday morning, new opportunities for expressing solidarity fell in the laps of our group of 10 Americans who’d come to help out at the International Center of Bethlehem and meet with the people of Christmas Lutheran Church.
Ahmad was the only hotel staff member who had stayed overnight along with the 16 or 17 guests, so when morning came, several of our group’s early risers helped him prepare breakfast and wash the dishes.
The hotel owner managed to come in to help prepare supper Monday night, but again left Ahmed alone to man the desk overnight. (The hotel didn’t expect any new clients, but someone needed to stay up to answer the phone and watch the door, just in case.)
Tuesday morning came with another day of curfew. No staff members could come in to work. Our group members were beginning to find their way around in the kitchen and repeated yesterday’s routine. We also cleaned our rooms, emptied the bathroom trash, and collected clean towels.
Ahmed protested our offers, but accepted them gracefully. He kept up his cheerful service and smile even though he had had almost no sleep for two days. He was limping on his sore leg and when asked privately, he admitted that his head ached.
One of our group members relieved him at the front desk during the day. Then Shirley brought up the suggestion that we could do some night desk duty as well.
Tuesday night supper was simpler than the others, but still satisfying. We helped again with dishes and told Ahmed our plans for the night.
Wednesday morning and we were in the swing of things again, and glad to hear that there would be a short break in the curfew—what amounts to a collective house arrest—later that day.
Ahmed greeted us at breakfast “I slept a week last night.”
A couple new staff members arrived during the break in the curfew and they served us another full-course meal that evening. We were rather glad we didn’t need to feel obligated to help with dishes, but at the same time, we knew our break was at the expense of the staff who were now stuck at the hotel during curfew.
Our brief service of solidarity opened up new opportunities to talk with Palestinians and in a small way to share their burdens.

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