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Sunday, 9 December 2018

Qasr al-Yahud: a mission to restore faith – and hope

In the West Bank, at the third most holy site in Christianity, work is under way to clear thousands of landmines and reopen seven ancient churches abandoned since 1967’s six-day war

Bravery comes in many guises, but in those whose work demands courage on a near-daily basis, it often takes the form of a certain studied nonchalance. Lasha Bluashvili, who makes his living clearing landmines, is a case in point. He would rather go to the trouble of making me a cup of tea – here in the Judean desert, the kettle stands on a gas canister inside an old oil drum – than talk of what I regard as his everyday heroism.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he says, fingers lightly tapping a cigarette packet. “We never forget the dangers. But everyone here knows their job. We are all very well trained.”

Gleaming tour buses full of tourists to the River Jordan sweep swiftly past these crumbling, spectral churches

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from Islam | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PqRAzn

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