Letter from Palestinian territories: charming oracle

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/07/bethlehem-coffee-house-palestinian-territories

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Majdi's reputation for helping anyone in need is known far and wide. As the pulse of Bethlehem, Majdi's shop is the place where people congregate for coffee, mediation, advice and apartment hunting. His shop is also where couples, from all corners of the world, meet, fall in love and even marry.

Today, like many other days, his shop is full of women. As he crouches beside a gas canister preparing a pot of Arabic coffee, he charms them all. I smile as I remember the story of a Polish nun, so enamoured by his warm heart, that she wanted to marry him.

He greets me with a warm smile: "come my friend, coffee is ready". I sit on an overturned drum, leaning against a shelf cluttered with ceramics, sheishas, jewellery and bags. As we drink the cardamom-scented coffee, a photo of Majdi with an international film crew falls from the shelf.

In between being a store owner, Majdi helps people solve innumerable problems: be it anxious men from faraway lands seeking camel's milk (to help them please their wives), newly arrived expatriates in need of housing, or couples on the verge of divorce seeking counselling. No matter the circumstance, each problem is addressed without judgment and without the slightest expectation of reward.

As we sip coffee, more people enter the shop, each speaking a different language. Like faithful pilgrims, they have travelled far to see Majdi. They have never met him before, but like everyone else in Bethlehem, they have heard of him. Greeting them like old friends, he pours them each a cup of coffee and invites them to join the ever-growing number of visitors.

The problems being presented to Majdi are varied: a PhD student is searching for an almost forgotten village in the West Bank; two young Americans seek advice on buying a car and fixing their leaking roof; and a young woman, evicted from her home with no notice, is looking for a new place to live. Refilling their coffee cups, Majdi smiles and promises to help them all, after they drink coffee.

Fortunately, on this occasion, I have no problem that requires Majdi's infinite wisdom to solve. Rather, I just wanted to wish the Oracle of Bethlehem much happiness.

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