O Little Town of Bethlehem

We decided that since we were so close to the birthplace of Jesus that we ought to follow in Mary and Joseph's footprints and see what miracles awaited us in Bethlehem. It also gave us a good excuse to visit the West Bank. This is the little town of Bethlehem at sunset, which actually does have a wonderful small town feel.


When our bus dropped us off in Bethlehem we had no where to stay and no clue as where to go to fill our empty stomachs (remind you of anyone?), but luckily a kindly stranger (in true Bethlehem style) pointed us in the direction of a hot falafel en route to the Church of the Nativity.



The Church of the Nativity is divided into two sections, one part managed by the Franciscans and the other part by the Orthodox. The sections have completely different feels and the environment overall is rather strange because various groups have rights over different spaces and times so it seems that you are constantly being pushed from one place to another by hurried priests. We barely made it into the underground cave to see the actual birthplace of Jesus before we were kicked out by priests.



We also visited the Milky Grotto where the holy family stopped on their flight to Egypt. It is here that Mary supposedly lactated and a drop of her breast milk turned the walls of an entire underground cave white. Women have been coming to this cave ever since to collect bits of the walls and use it to cure breast feeding problems.

We stayed just outside of Bethlehem in a town called Beit Sahour with three Brits who are building a permaculture farming project. One of our hosts, Nick, took us on a tour of the area. This is a photo of the wall that cuts directly through Bethlehem dividing Israelis from Palestinians. It's crazy to see how the wall twists to keep Israelis "in" and Palestinians "out." The wall was covered in graffitti including a lot of powerful, professional art.

Near the wall, a man pulled over his car and began talking to us. It seemed he just needed someone to whom he could tell his story. He was a souvenir seller and had recently been kicked out of his spot outside the Church of the Nativity. His devastation and desparation was apparent. He was now trying to find a way to sell some of his goods so that he could feed his family. He blamed the Hamas government for his misfortune and was so discouraged with the current state of affairs in the West Bank that he told us he wanted Israeli occupation again. Our British hosts told us that this kind of talk is not atypical and that they have noticed in their community a general sentiment that things are getting worse. Many factors contribute to the Hamas government's inability to effectively govern, and the Israeli government's failure to give them the tools and opportunity certainly must be part of it.

A Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem.

While walking down a quiet Bethlehem street, an old man with the loudest donket we have ever heard invited us into his home. We sat with his family (including the grandchildren above) and were given an endless supply of treats - plums, apricots, olives, olive oil, and the most delectable fresh bread. In return we made origami paper cranes and did magic tricks. Our mastery of Arabic equalled their mastery of English but somehow the smiles (and the donkey's nonstop braying) filled the silence and two hours passed before we knew it.

On our walk home, Nick decided we ought to make a Palestinian flag out of all the trash that filled a wooded area used by families for picnics. He thought it would prove a good point about environmentalism and caring for the future of one's home. Alisa and I though it was a good experimental art project. We decided to test the first passerby and see if our project was a success. The first subjects were two 12 year old boys who, when prodded (by Nick, who speaks some Arabic), did recognize their country's flag . . .

and immediately destroyed it. What Alisa and I saw as art, and Nick saw as a statement on environmentalism, the boys saw as a serious affront to the dignity of their nation. They were particularly offended that we had placed a beer bottle in the green section (the consumpsion of alcohol is one of the cardinal sins of Islam). Nick talked with the boys for while and then we walked away. A mixed expression of indignancy, fiercity, mischeif and amusment was left on the boys' faces. Nick felt they had learned a important lesson in environmentalism that would be valuable to them later in life. Alisa and I felt rather sad about our work of art being destroyed. But we all agreed that it was good lesson in detachment and questions of modernization, colonialism, national pride, and childhood followed us home.

All of the above events took place on Tessa's birthday. This photo was taken shortly after a birthday barbeque celebration inside a nearby cave in which the guy on the right told us that it was really important we walk on fire. He was so convincing that we walked on the smoldering coals. He promised it wouldn't hurt. It did. But not a couple days later. He also gave us a new name for a blog which might appear later. (We've decided that we want to keep changing the name so feel free to send us ideas)

On our last day in the West Bank we witnessed a showdown between Jewish "settlers" and a group of protesters. The settlers are more or less an organized group of people who are strategically building settlements in the Palestinian territories. These settlers should probably go under the category of extremists, not typical Israelis, and many of them, in fact, are not even Israeli, but American. They seem to have the underlying, or perhaps even overt, object of gaining control over the entire "holy land." Building settlements is technically illegal but once they are settled the Israeli government has to protect and provide for them and so that area essentially becomes an extension of Israel. The space in contention this day was a former military base in the middle of a Palestinian town. The locals are trying to make the space usable and so far have established a community center for activities like art classes and youth camps. They would like to build a children's hospital but need permission from the Israeli government. Though there were locals busy using the community center while we were there, the group of active protesters largely consisted of international volunteers. This group had strategically painted pictures of children, schools, falafel shops, etc. on the old military buildings and in response the settlers painted over the pictures with things like "Jews in Judea" and "Israel for the Jews."

We left Bethlehem for the Dead Sea, possibly the most deceptive sea in the world. It looks incredibly alluring, especially since it is so dang hot on its shores, but after a few minutes you are inevitably in pain. The water is so salty that it stings every open cut on your body and you find yourself in pain in places you didn't know were possible. Then if you get it in your eyes the stinging is unbearable but you can't open them or wash them out because there's no fresh water. You finally escape the sea in terrible pain and completely dehydrated. But you do float and it's fun to play with mud.

Also, we discovered that although the Dead Sea is surrounded by the West Bank, Palestinians are only allowed to go Sunday through Wednesday and then only families are permitted. Israelis can go any day of the week . . .