O' Little Town of Bethlehem

I have spent a lot of time in Bethlehem the past few weeks. Bethlehem is very close to Jerusalem however it is included within the West Bank and is quickly becoming completely separated by this large concrete wall. Most key places along the border already have the wall in place and everywhere else construction is underway.

This is the Bethlehem checkpoint one of the most rigorous inspection points for crossing into the West Bank. This is the view from inside the first gate. To get into the checkpoint you first enter a fenced gate with a large inspection house for passport screening. You quickly find that a US passport is as good as gold. While Palestinians are being thoroughly questioned and have their documents closely examined you are usually waved through without even opening your passport at all.

An unmanned power checkpoint that you pass through after passport screening but before you get to the above plaza. If for some reason the guards are suspicious of you they can lock this gate.

This is the fenced path that you must go through after you walk across the plaza that you saw in the above photo. Getting in to the West Bank is a bit easier than getting out. On the way in their is only one checkpoint with a guard where when you return there are three separate checkpoints and airport style security. But again as Americans we do not have to do the bag screening or take our shoes and belts off as the Palestinians do. As they are being hassled we just flash the cover of our passport and keep walking.

This is a view of a guard tower from inside of Bethlehem. I pass this tower every Tuesday when I walk to Bethlehem Bible College to teach English classes to members of the community. Above I was mentioning how closely checked people are who are crossing the border. That is assuming that you can cross the border at all. Most citizens of Palestine cannot ever go over to Jerusalem. Some people have passes for jobs in the city but are restricted to only go back and forth for work. Most people are confined to the West Bank that has very little economic opportunity. The unemployment rate in Bethlehem is about 70%. Israel has imported thousands of foreign workers to makeup for the Palestinians who used to work across the line. To Israel's credit since the wall was put in place there has not been a bombing in a major city in Israel for almost a year. There was one bombing recently down by the Red Sea but it is thought that that person did not come from the West Bank.

It has just been in the past couple of weeks that I have really been getting a good feel for and understanding of how the Palestinians feel the realities that they live with. I know there is guilt on both sides and I am not claiming one side is more noble than the other. At this point however, Israel is the much stronger half and has the West Bank squeezed down tight. This building is a public policy institute that tracks the activities of Israel and attempts to make them known to the world. Never mind the sign that says that it is in Jerusalem it is definitely in Bethlehem. The people here have excellent data that show how Israel is breaking certain United Nations resolutions that have been passed over the years. For example Israel is not supposed to be adding settlers to the West Bank, but since 2002 they have added a mere 25,000 settlements. And not only that but they are placing them in corridors across the West Bank that will serve as dividing lines for further segregation of the land. Already there are many internal checkpoints that restrict movement throughout the West Bank. Long lines at these checkpoints make what formerly was a 10 minute drive into a half an hour or more. Also Israel is in the process of making a new highway system in the West Bank that will only be for citizens of Israel. Palestinians will be forced to use the old or back routes and everyone else can use the new highways. This is getting long fast but Palestinians also cannot cross the wall in their own vehicles. So if you have a car it can only be used in the West Bank (they have green license plates instead of yellow) but Israeli cars can drive wherever they want. Another fact presented to us is that only 22% of the security wall is being built on the 1967 border of the West Bank. Other sections of the wall are significantly inside the line taking open land for development by Israeli settlers. It is standard procedure for Israel to take farmland and otherwise "undeveloped" land and place settlement homes on it. It is fairly clear in my mind that Israel wants all of the land to be incorporated into its official territory as soon as possible. I really do not think this is a value statement just a compilation of the given data. At the same time I realize that if Palestinians had any power they would be doing the same thing. After being on the ground and seeing first hand what is going on I now have little hope for a Palestinian state. Israel has so much invested in the land that I cannot really see them giving it up. They gave up Gaza but at the same time they have it walled in as well. There is a wall all the way around it on the land, a sea wall/fence and now plans in the works for a canal on the Egyptian border. It is a perplexing situation with no clear solution on the horizon. I believe that Israel must defend itself but it is also clear that the wall is doing more than a good job with security. This view from a hilltop in Beth Jala (Adjacent to Bethlehem) shows an example of the many loops and total enclosures along the border. It by no means is a straight line.

This is a very common site in Bethlehem. Almost every flat surface has the remains of posters of martyrs on them. Very few new ones have been placed recently.

This is a refugee camp from the 1948 war. These people left their homes thinking that they would return after Israel lost the war. Instead their communities were bulldozed and made into parks. They are still hoping to return to their grandparents land. Even though they have been here multiple generations they maintain official refugee status and services are maintained by the UN. 12,000 people live in a 1/2 square kilometer of land. They are free to move anywhere in the West Bank but many stay out of pride in their cause. Almost all of them still possess the keys to their grandparent's homes.A gate left as a memorial at the front of the camp. Jewish soldiers used to man a perimeter fence and this was the only way in or out. The gate opened at 6:00am and was locked at 6:00pm.Children playing in the street at the Refuge camp. The wheelchair is simply a fun toy.

More children at the refuge camp. Bethlehem Evangelical Church. This is an Arabic speaking church that my friend attends. He is an Arabic Christian that is from Bethlehem and studies at our school. He invited several of us over for church and lunch at his home this past Sunday. The church has a western contemporary feel to it except everything is in Arabic. They have headsets and a translator so we were able to hear the service in English.

This is my friend with his mother and me. We had one of his favorite meals, a very traditional Palestinian dish, boiled cabbage rolls with rice and beef inside. It was very good. Inside a recreated Bedouin tent. A woman in Bethlehem that is fairly well off has a shop that preserves Palestinian tradition and also is an outlet for local women to sell their weavings and embroidery. A grain grinder. You feed the grain into the whole in the center and spin the wheel and the ground grain comes out the edges.Two boys in Bethlehem with dinner.
Despite the restrictions placed on the West Bank there are many thriving markets such as this one in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is considered one of the safest cities in the West Bank. Most of their economy is dependent upon tourism so they treat you very well when you come. Lately tourism has been way down so they are doing everything they can to encourage visitors. I took this and the following pictures today and found the merchants to be in general more cordial than merchants in the Old City.
A Muslim woman shopping for what I think is lamb in the open market.
A typical market street in Bethlehem. This is slightly off the main path for tourists but not far. With the decrease in tourism it leaves the city with a very authentic feel.
Another market square. Notice the typical intermingling of traditional and more western style clothing. Everyone in this picture is native to Bethlehem. A man selling sesame seed loaf. I bought a kilo and a half of it for 18 shekels or about 5 dollars. It is a traditional desert/snack. Sesame seeds are grown locally and used for many things. It is three inches thick of nothing but sesame held together with sugar and a few peanuts on top. The white blocks are some kind of Coconut loaf. It is not all that good but it is not bad either.

Wow, we covered a lot of ground and there is still so much more to say. If you have questions I will do my best. The modern situation really gets you thinking about right and wrong and how to grapple with the problems of the world from a Christian perspective. Maybe I will give some more reflections later on what impact this is having on me spiritually. But as for now I don't think I know yet. Grace and Peace to you all! (and that's another thing...I have never been in a land where people are wishing themselves peace all the time but their is such a shortage of it...every conversation Muslim or Jewish almost always ends in Shalom-Hebrew or Siloam-Arabic...)