Slouching Towards Bethlehem

This is the view from outside the city gates of Bethlehem upon arriving on the 124 bus from the 8 kilometer trip from Jerusalem.

This is the secured walkway you walk through to go between Israeli and Palestinian territory to enter Bethlehem.

After passing through the checkpoint and showing my American passport, I, and other Christian pilgrims, had to pass through this next gate.

These are some pictures of the Israeli separation barrier from inside Bethlehem.

(Christmas Eve, 2008--Bethlehem) Entering Bethlehem was quite an experience. The walls and security around the city made it look like I was entering the Green Zone in Baghdad. However, now being here, I feel very safe and welcomed by the Greek Orthodox family that I'm staying with for the next couple of days through the Alternative Tourism Group.

In my quest to get many perspectives on Israel/Palestine, I will be staying with a Palestinian family for the next couple of days, after which I am planning on traveling for a day or two with a Jewish Birthright group in Israel.

There's much security in Bethlehem, not only for the estimated 30,000 Christian pilgrims coming to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, but also because Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in town, and will be staying in this fancy Bethlehem hotel for Christmas:

Because I obviously look like a foreigner, and didn't realize I was walking in a restricted zone, I was the only non-Palestinian military person allowed to walk down this street toward the Church of the Nativity. All of the streets were shut down on this side of Bethlehem for Mahmoud Abbas. The last time I saw this type of security for one person was when I passed outside a John McCain fundraiser this past summer in San Francisco, or when I saw Barack Obama speak in San Francisco on November 15, 2007.

The infrastructure in Bethlehem is poor, and the city and surrounding communities are enclosed by a giant concrete wall with cylindrical guard towers every so often. I passed by Palestinian refugee camps in the surrounding communities, and there's trash littered all over, rubble, and also big burn sites where people burn their trash.

However, at the same time, what surprises me is that I'm in Palestinian territory now, and my internet access is 5 times faster than the internet I accessed at any of the hostels or internet cafes in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. The Greek Orthodox family I'm staying with in Bethlehem for Christmas lives in a house, that on the inside looks like any very nice house in suburban America. They get 1000 TV channels! The way the Occupied Territories are portrayed in the United States media, I was prepared to go without electricity or running water for a couple days--but I am quite surprised to have all the amenities of home here, and where I'm staying is even nicer than where I stayed in Jerusalem for the past few days (for I was staying in perhaps the cheapest hostel in Jerusalem).

Jesus' birthplace in 2008 is an area of extreme poverty intermixed with what looks to be a standard of living very similar to American middle class life. Despite all of the restrictions on movement, and having a giant wall enclosing the city and surrounding communities, I am amazed at how normal the house I'm staying in is, on the inside. There are some things that make it different from an American suburban house, in that the tap water is unsafe to drink, fuel for heating, my host says is incredibly expensive because of the restrictions, and also not this one, but the old house he owned was fired upon by the nearby Israeli settlements that can be seen on top of the hill in the distance:


My host says that I do not need to worry about any violence here and that the media overblows its portrayal of violent acts committed by Palestinians in the West Bank, and that it's the Israeli soldiers who do raids who've killed internationals in the West Bank in recent years, and not Palestinians. He also recommended I stay out of the Gaza Strip, because that is an area where things really are chaotic, but in the other Palestinian territories in the West Bank, I will be greeted with great hospitality by Palestinians. I will stay out of Gaza because if the man I'm staying with, who has family in Gaza and who is Palestinian and a native Arabic speaker will not go to Gaza now because he says it's too chaotic, then I definitely shouldn't be going there either.

A view of the Palestinian and Israeli communities surrounding Bethlehem.

From what I've seen so far, I have been greeted with great hospitality from Palestinians. I have also noticed this great tradition of hospitality among the Israelis I've met, who so graciously showed me around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and gave me directions when I was lost. If only the Israelis and Palestinians would show this hospitality that they show to foreigners traveling in their land, to each other, the conflict between them could possibly cease.

John F. Kennedy's famous quote is painted on part of the wall inside Bethlehem.

I am going to the Midnight Mass outside the Church of the Nativity, and maybe check out the Shepard's Field, where there are big Christmas celebrations as well. I'll give an update on that when I have time in the next couple days.