O'Bethlehem

This past Thursday Leora and I decided to venture to Bethlehem, the famous city just south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. It was my first time in the West Bank, so we were a little nervous, but knew quite a few people who had been and they told us it would be fine. Israelis are actually forbidden from going to Bethlehem (apparently the Israeli government does not want to have to take responsibility for Israelis in land governed by the Palestinian Authority, which I suppose is understandable) so we thought we might as well take advantage of the fact that we're not Israeli! We wore long skirts, as we were going to a predominately Muslim city and took off any jewelry that would identify us as Jews. From the Old City, Leora and I caught an Arab bus. I see Arab buses all the time (they have their own bus companies, own lines, etc), but this was my first time actually riding on one, and it was fine. Nobody looked at as strange, or questioned us at all. We sat down next to two quite good looking boys who were speaking German. We asked if they were going to Bethlehem (they were) and inquired as to what they wanted to see there (the tourist sites, as did we!) so we decided to venture together. Their English was fantastic, and we figured it would be best to travel with two men. It is only about a 15 minute ride from the Old City to the checkpoint. The security wall is quite large and winds it's way around Bethlehem. There were murals painted on all the walls on the Bethlehem side, depicting everything and anything. Getting past the checkpoint was ridiculously easy. We flashed our passports to the guards though the glass..they merely glanced at them. Once we entered Bethlehem, we found a taxi driver who was willing to drive us to many tourist sites throughout the city, and wait for us at each one for only 200 shekels. That's 50 shekels each, or $12.50, for the whole afternoon! Good deal.
First we went to Shepard's Field, identified as the scene where the Angel of the Lord visited the shepherds and informed them of Jesus' birth. It was basically just an old, beautiful church! We then went to St. Saba's Monastery, a Greek Orthodox Monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley. It is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world, and still maintains many of its ancient traditions. One in particular is the restriction on women entering the main compound. The only building that women can enter is the Women's Tower, near the main entrance. The Monastery was actually closed when we were there, though, so neither us nor the men could go in. Yet it is a beautiful, striking building located on the edge of these cliffs seemingly in the middle of nowhere. You can also see the Dead Sea from there. The 11 mile drive from Bethlehem to the monastery was striking as well..beautiful desert canyons everywhere. From the road and the monastery you couldn't see Jerusalem or Bethlehem. The only sign of civilization in that stretch of road was a donkey tied to a post and standing in the middle of the road!!! I'm not sure how much of a sign of civilization that is!! But you could tell he was owned by somebody. From there we went to Herodium, a fortress palace by King Herod the Great. This ancient site in the middle of Bethlehem is actually under Israeli control. It reminded me a lot of Masada, with ancient ruins, bathhouses, columns. There was also a very cool and extensive maze of underground tunnels that were used for protection as well as for attack. From there we went to the Milky Grotto, considered sacred because tradition has it that the Holy Family took refuge here during the Slaughter of the Innocents, before their flight into Egypt. Tradition has it that while Mary was nursing Jesus here, a drop of milk fell to the ground, turning it white. The church is beautiful..beautiful flooring, architecture, and art. A short walk from the Milky Grotto is the Church of the Nativity, which is the famous church that it is said Jesus was born in. It's a large, beautiful church. (I know I'm doing a horrid job of describing all these churches!) The entrance is filled with hanging colorful lamp-type things, a beautiful altar, and more statues and paintings of Jesus. We walked downstairs to the exact place where Jesus was supposedly born. I saw what I thought was a bunch of people kissing the floor, but Leora said she thought they were just looking down a hole at something. So we proceeded to kneel down and look through this hole. Well..there was no hole..just holy water and a star on the floor saying this is where his holiness Jesus was born!! Well, Leora and I started laughing hysterically at the fact that we had just knelt down at Jesus' birthsite. This is a holy place, and obviously laughing is not appropriate! So we moved to the back, and then this whole crowd of people started chanting "O'Bethlehem" in Italian, and we were stuck behind them, literally pitching each other to keep from laughing. We were just two little Jewish girls who had no idea what we were doing! But I think it makes for a pretty great story. Following the church, the four of us went to lunch with our taxi driver. He was a very nice man, and he told us how difficult life has been in Bethlehem since Israel build the security wall in 2002. He used to work in Jerusalem, but has not been able to travel there since the wall was built--like most of his neighbors. Many people in Bethlehem still work in Jerusalem, but he told us it is $1000 for 3 months just for a permit to travel there. He explained that his entire life is to the checkpoint and back home,to the checkpoint and back home. He is only 27, but he says he knows he looks much older because of the stressful life he has led. There are no movie theaters or malls or anything of the sort for entertainment purposes. He said tourism has fallen dramatically since the wall was built as well, because they are too afraid. Considering that so many businesses rely on tourists, they have really been suffering economically there. And it is true that they were very few tourists wherever we went there. It was sweltering hot, so I'm sure that kept some people away, but I was surprised, considering that it is the height of tourist season. It's really sad, and I definitely feel for him. It's just such a problem. Israel built the wall during the 2nd Intifada when Palestinians were coming over and blowing themselves up! So what is to be done? I really appreciated hearing the other side of the story though. Once we left the checkpoint, we wanted to go visit Rachel's tomb (one of the matriarchs from the bible). Her tomb is actually located in Bethlehem, but because it is a religious site for the Jews, Israel carved it out of the PA and controls it. Even though the tomb is located literally a 5 minute walk from the checkpoint, pedestrians are not allowed to enter (not safe I suppose). We tried to hitch a ride just through the guard station area, but couldn't find anybody with enough room in their car. Alas, we were unfortunately not able to go.
That night we went out to a bar with a new German friends. They are both 25 and lawyers! They live about two hours from Amsterdam, so I'm hoping I can meet up with them at the end of my Europe trip!