After waking up infuriatingly early (3am) and dozing a little after-wards, our group of twenty left for the nine mile journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. To get there we traveled through the 'wall' dividing much of the West Bank from the rest of Israel. It was pretty simple for us to travel through as tourists, but for Palestinians the process can be arduous. Unsurprisingly they don't like it very much.
Our guide in Bethlehem is a Palestinian Christian. In fact 40% or so of the population in the town are Christian. He spoke of the challenges the wall presents the Palestinian people and the traumatic effect it has had on the economy, with unemployment at especially worrying highs. When we were back on the other side of the wall later in the day, our Israeli Christian guide affirmed the wall and the fact he believed it had reduced dramatically the threat of terrorism on Israeli soil. Two Christians. Two cities 10 miles apart. Two very different views.
Enough politics. Here are today's 'dot points'. I visited:
- The fields where the shepherds were visited by the angelic host.
- The Church of the Nativity, including the supposed birth place of Jesus
- The Western Wall (wailing wall) of the Jerusalem temple, including underground excavations which were truly awe-inspiring.
- The site of the Upper Room.
- The site of the chief priest Caiaphas' house
- A platform overlooking the Valleys of Kid-ron and Gehenna ('Hell")
What a day, At the end of it all, as we overlooked this divided, amazing city - we heard the Muslim call to evening prayer resounding across the valleys, reminding us that the issues here are complex and the history even more so. So much to drink in.
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