Betelehemu! Betelehemu!

Yesterday morning, after a lovely run around the Hebrew University campus (I do run here and I still have to take showers afterward - no fantasy vacation here), we set out to go to Bethlehem, which actually implies leaving Israel and entering the West Bank, which is considered Palestine, and must therefore include a trip through the Separation Wall. This is a high security military operation. This wall is 8 meters tall and stretches 770 kilometers (by comparison, the Berlin wall was 3.6 meters high and stretched for 155 kilometers). They mean serious business. Palestinians may call it a land-grab (there are other parts to that, like LOTS of Israeli settlements being built in the West Bank) and Israelis call it security, but the fact of the matter is suicide bombings in Jerusalem have virtually stopped since the barrier was built. And a lot of land and freedom have been taken. Okay, on to the next topic…..

The Bethlehem University is awesome. If you need a cause to which to donate – this is a really good one. I haven’t really shared any political views throughout my blogging, but here’s a glimpse into my mind of what’s going to be an effective source of resolution for this conflict, at least on the Palestinian side. I think that a change of national identity and focus is vital for Palestinians, especially the upcoming generation. What I mean by that is that many Palestinians see their nation and people as martyrs and not much else. As Americans I don’t think we can imagine not having “Old Glory” and baseball games and “purple mountain majesties” and “The American Dream” come to mind whenever we hear, “America!” or “USA.” That’s part of our national image and it means that the sky is the limit. That is not the case for a lot of Palestinians. Children’s books catch this theme of being oppressed by the development of the state of Israel (and really, there’s a lot of truth to that), so from a very early age, they are often conditioned to not look at the possibilities for breaking out of the cycle and changing to situation, which is part of why the conflict continues. BEFORE YOU CAST STONES AT THIS…remember that this is only half of the story. Not even half. I have plenty to say about both sides, both for and against. But this is the part that has something to do with our visit to Bethlehem University. Anyway, the university gives many young Palestinians the chance to get a great education and make a great future for themselves. Most, even if they go to other countries for school, want to return to live in Palestine. This is a group of individuals who can help the effort to move into the future of trying to resolve conflict between the two countries. It is a Catholic school, so the student body is a mix of Christians and Muslims. We were toured around, had a Q&A session with three students and then got to mingle with the students in the courtyards of the school. Some of the guys even played pick-up basketball with the student. They are just like us.
We ate lunch in a Bedouin tent restaurant. Fun! But they forgot to tell us that another course was coming after the pita and dips course. I hate being overly full and I could commiserate with Mary a little bit as we strolled through the streets of Bethlehem toward the Church of the Nativity, which is the traditional birthplace of the Savior, feeling uncomfortable large. :P





The Church is really neat, and big, and OLD. It’s the oldest surviving church in all of Christianity. There was a huge crowd there, but we made our way down to grotto which is beneath the altar. It’s basically a cave. Stick your hand through the 14 pointed star and you’re touching the stone on which the birth occurred. Turn around and you see the manger (carved out stone), where Baby Jesus was laid. There are three denominations that share this church: Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic. I didn’t really get to see the interaction between them, but I’ve heard how a similar situation works (or causes scuffles) at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City.

Uncovered original mosaic floors, dating back to the 4th Century and Emperor Justinian

Really cool 4th century pillars

Rock where the birth happened(?)

Manger (?)

Pretty angel

Leading to the Nativity Grotto

For every church in the Holy Land there's a mosque

Hi, Allie!

Back to that separation wall. It’s easy to get through to Palestine (unless you’re Israeli, in which case it is in fact forbidden by your government), but coming back to Jerusalem is a challenge – basically impossible if you don’t have a proper permit, which you can get if you work in the Jerusalem (like our Relief Society President does – she’s my hero, by the way), are a student, are a Palestinian living in Jerusalem (interestingly, this group has no official nationality), or it’s Christmas and you’re lucky enough to get a permit to visit…or you’re a complete foreigner to the area and have a passport. But even then it can take hours to get through the checkpoint. Apparently, the Israeli soldiers guarding the checkpoint tend to give the crossing Palestinians a pretty hard time. For a few minutes our bus was stopped, straddling the border and it just so happens that I was sitting with one foot in Palestine and one in Israel! Talk about conflict! But eventually we got home. This was a really cool experience. We don’t get to go into the West Bank often. It’s such a touchy situation, but actually being there was wonderful. And I didn’t feel like I was in any danger.