Israel: Part IX--Bethlehem

Political spoiler alert: We came back a little more pro-Palestinian than I expected. As I've stated before, the political situation is complicated, and I don't pretend to understand it AT ALL. But it was eye-opening to be faced with it in person.

Bethlehem is in the West Bank, which means it is Palestinian. While only 5 miles south of Jerusalem, it is divided from Jerusalem by a big 20-foot cement wall built by Israel that extends 450 miles. The Palestinians use their side as a giant canvas for artwork of all varieties, but most of it political. It's purpose: to keep Palestinians out of Israel, which is all fine and dandy if you're Israeli.

Bethlehem, while Arab, used to be mostly Christian, like 70%. In the past few years, the population, mostly the Christian population, has dwindled, and now is only about 30% Christian. I found this interesting, because we think of Arabs as Muslim, and that's not always true. We also think of Arabs as anti-Israel, but there are Arab communities within Israel's borders that are Muslim and support Israel. One such group are the Druze, who are Muslim, but their children attend Israeli schools, serve in the Israeli military, and they receive Israeli health benefits and pay taxes. Again, complicated.

While in Bethlehem, we visited the obvious tourist attraction, the Church of the Nativity. It is built over the cave believed to be the birthplace of the Savior. Three different churches share a building and hold their individual services there: the Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and the Armenian Apostolic.

The star in the floor marks the very spot believed to be where the Savior was actually born. We waited in a LONG line to get in there, and then waited behind Catholics (we think) who knelt down in that very small space to kiss the star. The stained glass above is a lovely depiction of the Nativity.

We also visited an olive wood factory, which was an OSHA nightmare, but enjoyable. You know, power tools without guards, people breathing in sawdust without wearing masks, etc. Much of the olive wood stuff is carved by hand. The places that do it mostly with machine sell lesser quality at much cheaper prices.

After visiting the olive wood factory, we shopped in the associated souvenir shop. Before we were set free to look around, the owner asked if he could talk to us for a minute. He asked us to pray for them and the Israelis, that the conflict could be resolved. He is proud of his heritage, but told us that he has more friends on the Israeli side of the wall than the Palestinian side. He was sincere in his plea for peace. I came away from that experience believing that most of the people on both sides just want to live their lives, without fear and conflict.

We also met a young man named Abraham, who was Palestinian Christian. (That's him in the middle.) He gave me a different perspective on the devisiveness of Israeli-Palestinian life. He explained that several weeks before, a Palestinian man had gone into a Jewish school and shot some kids, and that because of his crazy, single-minded actions, there had been repercussions in Bethlehem. The Israeli army had come through and gunned down four men in the street, claiming they were behind the shooting in the school. They weren't involved. One of the men who was killed was standing next to his twelve-year-old son. Abraham explained that now, when the kid grows up wanting revenge, and decides to go over the wall and kill someone, the Israelis will call him a terrorist. But he wouldn't be if he hadn't watched his father die right in front of him for no reason. Abraham felt that the Israelis sometimes incite the situation. He's probably right.