I had signed up for a tour to go to Bethlehem and Jericho. I still wasn't feeling confident enough to go to the West Bank without an organized group, and particularly for these two locations, which had no Jewish significance or presence. I was also feeling a little paranoid that somehow people would be able to "tell" that I was Jewish, so I even chose the date I took the tour very consciously: it was Saturday, meaning it was Shabbat, and anyone hopping on busses and going to Palestine would most likely be NOT Jewish.
I really didn't have any reason to be THAT paranoid, but these are all things I told myself (and my parents) to give me added security. Now that I've been there, I'm itching to go back, in much more daring contexts, and the only thing holding me back is money and time. If there's one thing I learned about the West Bank, it's this: it is quite safe if you are a foreigner, particularly an American foreigner. Palestinians want your business, are desperate for tourism, anything to stimulate their economy, and aren't going to do anything to hurt that fragile balance like mess with a foreigner. Political reasons / aspirations aside, life is very hard for Palestinians, and most are focused on maintaining a living for themselves and their families.
The tour company was pretty disorganized - so disorganized, in fact, I can't even tell you what company I went with. I booked it through Egged, which is apparently just an umbrella organization that puts together several different operators and has this giant matrix of connections. I wound up on one bus picking me up outside the Old City (which was late), which took me to a random location in East Jerusalem with many more busses, where I got on a new bus to take us to Bethlehem. Once we were through the checkpoint, we got on yet another bus, this one being the local tour operator bus (they couldn't be the ones to pick us up in Jerusalem, since they are Palestinian and cannot pass through the checkpoints into the "green zone" of Israel proper).
Our first stop in Bethlehem was the Church of the Nativity - built on top of the steeple where Jesus was born. It is a really, really, really fascinating building, from many perspectives - art history, history history, current religious politics - and honestly, it's one of my favorite sites in the Holy Land. So beautiful.
Outside the Church of the Nativity
The several blocked-up doorways of the Church of the Nativity - made smaller and smaller for various reasons. The super-small entrance now is to keep animals like mules out.
Inside the Church of the Nativity, heading down into the Steeple (now functionally the crypt of the church).
Crosses carved into the columns
Down inside the Steeple - you can see my tour guide in the center. He's Palestinian-American (holds American citizenship, but lives in Palestine), and one of the 30% Christian population of Bethlehem.
Me, touching the spot where Jesus was born.
One of the side wings of the Church of the Nativity
The Greek Orthodox altar of the Church of the Nativity - there are a few churches that control the Church, and they actually get in fights with each other over things like transgressing on each others' space during ceremonial cleanings on holidays (we're talking, monks swinging at each other with broom handles).
4th-century mosaic from the first church - the current church, from the 6th century, was built on top of the ruins, but a surprising amount of the original mosaic was preserved as a result. This mosaic covered the entire floor of the original church.
Even some of the paintings on the wall from when the church was built in the 6th century survive - there's some that was preserved enough to be restored across the church.
Me, in the Church of the Nativity!
Down in the Catholic-controlled part of the Steeple. The Steeple was a stone cavelike natural structure used the way we'd use a barn (hence, our classic nativity image as we understand it today) - but really, it was more like a cave than a barn.
The Catholic wing built on to the side of the Church of the Nativity - the services here on Christmas are broadcasted across the world. (I'd imagine so are the Orthodox churches, but they observe Christmas on a different day, sometime in January, and it's probably not a big thing on American network TV).
The church is on one side of, appropriately enough, Manger Square, which is apparently an insane place to be on Christmas. I would have tried to come then if I hadn't still been on Birthright.
Manger Square, complete with a Christmas tree and a mosque.
After the Church of the Nativity, we walked through the old part of Bethlehem (like Jerusalem, dating back to the Ottomans) to the Milk Grotto. Local tradition holds that in this grotto, Mary nursed Jesus, and the walls of the church are said to have properties to help cure infertility. There is no written mention of this in the Bible, but it's a tradition held by the locals for centuries few people outside Palestine have heard about.
Entrance to the Milk Grotto.
Descending down into the church.
Inside the Milk Grotto church.
After the Milk Grotto church, we were driven down to the Shepherd's Field, a little complex built up around the area farmed by shepherds in biblical times where it is assumed they saw the star telling them about the birth of Jesus.
Entrance to Shepherd's Field
Small chapel inside a natural rock cave many shepherds have been using since biblical times as shelter.
Chapel built by the same Italian architect that built the Florentine church on the Mount of Olives in the 1950's.
Entrance to the chapel.
View out over olive trees, fields and Bethlehem.
At this point, our Bethlehem tour was done. We then were left at a gift shop to do our souvenir shopping - almost everything there was made by hand, by the locals, with local materials - it's easy to believe this, since Palestinians can't leave Palestine and there are not a lot of resources coming in either; they have to do most things by hand with the materials around them. It was nice to be able to trust that something truly comes from the land you are visiting, rather than worry it's a cheap Chinese import (a relatively new problem in Israeli markets), and I picked up a beautiful hand carved cross for my aunt (and one for me as well).
We were finally picked up by our original Israeli bus and taken back to Jerusalem to drop people off not continuing on to Jericho, and because it's faster to rout through Jerusalem than go through the numerous checkpoints between Bethlehem and Jericho within the West Bank.
The concrete wall with protest art, on our way to the checkpoint leaving Bethlehem.
On the way to Jericho, even though we were not yet joined by our new Palestinian guide (waiting for us inside Jericho), our driver pointed out points of interest along the way, including the Inn of the Good Samaritan, the site Muslims believe to be the location of Moses's grave (Jews don't believe his grave is known / can be known, since Moses himself didn't want to become someone/thing to be worshipped), and the point where the elevation is sea level (much of the Judaen desert is below sea level). It was nice he gave us that information as we traveled so it wasn't just a long ride of silence.
Our driver and his camel-owning friend, where we stopped to give him some business at the Sea Level markation (most of the van actually took him up on a little camel ride).
Artistic hand sculpture at sea level.
Bedouin encampment on the side of the highway.
Islamic holy site - where they believe Moses is buried.
Wild camels as we drove in to Jericho.
We first stopped at the visitor's center to get lunch. I didn't feel like paying $11 for a questionable-looking buffet, so I opted to buy a couple oranges in the market out front and explore the building. I climbed all the way to the roof and got a pretty nice view of Jericho:
View overlooking Jericho. Can you tell it's an oasis?
View overlooking the Old City ruins of Jericho, which we would get to explore later, and a refugee encampment beyond.
Typical Jericho scene, with the Old City and the new cable car line in the back.
Jericho's claim to fame is its continued existance - its archaeological records reveal that it was first settled at least 10,000 years ago. It is the site of Joshua's takeover in the Bible, when the "walls came tumblin' down." I got to see some of those walls, which is absolutely crazy.
Our guide met us after we watched a short film about the ruins of Tel es-Sultan (the Old City ruins), which we then had an extensive tour viewing. Even though it's just a pile of dirt and rubble now, it was incredible to see how much had been uncovered and how much archaeologists know about this place. Also, we studied these ruins in my art history class a couple years ago, so it was amazing to actually be standing near/on top of them.
Neolithic tower
Myself by the Neolithic tower, with the sun setting behind the Judaen mountains.
More ruins at Tel Es-Sultan
More ruins at Tel Es-Sultan
The Jericho cable cars soaring over the ruins at Tel Es-Sultan, up to the monastery.
Me in front of the city gates of Tel Es-Sultan
We had two more short stops left on the tour: the Sycamore Tree and a view of the Greek monastery. The Sycamore Tree is only 1,000 years old, but it is supposedly very near the site the original Sycamore tree once stood that Zacchaeus climbed in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus passing through Jericho. It stands on property owned by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Sycamore tree.
The Greek monastery is called the Monastery of the Temptation. It is build above the cave tradition holds that Jesus spend his 40 days and 40 nights of meditation and fasting during the temptation of Satan. The modern monastery was just built last century, but the first one built on the site was built by the Byzantines around the 6th century (around the same time the now-standing Church of the Nativity was built).
Monastery of the Temptation
Me in front of the Monastery of the Temptation.
We got back to Jerusalem after sunset, after Havdala, and the city was again awake and buzzing with the end of Shabbat. It was New Year's Eve, but that doesn't have a very big meaning in Israel, where most people follow the Jewish calendar. We wished our Palestinian guides a Happy New Year, and they wished us a Happy New Year as well, but once we were back to the Jewish-dominant areas it was as if the day didn't exist... very strange for an American to experience. I didn't feel like going out to find a party, where it would just be foreigners desperate to also find a party, and I went to bed at a reasonable hour. (The midnight curfew also helped me come to this decision).
I was awoken by very loud bangs, which when in the Middle East is not the ideal sound to be surprised with, but realized it was just kids setting off fireworks in the street. I was surprised by this display of excitement at the New Year with what I'd come to understand about the Israeli attitude towards it, until I realized my hostel, while Jewish and in the Jewish quarter, was right next to the Armenian quarter and not far from the Christian quarter. There was joyous yelling and loud banging, as well as a massive upwelling of church bells, as the clock struck midnight. While I was not out on the street experiencing any of it, it was a special energy to experience, and I went back to sleep when it had died down a bit (after about 20 minutes), ready to leave Jerusalem in the morning for my southern adventure.
As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos
here in my blog. To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels,
see my Flickr album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/
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