The holiest place, or may be the second holiest place for Christians, after The Church of Holy Scepulcher, where Jesus was crucified, is the Church of Nativity, where Jesus was born, in Bethlehem.
Me and DH finished half a day of Jerusalem tour and in the afternoon, headed towards Bethlehem (Please refer to map from earlier posts). There is a huge wall being built separating Israel and Palestine. Bethlehem is in Palestine although its only 10 kms from Jerusalem. The guide said, Jerusalem is now a bit safer for tourists only because of the wall, else we all wouldnt be visiting Jerusalem. We were to get off our van near the wall, at the checkpoint, go through the checkpoint, show our passports, and into Palestine. Our guide was not allowed inside Palestine. No Israelis are. Another guide and van, from Palestine was waiting for us to take us to the Church of Nativity.
A sense of sadness crept into me as I saw 'Peace be with you' written on the Palestine walls.
The moment we entered Palestine, we were able to sense the poverty. There were little kids trying to sell soveniors and postcards, brushing by you, begging to buy. The place looked rundown.
I had my own doubts of whether we needed Israeli Visa to get back to the other side. We had a Single Entry Visa you see. And it certainly didnt seem like fun to be stranded in Palestine. I found the guide and the driver to be very friendly, with lot of warm smiles, unlike those in Israel.
The Church was not magnificent, or splendid, it was an old simple brick structure and we had to enter through a very small door, called the Door the Humility. we had to bend ourselves to enter the holy place. The Church itself was Greek Orthodox. Inside it was very well decorated. We had to go underground, to see the place where Jesus was born and the manger were Jesus was kept. Most of the places of significance we saw was under normal land. The whole story flashed in front of my eyes.
We came back up to see the architecture of the Church, which itself was built many hundred years ago, and had its own history. I said my prayers, we took some pictures and headed out. Once outside, we heard some 'pat pat pat pat' sounds from faraway like gunshots. Most of us got scared and asked the Guide what that was. He laughed and told us it wasnt anything serious.
Most of the colleagues at work had scared me saying its not safe to visit Bethlehem. I was scared too, but what the heck, I probably wont be visiting these places ever again in my life, and these are places worth visiting atleast once in a life time. I decided to just wait for DH to visit and go there together, so that even if something happens, it will affect both of us. Yes, till death do us apart. ;--)
We stopped at a Souvenior shop, did some shopping. I felt sorry for anyone I saw there. I have read about Palestinians and how much they are suffering, and how much injustice was done to them. And here they were going about their normal lives. This is also another first time for me. First time to be in a place of so much tension and dispute. I wonder how they are able to take it. Suddenly they are thrown out of their own homes, and are restricted to this little piece of land, not allowed to use the facilities of the country, like they are not allowed to use the Ben Gurion Airport apparently. The other border countries, like Lebanon and Jordan have been helping them looks like, but not enough. I dont know much about politics, so I cant comment. But I do feel sad to know that these people are not able to lead a normal life.
I havent read much about the Kashmir issue, but I suppose its similar there as well, between India and Pakistan.
Till I visited Palestine, I was afraid of going to the Arab areas in Israel. I guess the fear was instilled into me by people around me. That its unsafe. Well, what about people living there, in 'unsafe territory' day in and day out, every day of every year.
We headed back to the checkpoint. On this side of the wall, which I missed seeing when we entered, was a drawing of a hand, with five fingers, with GOD written on the palm, and on each finger tip was written, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist.
I dont know, I guess its complicated. I suppose its the play of the politicians for money, as some said, playing with people's lives.
The soldier at the checkpoint let us into Israel, as we showed our Passports, they didnt check for Visa. Our guide was waiting for us, we were glad to be back, although my heart was definitely heavy. We were stopped by some more Israeli soldiers, one of whom got into the Van and asked us all to show our passports. And then we were back on our way to Jerusalem, then towards Tel Aviv. These places looked so much nicer and richer compared to Palestine.
Thus ended yet another journey into history.
After I was back I read some more about Palestine. And I read this news. A shiver went through my spine.
It does hurt to see so much grief and dispute.At work, as I have said earlier, all Isralis are supposed to spend three years in army after their schooling. and army calls people to work on Reserve Duty, like how in US we get Jury Duty calls. I have seen people take off from work for weeks. But I am not sure what kind of tasks they are given, mostly desk jobs? They are also caught between the safety of Israelis and the humiliation of Palestinians I suppose. I have no words to say.
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On a totally different note, today is a special day. SK's budday. What is special about this budday, I realized only now, is SK turns 28 on the 28th of June. And it happens only once. Or who knows, there may be sequels. ;--P
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