Currently governed by the Palestinian National Authority, the city of Bethlehem is important to both Christian and Jewish communities. The Bible says Bethlehem is the city where David was born, later becoming the king of Israel. The city also contains one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and is known as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth.
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| The wall |
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| Manger Square, Bethelem |
Bethlehem is only ten minutes from Jerusalem. However, our Israeli driver had to take the circuitous 20-minute route around the heavily fortified border wall. Israeli guides are not allowed to take us to the sites, so he stopped his car and handed us over to a Palestinian driver.
Our Palestinian taxi driver ushered us into The Church of Nativity standing in the spot of the birth of Jesus. The stone exterior is crowned by the three denominations sharing it: the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholic and the Armenian Orthodox. For centuries, the three groups have vied for control. There is an agreement that defines ownership, the timing of ceremonies, the number of oil lamps, etc.
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| Church of the nativity |
This is the oldest standing church in the country. When the Persians invaded in the early 600’s, they destroyed every Christian church and monastery except this one.
The church interior is vast and gloomy. In the central nave, a wooden trapdoor revealed a remnant of a mosaic floor.
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| Place of Jesus's birth |
We were quickly shown the way down some stairs to an altar. On the floor on one side is a 14-point silver star with the Latin inscription (Here of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was born.) On the other side is the manger where the infant Jesus was laid.
We exited and returned to the car of our Israeli driver.
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| Bethelem |
Since our Bethlehem trip was so short, we decided to go to Jericho, the oldest city in the world. Its famous wall was tumbled in ancient times and we could see the pieces that are still standing today. Some of the nearby excavations are over 10,000 years old. Elijah’s spring is still flowing, irrigating the groves of banana trees. There is a hanging monastery with a cable car to transfer visitors to the mountaintop.
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| Israeli Settlements |
We were either in the West Bank or drove along side the separation wall most of the day. The West Bank is that part of the one-time British Mandate of Palestine, west of the Jordan River. Earlier, it was considered to be the Kingdom of Transjordan. The territory was lost to Israel in the Six-Day war of 1967. Jordan’s King Hussein subsequently abandoned his claim.
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| Bedouin camps |
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| Bedouin Goats |
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| Hanging Monastary |
Following the Oslo Accords in 1993, much of the West Bank has been turned over to the Palestine Authority. It is a kidney-shaped area about the size of Delaware (Israel is often compared in size to the state of New Jersey). The large majority of 2 million Arabs are Muslim, with a minority of Christians mostly living in Bethlehem.
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| The walls of Jerico |
Although violence has subsided significantly since 2005, many visitors still avoid the West Bank. We felt comfortable and safe.
