Jerusalem Second Day

Bethlehem is not far from the centre of Jerusalem but it is difficult for many residents of either place to move easily from one to the other. Most Israelis are not able to enter the Bethlehem area. This brought back memories of the people on the plane from Crete and their statement, “You can go anywhere!” The area is controlled by the Palestinian authority but there are many Israeli settlements nearby. As ‘tourists’ we are usually waved through the checkpoints.

Our first stop is at the Bethlehem YMCA, one of the first YMCAs in the world! They run a trauma counselling service which has attracted worldwide interest. They help rehabilitate people with psychological problems arising mostly from the first intifada which ended in 1991 and after. They particularly concentrate on young people to whom they also provide help with physical handicaps. They run a school for boys and hope to start one for girls as soon as they acquire dormitory space.

The YMCA also has the “Shepherd’s Cave” where some of the shepherds who were around when Jesus was born would have taken shelter. We visit the cave where people are removing concrete to take the cave floor down to the original bedrock.

We then go to the Church of the Nativity. Having recently been amazed that I was living in a 700 year old building in Florence, I now have to set my mind to a church which was built in the fifth century. I am particularly fascinated when I descend into the cave used by St Jerome to write the Vulgate up to 420 AD when he died still in Bethlehem. He believed that to be the birthplace of Jesus.

I am surprised that there are so few people visiting the church. We descend to the spot where Jesus is now supposed to have been born and then move across the room to the rock on which the manger is said to have stood. We also visit the church next door where the televised Christmas service takes place. But all around the church there are many bullet marks and damage from mortar attacks resulting from the siege when Palestinians sought sanctuary in the church during the second intifada.

The narrow lanes of Bethlehem are extremely busy as we walk up to the Dar al-Kalima school which runs courses in Film making, Pottery, Painting, Photography and hopefully Music. There is still a hole in the roof of the Pottery Studio resulting from one of the mortar attacks on the school during the second intifada. The school has an excellent performance area and we taste their excellent food when we have lunch.

After lunch we visit Aida refugee camp. This camp is full of people evicted from their homes in 1948 or when Israel expanded its borders in 1991. They have made an enormous key which they have placed at the entrance to the camp. This is a reminder to us that these people still have the keys to their houses now occupied by Israelis or built over since they were acquired. The camp sits right next to the “wall” and there are many observation towers along this section. We take an extended walk along the wall to an extraordinary place where the wall has wrapped itself around a house. Nobody gives us an explanation of why this was done.

We next go to another checkpoint and walk up the hill to the village of Nu’aman which has actually been cut off by the wall; a barrier at this point. Because the village is now inside the wall, they are deemed ‘illegal’. All the houses and the school are therefore liable for demolition. They have difficulty crossing the wall barrier because of the special permits needed to reach shops or work. If they do manage to reach the shops, they often have chickens, rice etc.. confiscated on their return.

Of particular concern is the fact that the Nu’aman children must cross the barrier to attend school. One primary schoolgirl lost two fingers when her hand was caught in the automatic gate. The guards did nothing to help her and the children had to get help from the village to prevent her from bleeding to death. The EAPPI(Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme of Palestine and Israel) volunteers have been helping the children. EAPPI is sponsored by the WCC (World Council of Churches).

We conclude the day by walking through the Bethlehem checkpoint using the Palestinian route, much to the annoyance of the guards. It’s a labyrinth!! It takes ages for the Palestinians to get through so they start lining up at three o’clock in the morning to make sure they can reach the Jerusalem side in time to get work. The EAPPI monitors all the activities at this checkpoint. We notice weapons trained on us as we emerge from the checkpoint.

It is with somewhat questioning minds that we collect our evening meal in the cathedral refectory. What an easy life we have compared with everyone we have met today!