Blog 6

Christmas in Bethlehem

This is a very compact part of the world. You can see Tel-Aviv from the hills of Ramallah, Jerusalem is about 35km away and Bethlehem a further 12km further down the road.

The distances don't speak of the complexity of travel and the time that journeys can take under the occupation. It seems as though everybody has their own favourite backway - down steep valley roads, through tiny villages, round and about, this way and that. This does not mean that one can avoid military checkpoints, they're everywhere, just that everybody has a view about which checkpoint will disrupt their life the least. I have read reports of people having to get up at 2.30 am in order to get to work on time by 7.00.

Going to Bethlehem for Christmas we seemed to go a most circuitous route and still had to pass through two checkpoints, three on the return journey. The questions from the soldiers follow a pattern - "where are you going - where have you been - how did you enter the country - who are you going to see - why are you here?" Tempted to ask them the last question myself. It is not uncommon in the Occupied Territories for Israeli soldiers to ask "what are you doing in Israel?" - at least they're honest about their intentions.

Midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity is the thing to do in Bethlehem at Christmas time. I met up with Henrik from Gaza and an English friend of his in Manger Square at 11.00 pm with every intention of going to the service. As we were early we found a bar and got caught up in discussion until 4.00 am - another time perhaps.

The Church of the Nativity is more like a fortress viewed from the outside. Construction started in 326 AD by Constantine's mum with some of the original mosaics still visible. The complex actually consists of a number of churches and is more like a monastery. To enter, you have to crouch down and pass through a very small opening - this, says the guidebooks was to prevent men on horseback entering the church and cutting up the alter boys - fair enough.

Bethlehem sits on a hill and on the adjacent hill, where until March 1997 there stood a forest , now stands the settlement of Har Homa - a gleaming lime stone modern day walled city. It began life as a small military outpost, followed by a few caravans and is now home to many thousands of Israeli settlers. Construction started at the height of the Oslo peace process, during which period (1993-2000) the number of settlers in the Occupied Territories doubled. That's the way things seem to go here. Last week President Abbas met with Prime Minister Olmert, apparently in spirit of co-operation, shortly after which the Israelis announced they would lift, at some unspecified time, 400 road blocks in the West Bank, to ease living conditions here (400 roadblocks is by no means all of them!). Then, a few short days later, according to the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6213193.stm) Israel has just announced the building of a new settlement in the Jordan Valley, starting with 30 houses. This appears to be an annexation being conducted in slow motion, methodically and to a predetermined script.

I think you would require a seriously robust sense of humour to live here.

Back in Ramallah, cold and covered in snow.