Guns 'N Moses

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The MV Cristal sailed into the port of Ashdod on the coast of Israel early on Tuesday and the tour boarded a coach bound for the city of Jerusalem. During the hour, we drove through the very traditional Jewish quarter where they follow each and every custom. It was quite weird seeing men in full black pantsuits with white shirts, big black hats and long curls beside their ears…but with iPods poking out the sides. Modern culture certainly hasn’t been forgotten in Israel.

Next on the tour was a stop at the picturesque Mount of Olives. This spot gives you a beautiful view of Jerusalem and all allows you to see how close all the main religious sites are to one another. There was a little bit of a breeze but the sun was beating down strongly and the temperature was definitely up around the low to mid thirties. Just around the corner from the lookout was the Church of All Nations and the well known garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. These spots are in fantastic condition and are very tourist-friendly.

We hopped back on the coach to make our way to the West Wall precinct. This is a very religious site where the original walls of Jerusalem city stand. Hundreds of pilgrims make their way to this area to visit the Wailing Wall. This is considered a sacred area where followers pray and give thanks for the sacrifices of Jesus giving his life on the cross and God for giving his only son to the world. It’s also a place where people can place paper with their prayers written on. There are literally thousands of tiny pieces of paper wedged into the wall. This area is sectioned off into sides for each men and women, because apparently the men ‘can’t concentrate when they can see the women praying near them’. The men also have to have their heads covered and everyone has to wear church dress; covered shoulders and knees. There are a lot of military men walking around this area. The most disconcerting part about this is that they don’t wear an official uniform- and look SO young! Most of them look around the age of sixteen, with huge rifles draped over their shoulders. They are very relaxed though and are there purely for the protection of the thousands of people who pass through the sacred area each day.

From the Wall we walked the path of the Via Della Rosa, the path Jesus walked with the cross on his back to the hill where he was crucified. Today, this path cuts right through the built-up Bazaar shopping area, with its tiny cobblestone laneways and overflowing stalls. There are small roman numerals to mark each point of significance along Via Della Rosa; for example, where Jesus stopped to rest or be washed by Mary. There are no large plaques with such information and if you didn’t have a guide book you probably wouldn’t even notice them. Nonetheless, they are there, and it’s hard not to feel overcome when you finally arrive at the Church where Jesus was crucified and his body entombed. There is a stone upon the top levels to mark where his cross pierced the ground and many people line up to touch the stone and pray. On the lower levels is his tomb, from where he rose again to life. This line is even longer, and only five people are allowed in at a time.

Next it was off to the neighbouring country of Palestine to visit Bethlehem. The political climate between Israel and Palestine is touchy, to say the least. Israelis are not allowed into Palestine and vice versa. Our Israeli tour guide had to get off the coach before the border and just after we passed through the Customs gates we picked up a new Palestinian guide. The economy is clearly not flourishing as much as it is in Israel and there is quite a bit of poverty to be seen on the quiet streets. Our tour guide took us to a church that was built around 500AD over the site where Jesus was born in a manger. You have to duck down to get through the tiny door and unlike the grand Mosques of Turkey and huge cathedrals of England, this small traditional church is very understated. Nonetheless, I felt the biggest connection here as I waited to descend down into the tiny room where Jesus was born. Under the alter, there is an intricate silver star on the tiles to mark the exact spot of earth. Touching this star, it’s hard not to take stock of the chain of events which emanated from this very area that has affected history so strongly over the past two-thousand-and-ten years. Next door to this church, is the Roman Catholic Church where they televise midnight mass on Christmas Eve to millions around the world. This is quite a modern church, but still quite small as the area around the site has to be divvied amongst the different sects of Christianity.

The Palestinian guide took us back to the border where we crossed back over and picked our Israeli guide back up again. He translated the questions of the border security, asking us if we packed our own shopping bags and if anyone asked us to bring anything back into Israel for them. Only once before have I experienced such strict border security and that was in the neutral country of Switzerland. From the border it was back to the ship for an eight-pm departure. We sailed all night in order to reach the top of the continent of Africa, to Port Said in Egypt.

All night I thought about how amazing it was to have visited the sites of such strong historical significance in both Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Yet, their history dated back only an odd two-thousand years. Just when I thought it couldn’t get anymore breathtaking, tomorrow I would be seeing structures built over five-thousand years ago. With all the excitement, it was a restless night indeed.

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