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Published: June 16th 2017
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Geo: 31.0461, 34.8516
I have waited to post about this day because it was quite overwhelming. After breakfast we left the Bedouin camp and headed off to visit the Duhaishe Camp for Palestinian refugees and then onto Bethlehem.
The camp was established in 1948/49 to temporarily house Palestinians who fled their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The conflict over returning to their homes is still unresolved so the camp is actually a small city unto itself. This is an extremely complicated situation with apparently no willingness by anyone involved to compromise in any way. Our Palestinian guide was 19 and believes, as his father and grandfather do, that they should be able to return to their exact town/home. I am confused about who controls what but the people living in this camp get aid from the UN and it feels like they are using their desire to return to a specific home as an excuse to not improve their current situation. There is nothing stopping them from leaving, getting a better education and getting work outside the camp. I will not comment further because this is purely my impression of what I heard and saw. The graffiti around the camp is
very scary to an outsider but has very strong meaning to the residents. Our Israeli guide admitted afterward that he was very scared being there. Our Arab Israeli driver would not get out of the bus.
We moved on to Bethlehem and did a quick tour of The Church of the Nativity. The church houses the birthplace of Jesus and the manger where the "three kings" arrived bearing gifts. The entrance to the church is a low doorway that has its own legends. One story is that the door was installed by the Muslims during their rule to remind Christians that they were guests in the country and must bow to their hosts. An alternative explanation is that the height of the door was designed to prevent unbelievers from entering the church on horseback. Another version holds that it was to protect the Christians from their hostile neighbors. The church is divided into five naves by four rows of Corinthian pillars with pictures of the apostles on them. The names are written in Greek and Latin and many visitors have carved their own signatures over the centuries. The floor of the nave has a hole that allows you to see what
remains of the Byzantine mosaics that covered the original church floor.
The Altar of the Nativity sits below a silver and gold chandelier. Stairways on either side of the main altar lead to a grotto. A fourteen-point silver star embedded in white marble indicates the birthplace of Christ. An inscription reads, Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est ("Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary"😉. Fifteen lamps burn around the spot. Nearby is the Chapel of the Manger, where Mary placed the baby Jesus. Like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, various Christian denominations share control over different parts of the church. The grotto is under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Even in this tense environment, it was very busy with tourists from all over the world.
The drive back to Jerusalem gave us a good view of Jewish settlements abutting Palestinian controlled (not sure if that is the right term) areas.
It was great to get back to Jerusalem. The weather has turned nasty - rain, wind, cold but it has not put a damper on the group's desire to see the city.
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nmarx
non-member comment
What a journey you are having - amazing! Be safe (so glad you are not in Tel Aviv now).