Bethlehem!!

We got to sleep in on June 26th, relatively speaking anyways. We were moving to another hotel for the night, this one in Bethlehem. So we jumped on a bus and headed the fifteen or so minutes to Bethlehem. Sounds easy enough, and it was...for us. If you aren't a foreigner or an Israeli, things get a little more complicated when you get here...

That is the wall that has drawn so much ire from the the world community. I leave you to your own opinions and thoughts about this fortification.

Our first stop was...

This is the place where the first people outside of Jesus' family heard of his birth. This little chapel is built over the spot where it is held that the shepherds were visited by the angel, "as they watched over their flocks by night..."


I had Christmas songs going through my head the entire time.
We made the same journey that those shepherds made, up the hill to Bethlehem to what is now the Church of the Nativity...

Here is the little tiny entrance...

The little wooden entrance inside the first, that's Professor Wing leading the way to the left...

Finally here is the church interior, packed with Russian tourists...
The Basilica itself was built in 565 by Emperor Justinian. These columns and mosaics are from the original construction...


Here is a picture of the main altar...

Here is the adjoining Church of St. Catherine, which you may have seen when Christmas live from Bethlehem is shown...

We didn't go down into the Grotto of the Nativity, we came back later. We were staying only five minutes away.

Our next stop was the "refugee camp," of Dheisheh. Founded in 1948 after the Israeli War of Independence for 3,400 refugees, it now is home to four times that number. It is a little less than a square kilometer, but with that many people in that small a space, a little bit goes a long way. Just so you know, 80% of the population are children under the age of 18. That was what was most heart rending, seeing so many children, happy as could be. One of my companions said it best, "I am sad that they're happy with this...
We visited an NGO for the children and took a tour with one of the volunteers. I took this picture because it reminded me of our first day in the Holy Land at the Western Wall. Again, I thought it was appropriate...
We then went to meet with an assortment of Palestinians at the Palestinian Bar Association. There was a judge, several lawyers, and one very outspoken prosecutor. She was formidable. It was actually really refreshing to hear all of them talk so frankly, ask us so many questions, and explode into debate amongst themselves.

After that it was back to the Nativity to see the place where the manger sat. It is down below the main altar of the church in the Nativity Grotto, marked with a star

Here I am praying there...

That too, was a moving experience for me. This trip filled me with hope, despair, thoughts, arguments, confusion, and faith. I haven't come to a conclusion for myself, on anything, but I know it will come. The world to, must come to a conclusion on this situation, but it is even more confused than I am. I am not sure whether that is a comforting or a disheartening thought.