November 24, 2000
View from the back of the shared taxi.
Another foray out of Zababdeh. Friday is the day that Abuna Louis heads down to Bethlehem to teach tour guides at the University. We took advantage of this, and a slight improvement in travel restrictions, and joined him in an early morning taxi. The Palestinians in our taxi were visibly anxious as we drove past many settlements. They made it clear that if we were to be stopped, the redhead would be responsible for talking to the settlers. Fortunately that did not happen.
Even in the midst of conflict, the scenery is beautiful.
Again, even in the midst of "war", life must continue, and Palestinian and Israeli vehicles continue to share some of the same roads in the West Bank without incident. The views were stunning as we drove down through the Jordan valley, passed a completely blocked-off Jericho.
The vacant Church of the Nativity.
Some of the glass ornaments on sale at the International Center of Bethlehem.
Once in Bethlehem, we were able to see some of the sites, including the Church of the Nativity. We visited a local craft workshop, run by the International Center of Bethlehem which is supported by Christmas Lutheran Church, that has glass-blowing and ceramics studios. Elizabeth was happy to see the wealth of green, brown, and clear bottles, brought in by children for a few shekels, destined to become beautiful new bottles, jars, glasses, and ornaments. (We bought a nice green glass bottle for our Zababdeh olive oil). Unfortunately, because of the closures, they have been unable to make the necessary repairs to fix their intense-heat glass-blowing oven. It is difficult to find a part of daily life that hasn't been touched by the current situation.
The pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church told us that the church is providing emergency shelter for families whose homes have been demolished by the regular night-time bombings of Beit Jala. We chatted with an American volunteer at the church, who said that almost every night the gunfire and rockets keep him and his wife awake. Bethlehem has mostly escaped these raids, but is facing a different devastation. The tourist industry has all but shut down, and almost all tour groups have cancelled reservations for Christmas 2000 visits to Bethlehem. The amount of money spent by Palestinians in preparation for the masses of pilgrims to Bethlehem for Christmas 2000 appears all but lost at this point.
While visiting the Bethelehem Bible College, we heard two explosions - Israeli tanks responding to Palestinians by hitting the Paradise Hotel twice. We were reminded that this town is not immune from violence, either.
Even though we returned early to Zababdeh, we were exhausted. Such events take an unseen toll on everyone.