Israel Day 4

After gym and breakfast Amin the taxi driver picked me up to take me to Bethlehem. South of Jerusalem on the dual carriageway and I caught my first view of what Palestinians call ‘The wall’ – not the Wailing Wall (Ha Kotel = the wall in Hebrew) but the barrier between Israel and the West Bank. Here, just outside the city, it is a high wall (elsewhere it is a high fence) which would tower over the Berlin Wall. I asked Amin if Hamas had tanks (sarcastically).

We drove through a checkpoint without being stopped and went through Beit Jalel. We stopped at a souvenir shop to change cars and collect a guide – Amin advised me that I didn’t need to pay him as it was included in the 200 NIS I would pay him (about £25), and I got driven a few hundred yards to a quiet square outside a large Church (pictured).

Only then did I realise that we were already in Bethlehem, and this was Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. I had heard so much about the difficult checkpoint where you must leave your car behind – it is on the direct route to the city, and Amin, being local, had taken the indirect route which was much easier.

At this time of day we were ahead of the Tourists – and most of the hawkers as well, which made for a pleasant visit.

The floor of the main Church is wooden, but there are hatches that can be opened to see the mosaic floors just below. The supposed site of the birth of Jesus is in the crypt: the Armenians (I think) were holding a mass (three clergy, no congregation) at the time, but permitted me to come in. I took no photos – didn’t seem appropriate. My guess is that this building is less likely than most to mark a genuine site. Helena, Constantine’s mum, went all over Palestine in the 4th century trying to find holy sites for all the events of Jesus’ life. While there might be some memory of the location of Calvary (itself unlikely when you read the accounts of the Jewish wars and the level of destruction of the city, along with the fanaticism of the Bar Kochba leadership in Jerusalem itself), it is clear from the New Testament accounts that the location of Jesus’ birth was not of value to the early Church.

My guide was a local resident, who, it turned out, is also an evangelist for one of the indigenous Christian churches in Bethlehem. Life is not easy for Christians in this city – in 1948 around 1/3 of the population were Arab Christians, this has shrunk to less than 10% today.
After a ‘retail opportunity’ in which I bought a nice simple olive-wood chalice and some nik-naks, Amin took me back, stopping to show me his family harvesting olives on their farm in West Jerusalem. They’re hidden in the centre of the picture.

Amin had been excused from duty as he was earning decent money driving me around!
When we got back, it was still only 10.30 am – I had thought I would need all day! So we agreed he would come back at 1.30 pm to take me to Jericho.

Back to Jaffa Street for a wander among the pre-Sabbath crowds. There was a street juggler and dancers in the pedestrianised area, quite a festive atmosphere. Also a booth where the Lubavitcher Jews were encouraging the less orthodox to put on Tefillin and say the proper prayers. Actually, he was generally quite a jolly looking guy, I think he was uncomfortable at being photographed, although I did get his permission first.

There were a lot of Lubavitchers around and quite a few posters proclaiming that Rabbi Schneerson was/is HaMelekh HaMeshiach – King Messiah. He died in 1994, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, and some believe he will rise again. Not back yet.
Jericho will await another blog!