History Repeats

Note:  This post is out of order with our itinerary.  We got caught up in our enthusiasm for our safari adventures in Africa and had to write about them as soon as we could.  Bethlehem is a bit more complex to sum up then our animal sightings.

 Bethlehem.  This name conjures up, for us, the birthplace of Christ, the manger, shining stars, wise men and their gifts, peace on earth, goodwill towards men.  For our entire lives, in our minds eye, Bethlehem has been placed on a pedestal.  It’s the place where Christianity started.  Where a baby was born that would became the man whom millions and millions now revere and believe is the only path to heaven.  It’s got to be a very special place.  Doesn‘t it?  With anticipation of a relaxed, mellow, spiritual experience we set out to catch the bus to Bethlehem.

We were told that only ‘Arab’ buses or private cabs go to Bethlehem.  Buses are much more fun so we went to the Arab section of Jerusalem and boarded an Arab bus bound for the town we’d heard about since before we could talk.  We were aware that Bethlehem is located in the West Bank and that Israel is building a wall around it.  Even though we’d already seen the people divider from afar it was still incredibly shocking to see it up close and personal.  It is in-your-face immense; with huge concrete slabs in some areas and high barbed wire fences in others.  It’s more then a wall.  It looks like it was designed to withstand a large scale bomb attack.  Israel is definitely protecting itself as if they are at war.  Our short journey to Bethlehem, so far, certainly didn’t live up to the fantasy that our childhood bible study teachers helped to create.

The second our bus crossed the border to the West Bank, things were  poorer, dirtier and friendlier.  To our observations, Muslims make less money, don’t care about trash in their streets, but smile lots more then Jews and Christians.  We made our way to all the important sights; the cave where Christ was born, the cave where Mary nursed Jesus, and the hill where the star shined on the shepherds.

The historical and religious significance of this area wasn‘t lost on us, but it was the wall that fascinated us the most.  The obvious separation that the wall creates is what made us stop and go hummm.  The holy sights were basically churches built over the ground where certain events are deemed to have happened.  And we’d seen lots of churches in the previous 9 months.  As it was just a few days before Christmas, the passageways were very crowded, stinky and hot; not at all the peaceful and tranquil afternoon we had in mind. 

The graffiti and spray paint art on the wall (on the West Bank side) was riveting.  We read all of the English language markings and decoded the drawings.  It was blatantly obvious that the wall is not a symbol to the Palestinians as one of cooperation, communication or community. 

Passing through security back to the Israeli side was equally as surprising as the wall.  We stood in the long slow line amongst some Palestinians who told us they do this everyday to go back and forth from their homes to their work.  We only had to deal with the delays and the crowds once and were frustrated.  We felt loads of empathy for these people and their plight for  this daily hassle just to put food on their families tables.  We learned that until a man is 30 years old and has a wife and a child he is unable to cross the boundary into Israel.  (Ethnic Profiling.)  It’s such a waste not to allow a young man to try to find work in the more prosperous side of the land.   

We recognize that Israel has dealt with a major loss of life due to the suicide bombers from the West Bank and the wall is meant to protect them.  We feel for both sides.  We find it ironic, though, that just 65-70 years ago, Jewish people were put behind walls and imprisoned in their own communities.  And today we wonder why the world let it happen.  It seems now they are doing something similar to the Palestinians.  If it wasn’t right to do then, is it right to do now?

What we thought was going to be a serene day of touring Bethlehem turned into a day of odorous crowds and worse smelling political policies.  We would never deny that Israel deserves to live in peace in it’s own state.  We just believe that this wall is not the real solution to achieve this goal.  In 1989, a similar wall fall.  The Berlin wall.  40 years of keeping people separate crumbled in to a heap of rubble, marking a new dawn and the end of a tragic era.  Do we ever learn from history? Or just repeat it?  Walls don’t need be built, policies need to change.  On both sides of this issue.  No wall can replace common sense, discussion and negotiation.

How We Spent the Holidays. In Israel.

The date was the only visible reminder that the holidays were approaching. While we were in Jerusalem there were no 50% off sales, no interest free promotions, no blinking lights, no gaudy decorations, no big green trees in living room windows, no rushing around, nothing.  It could’ve been any time of the year.  It was a relief to be in a region of the world that doesn’t celebrate the biggest shopping holiday or Jesus’ birthday like we do in the United States, but there was something that was lacking for us.  We missed the lights of the season.  Day time is so short in December that the extra lights on homes, in store windows and on city trees help chase away some of winter’s darkness.  It was a noticeable absence.  We like the pretty lights! 

At the last minute we decided to drive north for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We’d already been to Bethlehem (more later) so we thought what the heck and headed to the town where Jesus came of age, Nazareth.  Nazareth was intriguing also because it was making headlines with it’s controversial mayor (a Muslim) saying something about banning Christmas trees and cancelling  Christmas.  What is Christmas in Israel without some hullabaloo?!?  It turned out to be a flippant comment that the press blew out of proportion.  Surprise, surprise.

  

We arrived as 10% of the town’s population was celebrating Christmas with a parade through downtown.  We’ve never seen so many people dressed in santa suits.  Walmart has nothing on Nazareth at Christmas for selling the cheapest, crappiest, holiday junk.  Christmas seemed to be more about celebrating with cheesy costumes, balloons and hats then it’s religious significance.  Sound familiar?

Along with the Arab Muslim onlookers, we watched an outdoor church service in which there was a Christian sermon by an Arab minister and carolers singing the popular Christmas songs, in Arabic.  After watching a huge firework display we walked around and noticed that most people were in their homes getting ready to celebrate with friends and family with a barbequed meal.  Charcoal grills were fired up and the smell of burnt carcass was in the air.  Peeking in windows and witnessing all the family gatherings bought on a level of loneliness that we rarely felt during our travels.  We missed our loved ones more then ever as we watched people getting together to share a holiday meal.  Here we were in Nazareth, Israel, two of the very few white people in town, being ripped off by our hotel‘s Christmas pricing, with no ability to bake or cook a meal and with no friends or relatives to share the love.  We were homesick.  The tall, decked out tree in the middle of town helped us feel a bit more at home.  After being in anti-Christmas Jerusalem, it was refreshing to be able to say Merry Christmas and not feel out of place.  At least one thing felt normal. 

For the week between Christmas and New Years, our destinations included the Sea of Galilee, Jordan River and the Dead Sea.  It was nature and the more recent history that interested us more so then the religious history, but it was intriguing to see the famous “Jesus Path”.  We saw where he was baptized, preached, chose his disciples, gave the sermon on the Mount, turned water into wine, fed the masses with 5 loaves of bread, and walked on water.  Tour groups and tour buses converge on these sights and of course, the obligatory souvenir shops.  This part of our Israeli experience was to get outside and hike, bird and enjoy the wide open spaces.

  During this year of travel, we sought out and embraced the lifestyle differences around the world, but this holiday we desired some familiarity.  Christmas wasn’t quite what we expected, but we thought New Year’s Eve, for sure, would be something more like we were used to.  Not in Israel.  Not even in Tel Aviv.  In Israel, if it isn’t a Jewish holiday, it doesn’t get celebrated.  Even the changing of one year to the next.  The calendar the world runs on is a Christian calendar, we were reminded.  I’ve never thought of it as having a religious meaning, but yes, technically it is a Christian based calendar.  Ignorantly, we thought everyone celebrated on New Years Eve.  Even though Tel Aviv revelry was hard to find, we made the best of it, and had a party for 2 and then found a bar owned by a Brit that caters to American and British tourists.  We listened to an extremely loud live band (maybe we’re too old) and then brought 2011 in from the peaceful shores of Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean.

As the holidays go, they were ok.  The retail pressure was wonderful not to be around.  Not hearing holiday songs until we played them from our iPod on the 24th was fantastic.  Seeing where Jesus spent most of his life was fascinating.  Not having to bundle up in winter gear was refreshing.  And thankfully there is Skype.  Being able to Skype with our family and a few friends helped get us through the loneliest period of our year away.

Jerusalem

It’s difficult to describe Jerusalem.  It’s so many things rolled into one:  the capital city of the Jewish state of Israel, the holiest city for the Christian faithful, and Islam’s 2nd most revered site.  And to complicate matters, part of it most probably will eventually be the future capital city of the future state of Palestine.  To describe this city as complex and intense is an understatement. We left Jerusalem with various impressions with the main one being that even though there might be some agreement as to what Jerusalem was, what Jerusalem will be will take compromise and that is a concept only a few seem willing to embrace.

There are several reasons Israel made it on our itinerary.  Although we don’t classify ourselves as religious pilgrims we were curious to see the settings of the Bible stories that we learned as kids.  Because the US spends billions & billions of our tax dollars on Israel we felt it was important to include and could help us understand why.  And, it provided as close as we were going to get to a western culture for awhile and would make a good base for us to plan the last few months of our trip. 

We spent 11 days in Jerusalem out of our 20 days in Israel.   We tried to take in a wide variety of sights and sounds in order to develop a well rounded opinion of this city.  We toured The Knesset (servers a similar function that our Senate Building does).  We walked around university campuses.  We read the newspapers.  Went to the West Bank (Bethlehem), and contemplated the gigantic wall that Israel is building for the separation of the two areas.  Were speechless over the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.  Shopped like locals.  Walked Jesus’ path of crucifixion.  Saw a movie.  Walked through an Arab section of town.  Saw several of Jesus’ burial chambers.  We toured the Holocaust Museum.  We were fascinated by the Western Wall where the faithful Jewish people pray.  We marveled over the beauty of the Golden Dome of the Rock that is located next to the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. 

      

Even though we tried to have a real cross section of experiences, we found ourselves up to our eyeballs in religion; religious fashion, religious history, prayer books, prayer practices, places of worship, religious leaders, religious symbols and religious wars.  We even felt guilty as we cursed a town in which you have to keep track of which days certain sections of the city are closed, for religious reasons.

   

The obvious emotional reactions that many of the devout pilgrims have at the various sites around Jerusalem is quite moving.  It’s fascinating to watch people become so overwhelmed over a piece of rock or slab of stone.  We’re happy that it’s deeply moving to them.  While witnessing all of the blatantly devout followers of the various faiths, and knowing that there are millions of believers for each we asked ourselves two questions:  Can’t there be multiple paths to heaven and how religious does one have to be to deserve a spot there?   

 

And why fight over it?  So much of our months of travel has been about bloody struggles over religions.  Over the centuries, many populations have been forced to convert from one set of beliefs to another or pay with their lives.  To us, that isn’t what religion should be about, but it seems it has been and will continue to be a struggle for power, control and riches.  Sounds similar to governments, doesn’t it? 

We picked up the local paper in English, and were fascinated by the opinions and articles describing the current times in Israel.  Every possible opinion was expressed.  Most of them leading us to conclude that the elusive “Peace” between the Israelis and Palestinians is as far away as ever.  While we were there we read several opinion polls that indicate that both Jews and Arabs really don’t like or trust each other.  Believe it or not, we could feel that energy.  The feeling of love is not in the air in Jerusalem.

There is a glimmer of hope.  A vocal Jewish group is dedicated to a land swap in order to obtain a peace treaty.  They are a minority at this point, but are growing in numbers.  We hope they succeed.  Both Israel and Palestine should exist together with peace and security….in our humble opinions.

In the old historical section of Jerusalem (where Jesus was crucified and buried, where Mohammed had his dream, where the second Jewish temple was) there is a Jewish quarter, a Christian quarter, a Muslim quarter, and an   Armenian quarter.  On the edges of these quarters people of each faith somewhat mingle and seem to tolerate each other.  We wish this same cooperation could be extended to all of Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  We don’t understand why they both can’t peacefully co-exist.  We think they both should enjoy the historical and important area….together.

With all the Israeli soldiers and guards carrying automatic weapons our awareness was heightened as well.  Our heart rates and blood pressure were elevated pretty much all the time when we were out and about.  The security in and around Israel is the toughest we’ve seen.  Security checks and guns were everywhere -  shopping malls, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters, sacred sites ….pretty much everywhere.  We were amazed how we were searched on entry to most public locations. 

Our landlord for our Jerusalem stay was Reva Mann.  Reva is the accomplished author of “The Rabbis Daughter” and a very wonderful host.  We met her one night for a glass of wine and she admitted that although she doesn’t want to live anywhere else, she is scared with the situation today.  She pointed across the street from our location and told us of a suicide bomber that killed many people just a few years ago.  If she rides public transportation she thoroughly looks around to see if anyone looks like they might be a terrorist with intent to blow up the bus. 

Jerusalem could be a beacon for the world in its representation as a holy city  for all faiths.  Imagine if people of every religion could come here to pray and pay their respects without fear, and persecution.  “Some may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one“…….