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Today I crossed the border into the Palestine territory, Bethlehem. I had to go with a tour as it was deemed unsafe to travel within the Palestine territories alone. On approach to the huge concrete walls not too far outside of Jerusalem it was clear from the signs that Israeli citizens were prohibited for fear of death.. which was reassuring! On entering Bethlehem I was surprised to realise to see how beautiful it was, all the buildings and the very artistic graffiti on the walls explaining and reminding of the struggles they had faced. There was one drawing showing Donald Trump hugging and kissing an Israeli watchtower in the barrier.
In another, Mr Trump is depicted wearing a Jewish skullcap. A cartoon bubble next to him says: “I’m going to build you a brother.”
Israel built the barrier a decade ago, amid heightened violence with the Palestinians and in a bid to stop Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen from entering the country.
Palestinians consider the barrier to be a land grab that stifles people’s movement.
There is another of a dove wearing a bullet proof vest and holding an olive branch.
It is believed that these were drawn by English artist Banksy but That hasn't been confirmed.
Once we arrived in Bethlehem our first and main stop was the Church of Nativity. The church was originally commissioned in 327 by Constantine the Great over the site that was traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus. The Church of the Nativity site's original basilica was completed in 339 and destroyed by fire during the Samaritan Revolts in the 6th century. A new basilica was built 565 by the Byzantine Emperor, restoring the architectural tone of the original.The site of the Church of the Nativity has had numerous additions since this second construction such as the bell towers.
It has since had many restorations due to the age of this building, the earthquake in the 1800's which caused severe damage and left it vulnerable to looters.In 2002 50 armed Palestinians who were wanted by the Israeli Defence Forced locked themselves in the church with 200 monks and other Palestinians and were either held hostage, or willingly served as human shields for the terrorists.The IDF did not break into the building, but prevented the entry of food, and cut telephone lines. The siege lasted 39 days and some of the people inside were shot by IDF snipers. After lengthy negotiations it was agreed that some of the gunmen would be evacuated to Gaza, Spain and Italy.
Unfortunately there was still a lot of restoration going on when I arrived and a lot of scaffolding which spoilt my first impression. They said they had hired Italian architects to restore the paintwork on the many pillars around the church.
We qued for about an hour to get into the church and once there we were led down into the cave when Jesus was born. A silver star in marble marks the place of Jesus birth and alongside the manger.
Once we left the church of Nativity and spent some time in the local area we heading the the Shepard's Field. There were beautiful gardens overlooking Bethlehem. We followed the trail to find The Church of Angles which a small dome shaped building and inside were beautiful paintings on every wall depicting how the angels told the Shepard's of the birth of the Messiah.
Nearby is a small cave which was believed to be where the Shepard's watched over their flock. It is still in its original condition but used as a small place of worship- as if there aren't enough!
On our late arrival back to Jerusalem, I got dropped of in East Jerusalem and did some exploring of the 'New City'. Although it was still amazing it didn't come close to the ancient world of the Old City.
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Dad A sharp reminder that this is not the safest place place to take a holiday but a fascinating part of the world nonetheless.