Flashback Series: Israel Part 2

Israel Day Trips

July 2014

Tiberias/Sea of Galilee

For those of you who don’t know, my fiancé, Cody, was stationed in Egypt from summer 2013 to summer 2014. We had been hoping to meet up in Israel during the time I traveled there, but he ended up having to go back to the States earlier than planned. He was able to travel to Israel during a trip in early 2014, and I remembered him telling me through an e-mail how he had visited the Sea of Galilee and enjoyed the area very much.

Along the seaside

Since it wasn’t too far from Jerusalem, I decided to use one of my day trip days to head up to Tiberias – the city and its surrounding area is the location of many Biblical stories, including the site where Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, the location of the Sermon on the Mount, Mount Tabor, Cana, and more sites. Unfortunately, these locations were all at least an hour or two to drive and there weren’t many buses running that frequently (only taxis who charged an exorbitant amount), so instead of risking missing a ride back to Jerusalem I decided to just enjoy the city of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee.

St. Peter's Church, 1100 AD

Pleasant Street Art

It was beautiful to drive from Jerusalem towards the sea, where the vegetation grew a little more and the hills began to drop into cliffs. The road is up on a hill, and towards the end of the trip we were able to look down on the sparkling blue water. Now, if you recall, this was in the beginning of July in the Middle East – not the most ideal time to be there, as Tiberias was well over 100 degrees F. This detracted me from walking around too much because it was simply too hot. But, I still had a lovely morning walking around the shoreline, taking pictures, visiting some old beautiful churches, and chatting with the man at the tourist desk – a British man who had fallen in love with the area and never returned to England. He shamed me for only building in half a day to visit Tiberias, but as always, I just said "I'll be back someday." 

Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee

Upon my return, I learned that there had been some action happening in Jerusalem during my absence. I told you the last post that the day I went to Masada, the body of a young Arab boy had been discovered, as the result of an Israeli retaliation for the killing of three Israeli boys a week or so prior. The day I went to Tiberias, there was a day-long funeral procession for the boy on the Arab side of modern Jerusalem (outside of the City Walls, where I was staying). The funeral procession led to semi-riots, and there were still gatherings and demonstrations happening just outside of the Walls, so close that we could hear firecrackers and occasional loud roars. The local workers (hostel attendants) didn't think we (the hostel guests and tourists in the Old City) were in any danger, but they cautioned us not to wander around much beyond dark and not to go too closely to the Arab gate on the other side of the Old City. I had a trip planned the next morning, which I relayed to the hostel worker and he once again said that he did not think I would be in any danger, especially since I would be traveling outside of the city and wouldn't have to cross through any sticky areas to get to where I wanted to go. I decided to check on the news the next morning, but Esther (my Israeli hostel roommate) reassured me that she thought I would be fine and encouraged me to still travel the next day.

I spent the evening sitting on the rooftop of my hostel, munching on hummus and cucumbers, drinking tea, reading a book, and watching the sun set over the city of Jerusalem. I paid attention to the Muslim Quarter to see if there was still any activity, but all was quiet. It was incredible to think of all that these city walls had seen over the centuries, and that this was the place I had been learning about all of my life.

Good night Jerusalem

 Bethlehem

My last day trip was on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest. If you recall, I said that on Saturdays in Israel, the buses don’t run until sundown. So how did I manage to travel on a Saturday morning? I didn’t travel in Israel. I went to Palestine. To go see the city of Bethlehem.

Welcome to Bethlehem

Now, this probably sounds incredibly stupid to you that I would take myself to Palestine the day after there were warnings for riots in the city due to conflicts. However, once again, after speaking with some of the hostel staff and reading some online blogs, it was determined to be safe for me because I was a tourist, I was not an Israeli national or Jewish, and because it’s not uncommon for tourists to show up in Bethlehem on any given day. They wanted my money and business more than to ban anyone from going. So, bright and early the next morning I trotted myself down to the place I had been instructed to be picked up by the Palestinian bus company, and sure enough after a few minutes the bus slowed down for me. As soon as I boarded the bus I saw two African ladies speaking English and wearing conservative dresses, so I befriended them quickly and found out they were doing basically the same thing – just going for a few hours to see the church and the holy sites, then heading back. I was relieved right away, and settled back to enjoy the short trip. 

The Wall of Separation

The journey took us not too far out of Jerusalem before I began to notice the wall. Ashamedly, I didn't put two and two together and realize exactly what it was until we got closer. The Separation Wall, or Wall of Apartheid, as it is called in Arabic, stretched beyond what my eyes could see, yet the meaning of it was very apparent. In 2004 the Israeli government erected this wall to protect civilians from suicide bombings and other terror attacks. It is true that the number of suicide attacks decreased from 73 (2000-2003) to 12 (2003-2006), but there is still much controversy over this wall. Most Palestinians are still allowed in and out, but they must be searched and show documentation each time they try to cross to Israel. There was no stop or search on the way into Palestine, however, so we simply drove right up to it and crossed through the checkpoint. Although it was slightly eerie, my feelings were eclipsed by our arrival at Bethlehem a few minutes later.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

As I said before, I grew up going to church and weekly Sunday school, where I learned all of my Bible stories and participated in the annual Christmas play. My image of Bethlehem was tranquil, peaceful, and beautiful. The real thing, in modern times, was a little different. My main objective was to hike myself up the small hill through the main town to reach Manger Square, the location of the Church of the Nativity. I had spoken with some other tourists who said it's walkable and it's just up one main street, the map for which I had on my iPod. However, when I got off the bus, it turned out I was the only one with the idea to walk, as my African ladies were very set on taking a taxi. They offered to let me ride with them, but I politely declined, mostly because of the insistence of the taxi drivers, who were quite rude to me for wanting to walk. Instead, I walked away, wandered around the busy streets for a few moments to get my bearings, located my street (Manger Street), and started walking.

Only in Bethlehem...

Manger Square entrance

I got a few curious stares from shopkeepers as the town of Bethlehem began its Saturday morning, but for the most part it was quiet, already hot, and peaceful. It was a strange feeling of rumination to think that these were the streets so fabled in the stories of the Bible, that so much was said to have happened here. I reached the top of the hill and came upon...Manger Square. As you can see, it was a little different from the Bible stories. To the left of the picture you are looking at, with the tower,

Source: Google Images

is the Church of the Nativity. Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate my photos of it, so I pulled one in from Google. This is a better picture, as it is, because the cars and tourist groups are absent. As you can see, the church is old. According to Wikipedia (I swear I really do learn these facts from the places I go but I can't always rely on my memory so I double check to be certain!) "The church was originally commissioned in 327 by Constantine and his mother Helena over the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth." (Wikipedia, 2016).

Church of the Nativity

The cave still exists today, and is the primary reason people still come to Bethlehem. I wandered around the outside of the church and Manger Square for a bit, but more and more groups of tourists were arriving by the minute, so I decided to delay no further. The inside of the church was beautiful, but unfortunately under heavy renovations, so it was difficult to see beyond the construction.

 I followed the crowd towards the back of the church, not exactly understanding that I was about to go into a cave, but I figured I would find out what was going on eventually. After waiting in line, being approached by a tour leader whom I politely informed that I wasn't interested in paying him to tell me things, yet still helped me out by leading me ahead of a tour group (I honestly didn't have change to even tip him for that), and waiting in another line, I suddenly found myself waved on by a church official, then descending down into a rock cave.

The Cave. 

Modern day manger

Once down, there was a small, crowded, dimly lit room with another line of people to wait behind. There were photos taken, tour leaders speaking, and people chattering. From my journal I have the following about my experience: "To actually go down there was similar to the Holy Sepulchre - crowded, busy, people scrambling for pictures, and not at all like the Christmas Cards. Still, it was as read as anyone else would every get, so I bent down and touched the site of the Holy Manger. Done."

This experience aside, I still wanted to explore more of the city when I was done. I escaped the busy crowds and crossed the street to Manger Square, where I was entranced by the beautiful shops and goods. I was so pleased at one of the shops, which sold hand carved ornaments out of olive branches, that I bought many ornaments to give as Christmas gifts. I also looked at the beautiful fabrics, but knew I did not need anything, so stopped after realizing so many of these people were surviving off of tourist money, and I did not want to get their hopes up. Palestine was a poor country, and it was evident that Bethlehem mostly relied on tourism. 

I became very interested in reading some of the information guides that were posted in Manger Square, which told the Palestinian perspective of the story. I think especially in America, we hear much more of the Jewish and Israeli perspective. If you read just a few sentences of each description, you will see that the view of events is very different. "The ugly wall has devastated what was once a thriving business district as you enter Bethlehem from Jerusalem." I would like to avoid anything political, as I feel under-educated on the topic and don't wish to state any views, but I do think it is important to keep both perspectives of a story in mind.

After concluding my time in Manger square and looking in the shops, I began my descent back down Manger street to reach the bus. On the way down I took notice of the beautiful mosaics depicting some of the Bible scenes from the birth of Jesus Christ. A jewelry store also caught my eye, and I decided to wander around to see if I could find any little trinkets as gifts. 

Unfortunately, many items were far too expensive for me, but the shopkeepers were quite friendly, and I was sure to tell them that I couldn't afford many of the nice things they showed me (saying I'm a teacher always works). 

Streetside Mosaic

However, they provided a high degree of hospitality and complimentary tea regardless (yes, of course because they wanted me to buy something, but I've discovered more of this treatment in Middle Eastern countries than anywhere else) and I enjoyed wandering around the store looking at the beautiful goods. Towards the end of my wandering, though I made only a modest purchase (remember that necklace I gave you, Mama!?), it turned out to be late breakfast time, and all of a sudden one of the back countertops became a feasting table for the family, and they invited me to join them. Who was I to say no to a kind, smiling, large lady gesturing me over to a counter full of delicious looking food? It was the best meal I had in Israel, with fresh Palestinian bread (they explained the difference to me, but I can't remember off the top of my head), falafel, yogurt, cheese, and vegetables. They were obviously not Muslim, as it was Ramadan, but Arab Christians, and they reiterated what the signs in the square had said, that business used to be better before the wall, but there were still enough tourists to keep the town going. I thanked them for their generosity and continued my journey down, thinking again about how there were two very different sides to the story. 

Graffiti on the Wall

To reinforce this, one of my last glimpses of the town of Bethlehem was when I took a slightly different route back to the bus (I may or may not have gotten a tiny bit lost) and found myself on the backside of the Wall. I knew that the secret UK artist Bansky had done some graffiti on the wall, (mostly a tour to see his work was repeated to me numerous times by the taxi drivers) due to its controversy in the world. Graffiti lined the wall as far as I could see, and though I didn't want to wander too far (as you can see, there weren't too many people around - my travel yellow light warning sign) I could see the feelings of devastation expressed in the artwork, most obviously "Free Palestine." There was a quick passport check on the bus on the way back to Jerusalem, with non-Palestinians required to stay on the bus while the Palestinians got off to be searched and checked before passing. 

View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

My final afternoon in Jerusalem was spent with me tagging along with a tour group to walk by and through the Damascus Gate, the entrance to Jerusalem on the Muslim side, so that I could circle the city and walk up the Mount of Olives, to see the Jewish cemetery and further views of the city. The Jews had a tradition to bury their dead openly outside of the city walls, and as you can see, it is still an impressive memorial today. I was able to more clearly see the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount. It was a beautiful end to my time in Jersusalem, and as always, I hoped I would be back someday to learn more, immerse myself more, and experience even more. I knew I had to do more reading and research about the Israel/Palestinian conflicts, and that I had to take an objective approach, despite my personal interactions. But as always, I knew that my knowledge would be heightened by the fact that I had now seen some of the places to learn about, which makes history come alive and forever imprints upon my memory. I can only hope that someday peace returns to this beautiful place in the world, despite all of the conflicts it has rendered throughout history.

Jewish Cemetery

So ends my time in Israel, with one stop left of my trip: Tel Aviv! Stay tuned for one final installment of my Israel Flashback Series, thank you for reading!