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This small territory is always for sad reasons at the top of the world news, but we never talk enough about what it is like to live in Palestine, even in the quieter times. On my trip, I got a sense of what it was like to live in the West Bank in times of peace, however difficult and always less than in Gaza.
Getting an idea of what it is like to live in Palestine (not Gaza)
Even back then, well before the more recent destruction, there was nothing to see and you couldn’t even go to the Gaza side. This is the part on the coast and the part that is always suffering the most from Israeli restrictions. It’s not like they ever had it easy in the West Bank. If nothing else it was visitable and with several important things. I went to the capital Ramallah; to Jericho, which is considered one of the oldest cities in history; and of course to Bethlehem . Gaza and the West Bank are two separate and distinct territories, in this article you can elaborate at least in part.
Of course I visited the Church of the Nativity, built around the site where Jesus was supposedly born. What struck me most was how it is run by the 3 religions: the Roman Catholic; the Greek Orthodox; and the Armenian. Each has a side and for various reasons they often have disputes. On the web you can find a very funny brawl with brooms and brooms between Armenian and Greek priests from 2011.
The spot where the cave is claimed to have been belongs to the Orthodox Greeks. There is a very long line to get there and stand a few moments in front of a hole, with people pushing from behind and the Orthodox priest pressing you to give him the obolus.
Living in Palestine means crossing the wall
Moving from Israel to the Palestinian territories can prove to be an odyssey if by own or public transportation; there is an endless queue at the border for checks. It pays to join a tour, that way being all Westerners, you skip the controls.
The tour was very interesting, especially because they explained to us the daily life of Palestinians. They are forced twice a day to the torment of crossing the impassable wall that divides the two territories: the rich Israeli one (where there is work) and the very poor Palestinian one. For my generation made up of those who lived with hope first the fall of the Berlin Wall and then Schengen, it is a blow to the heart to see that the urge to put up walls is by no means extinct.
New Year’s Eve celebration in Jerusalem
The New Year’s Eve party in Jerusalem might seem like an incredible event and instead it was very normal, like I was anywhere in the West. The city in some ways is a piece of Europe transplanted to the Middle East, but for others it is 100 percent Middle East.
Unmissable is the Esplanade of Mosques, from which the Dome of the Rock stands out, visible from everywhere. Nearby is the Wailing Wall, which is now a simple wall, where there is a portion where men can go to pray and one for women. To enter the area there are many controls, I did well by arriving very early, I was also lucky because there was in a church service.
It is very nice to wander around the neighborhoods(Jewish, Muslim Christian and Armenian). You go from one to the other, with different atmospheres and characters just by turning down a narrow alley. And it is great to try the various street foods.
The monumental gates and walls are intact and very impressive. In addition to all this antiquity there is also the modern part and some nightlife. On the evening of the 31st, there was a party in my hostel, with free admission even for outsiders. I found myself in a multicultural group: a guy from New York, a German and a Colombian. Listening to history or religion classes, I never imagined that one day I would celebrate a New Year’s Eve dancing rock and roll with a Gin and tonic in my hand in Jerusalem.
Previous stop Visiting Israel with terrorism alert
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Countries visited in my travel stories
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