Israel and Palestine

So this was our first taste of the impact of having compulsory military service. The Israeli Military is large and, apparently, all under the age of 25! After a relatively worry free crossing, we caught a sheerut taxi on towards Jerusalem, where we were dropped at the Herod Gate to the Old City. We meandered on to the Damascus Gate where we heard all the budget accommodation was centred. As it was heading toward evening, accommodation was definitely a top priority. After wandering through the old city and being redirected a number of times by well meaning stall holders and passersby, we finally accepted an offer of tea from a local Arab stall holder, who chatted with us and directed us back out to the Damascus Gate, across the road, and to the Palm hostel. Phew, we were definitely grateful to find a place. The next day, we visited the Mt of Olives, including, the Paternoster Church, the Dominus Flevit Chapel, and the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane. It took a while for the reality to sink in that we were walking in Jesus’ footsteps! We then meandered back to the Old City, through the Lions Gate and to the Western Wall. Jerusalem is definitely a melting pot of a city – whichever way you look you see orthodox Jews walking to school, Muslims responding to the call to prayer, Orthodox nuns walking on to the Holy Sepulchre, or Franciscan brothers leading tour groups along Via Dolorosa. The market place is a hive of activity with the noise of birdsong and children’s laughter permeating every alley way!

Day 2 and we made a foray in to the West Bank by visiting Bethlehem and Hebron. It was definitely an experience. We felt quite discouraged and demoralised by having to pass through the huge separation wall to get to Bethlehem and to see all the messages that people had left in graffiti – “Love Each Other” or “Hope Builds Bridges, Not walls.” After visiting the very tourist – filled Church of the Nativity, we travelled on to Hebron where we met some lovely people - stall holders chatted with us and offered us free food, and it was a real contrast to the man who watched from an army tower in the Hebron division wall as we ate our lunch in the market square. That evening we liked being able to reflect on our way back to Jerusalem and remember that many of the people we had seen that day had not been able to visit Jerusalem in the last 7 years, if ever.

We also got to visit the Garden tomb, a possible site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, before leaving Jerusalem and heading to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee in time for Shabbat. Fortunately, we were able to find some food when we arrived which set us up for our meals for the following day. On Sunday, we spent a great day, heading to Tabgha and Capernaum, where we visited the Mt of Beatitudes, and several Churches. It is truly a beautiful spot and we can totally see why Jesus chose that place to settle for a large part of his three year ministry. We managed to make it back to Tiberias to catch an evening bus to Nazareth, Jesus’ childhood home. We decided, in the end, to take a room at the Sisters of Nazareth Convent (!!) for the night, where there was an amazing view over the town from the roof. Before having to leave Nazareth for Tel Aviv to catch our homeward flight, we managed to have enough time to visit the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of St Joseph. The former was a really impressive church with very interesting mosaics depicting the Annunciation sent from countries all round the world. We also got to visit “Little Nazareth” a village that has been set up to depict what life might have been like in the time of Jesus. A guide walked with us through the village and gave us information and a new perspective on some Biblical teachings. Then it was off to Ben Gurion Airport for a flight back to cold, wintery, snowy London. What a trip. Enjoy the pics.