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May 3, 2005
The Holy Land
This past weekend I went with Annie and Rob and Elyssa to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter. We, of course, saw all of the different sites and had a great time.
After only 4 1/2 hours at the Israeli border waiting for Annie (who has an arab name) and Elyssa (who has been to Syria and Lebanon) to clear, we grabbed the only taxi that was left and arrived in Jerusalem around 8:30pm. We were so hungry and tired by this point that all we did was eat and head to bed. We did have time, however, to take a look around our super-cool hostel. I definitely wasn't anit-establishment for this place. The walls were covered in awesome art work and posters calling for the end of the occupation of Palestine and for a peaceful solution. The best was the instructions on how to say "I'm and Anarchist" in Arabic scrawled across the bathroom walls. The beds wern't that comfortable but it was worth it just for the experience.
On Friday morning Rob and I got up early and took a short bus ride to Bethleham. Well, we actually took the bus to the check-point right outside of town and then had to walk the rest of the way because East Jerusalem cars aren't allowed through. It was a creepy experience to be waved through the check-point because we happened to have US passports while everyone else was being stopped and throughly checked out. We even got to see the 30 foot high wall that Israel is building around the West Bank close up as we passed through it.
In Bethleham we saw the Church of the Nativity and The Milk Grotto where supposedly Mary nursed Jesus while they were hiding from Herod. We also walked to Shepard's Field where the angels came to tell about Jesus' birth. The sites were really cool and it was interesting to be in a real West Bank town and see the poverty for ourselves. People were just desparate to sell us anything they could for rock bottom prices because so few people come to visit anymore. We ended up with some great deals because of this but it is sad that the poverty is the reason why.
At one point, I ended up leaving my wallet on a bus and thought I had lost it for good. However, a wonderful shop keeper took me back to the station and talked with the people there, found the bus I was on, and go me my entire wallet back. Not a single dollar was missing. The man said he was willing to do that because he knew that if I had been in his shop when I lost my wallet I would have blamed him and he would have lost the little business that he has.
Back in Jerusalem, we walked around the souk looking at all the cool stuff they had for sale. Of course I bought lots of silly stuff and had a great time talking to the shop keepers. Shopping is always an adventure around here because it takes forever to make a deal. No one has much business so they are willng to bargin forever and always ask you to have tea (especially if you speak Arabic). I'm sure that I saved huge amounts of money just by mentioning the fact that I am an Arabic student. Most often that little fact would drop the price by about 1/3!
The next day we got up late and headed up to the top of the Mt. of Olives. We hiked down from the top (well, walked because it is more of a hill of olives than a mountain) and saw the Tomb of the Prophets, Mary's Tomb, The Garden of Gethsemane, and other cool churches along the way. The Mountain is awesome because it overlooks the entire city and you can see most of the important sites in the city.
After coming down from the mountain, we walked the Via Delorosa, or the path Christ took carrying the cross. The end is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which we got to explore. It was Orthodox Easter so the place was packed but it was still amazing to see everything. I felt a little akward to be surrounded by all these people who were kissing the pictures and rocks inside the church but as I climed down to the farthest corner of the church I ran into a man that was explaining why he, and most other protestant religions, don't take part in the kissing of idols. I only listened for a minute but he talked about how the reason that we no longer keep kosher or worry about crazy rules is because they always seem to get in the way. Instead of focusing on what is important, the Word, we focus on a concrete image that cannot actually help us. It was a great reminder that what I was seeing was awesome but not anything truly important. It is more important to hang on to God and not some picture of what we wish God was.
After the church we headed on over to the Wailing Wall and go to go right up to it. It was a beautiful sight with the Dome of the Rock in the background and everyone coming together for the end of Shabbat.
The next morning we went to a Lutheran church that was very similar to my church at home and headed back to Jordan. We took an Israeli bus (which Annie was not too happy about because of how dangerous it could be) with about half of the IDF and a bunch of settlers. It was definitly interesting to see a settlers road where Palestinians aren't allowed to drive at all. Seeing it first hand makes the tragedy of the entire situation that much more real.
Getting back into Jordan wasn't hard at all. We had no problems getting back to Amman this time except for the fact that we were starving. Food is so expensive in Israel (about the same as America) that we decided to wait until we got back to eat anything substansial. Believe me, those falafal sandwiches have never tasted so good!
I really hope that everyone gets a chance to travel to Jerusalem at some point. It really is important to see this stuff first hand so that hopefully one day everyone can live in peace!
Posted by rcollins at May 3, 2005 7:32 AM
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Comments
Hi Rebecca,
I just wanted to say, first, what a wonderful and interesting blog you have. It's very exciting to be able to read a first-hand account of what it is like to live in a modern Arab country (even if you are a visitor). I also would like to apologize for any negative, disrespectful posts that I posted earlier. I truly appreciate that share your observations and thoughts for all to see.
One thing that I am curious about. Thursday, May 4, marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Jewish (and other) survivors from the death campus of Auschwitz, Birkenau, etc. It marked 60 years since the end of the Holocaust. What I am wondering is if people in Jordan know about the Holocast? Do they make any mention of yesterday's anniversary in the newspapers, on TV, or on the radio? I noticed, on news.google.com, that not a single English-language newspaper from an Arab or predominantly Moslem country made mention of this catastrophe. Do you think they do not care? This can't be an oversight. You can't just ignore the attempted extermination of an entire race. The systematic murder of 6million Jews is not something that can be, nor should be, overlooked.
Also, you may (or not) know, that some prominent Arab leaders (including the Caliph of Jerusalem in the late 1930's) were openly very supportive of Hitler's attempts at racial annhilation.
I am just curious to see what you may have noticed. Thanks a lot for your excellent blog.
Posted by: Josh at May 5, 2005 9:03 PM
Well, I can't deny that it would be uncomfortable to be Jewish around here. However, that doesn't mean that people deny Holocaust or what happened during WWII. I happened to be in Syria on May 4th (which has stricter controls over the media than Jordan) and did see a mention of the anniversary. I don't know what channel it was on but seeing as they take the time to edit kissing out of any movies they show it means a lot that they would allow mention of it.
Most often, the hostility I see is towards Zionism and not toward Judaism. It makes sense that anyone would be angry if they felt that their homes were being taken away. And, usually, Palestinians understand that the religion is different from the formation of Israel.
Posted by: Rebecca at May 8, 2005 6:30 AM