Israel and Palestinian Territories 4

Whilst being in Jerusalem, and having a flying visit through Nablus, we never really got a picture of how the Palestinian-Israeli conflict had affected those on the other side of the wall. On the fifth day (which was New Year's Eve) we went to Bethlehem and we got an opportunity to find out about the oppression the Palestinians face.

We take the bus trip to Bethlehem and when we get out at the stop we get pounced on by about six taxi drivers all trying to get us in their cars. After a bit of haggling, we got in one taxi (much to the chagrin of another taxi driver who felt we had been stolen from him) and drove to Herodion. It is a town with a fortified palace atop a hill built by Herod the Great. The most interesting bit was the huge water cisterns dug into the hill, that were later used by Jewish rebels during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Herod's Palace

Before returning to Bethlehem my father decided he wanted to look around Lower Herodion, the archaeological site at the foot of the hill.  Suddenly a gang of children seemed to spring from the earth and begin begging us for money, frustrating photo opportunities.

We were driven to the main square in Bethlehem, which had a giant Christmas tree in the centre. It seemed a bit out of place in an obviously Middle Eastern town.

We visited the Church of the Nativity, entering through the Door of Humility, which is about 4 1/2 foot tall so you have to bow to enter.  We tried to get to the Altar of the Nativity, but it was pretty crowded so I didn't get a good view.

We went to find some decent falafel, and found some at Afteem restaurant. They were really tasty and came with a lot of other dishes, like proper humus, so were much better than the salty ones in Nablus. After filling up on those we walked to the separation wall, to see the art work on it. Some of it is by Banksy, but there are other really good pieces: some profound, some beautiful. It's worth going on my album to see it (hint, hint!).

On some part of the wall there are stories from people who have suffered due to the conflict and the wall. The stories were pretty harrowing and upsetting. Some of them were quite inspiring, such as a mother handing a baby to a complete stranger so that he wouldn't get shot by soldiers. Opposite these stories is a couple of souvenir shops that are surrounded on three sides by the wall. The owners have their own stories of how the wall has ruined their livelihood. Their shops used to be on the main road through Bethlehem, but the wall divided it in two so no one came by them. They now sell postcards of the wall art and other Palestinian made souvenirs.

We looked around the old town which was grimy and disappointing and then went to return home. We had to go through a check point, again, and this time we had to queue for around 45 minutes. There were two stages and we had to queue for each. We were starting to get a picture of how the wall had dramatically changed the life of the Palestinians. Fortunately for us, once we were through we could say goodbye to annoyance of check-points. This is not the case of those who it is an everyday problem.

We walked around Jerusalem and looked for somewhere to eat, and we ended up having ridiculously posh (read: expensive) cheesecake and hot chocolate. I was a bit disappointed as it had a really rich chocolate base, which I was attempting to avoid by not choosing any of the other cakes, all of which had chocolate in the title. We then went to the church my parents' guest house was attached to, to attend the New Year's service. I thought it was a brilliant way to start 2012 and it was reassuring the they have difficulties with getting the song words onto the screen in Jerusalem as well.

Top tip: Bethlehem. Do it.

Quick Question
Have you ever been to a service to start the New Year? What was it like? 

Israel and Palestinian Territories 3

Jerusalem from David's Tower

So far, in my Middle Eastern adventure, I have survived border control (post 1), toured Jerusalem and visited Nablus (post 2). Today we stick to Jerusalem again, and head just across the road to where we are staying, the David's Tower Museum. The views from the tower are some of the most spectacular in the city. It helped that it was a beautiful day.

View of the Citadel, the King David Hotel. Points for those who can spot the windmill.

It also houses a museum of the history of Jerusalem, which is very well done. It takes you all the way through from the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah, which is the outcrop where the Temple stood (although some scholars will contest that this happened near Shechem, where I visited the day before). According to Wikipedia, Jerusalem 'has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. That's a lot of history.

Interestingly, the Tower of David is a misnomer. It was not built by David, but by another character mentioned in the Bible: Herod of the Slaughter of the Innocents fame. The tower was one of three that protected Herod's palace, which you can see the ruins of in the museum.

We had lunch at the Christ Church guest house (where my parents were staying). The lunches there are really good quality and for a really good price. I'd definitely recommend it.

Afterwards, we tackled the Via Dolorosa. This is the journey that Jesus allegedly took from being tried to his crucifixion. Most historians would say that it was incorrect, and he probably started at Herod's Palace. However, it was a good reminder of what Jesus would have gone through, although they did seem to want to drive the point home with the amount of times he fell and his extra-biblical  encounter with Veronica.

The Ecce Homo Arch on the Via Dolorosa

We went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a vast complex of crypts, compounds and chapels of different denominations. The church, as a result, is often a place of conflict rather than peace and tranquillity. As a good little protestant, I also found the smells and bells a bit too much. For instance, there is a replica of the stone that Jesus was supposedly laid out on. It's not a particularly convincing replica: it's made of granite that would have had to have been imported from a far off land. However, people seem to be very enamoured with this replica, rubbing things on it and kissing it. My brother provided a very droll commentary of what we were witnessing, saying "this is the reason that Holy Sites are some of the biggest transmitters of communicable tuberculosis there are".

Ethiopian Monastery on the top of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The following day, we decided to tackle the Mount of Olives. This was a Friday. This was a mistake. Jerusalem is a city of the three Abrahamic faiths. You'd have thought they'd at least agree on which days to have off, but no. Muslims takes Friday off; Jews, Saturday; and the Christians, Sunday (although they seem to be a little less bothered about it). As a lot of the Holy Sites on the Mount of Olives are Christian we thought Friday would be a safe bet. Russian Orthodox will be open, we thought. Church of the Ascension will be fine. But no. The Mount of Olives becomes a ghost town on Fridays. Check your guide book, people.

However, what doesn't become a ghost town is the Muslim quarter, especially after the prayers have finished on the Temple Mount. We tried to enter back in to Jerusalem through the Lion's Gate (the closest to the Haram al-Sharif) but we were prevented by thousands of Muslims pouring out of the gate. We eventually had to walk round the city, to the Jaffa Gate.

Damascus Gate after prayers. Lion's gate was even busier.

We went back to the Western Wall to see what it was like as Shabbat began. As a child I always imagined it being a really sombre, eerie place, due to it's other name, "the Wailing Wall". However, this was filled with singing and dancing, and had a vibrant, electric atmosphere. Jerusalem is a city of contrast, conflict but also, it seems, misnomers.

Top tip 1: King David's Tower Museum. Brilliant.
Top tip 2: Check your guide book for opening times. Both Friday and Saturday are the trickiest, although a lot of museums seem to be closed Tuesdays.

To see more photos go to Israel and Palestinian Territories 1 or Israel and Palestine 2

Israel and Palestinian Territories 2

[Imagine a voice-over] In Thursday's Thomas' Middle Eastern Adventures [a bit more catchy than the somewhat perfunctory title at the moment], Thomas and his family dealt with crazy boarding, prayers on planes and Israeli security. Thomas and Stephen found themselves in a dive of a hostel. Will they get any sleep? Will their troubles with the Border Control Agency continue? Will they be conned by a group of Bedouin and end up stranded in the Golan Heights? Read on to find out.

The first night in the Jaffa Gate hostel was probably the only night I got a decent sleep. In fact, we nearly over slept. There were no windows in the bedrooms so we woke up at twenty to nine, and the pitch darkness caused us to assume it was still night time. We were meant to be meeting are parents at nine in their guest house. Fortunately, they were staying just around the corner.

We wondered around Jerusalem a bit, and then we went on a really good guided tour. Anyone going to Jerusalem should go on one of these. They meet just outside the Jaffa Gate and they're free. The tour guides rely on tips, so you pay only what you think it's worth. Apparently they can be hit and miss (we were very fortunate, we got a really good guide called Yonatan), but as it's free and you can escape any time then isn't really a problem. It's just a fantastic way to get acquainted with the city.

The Cardo, remains of Roman Jerusalem

Me at the Western Wall.

After the 3 hours tour we did the Rampart Walk, which costs very little and is a way to get some alternative views of the city. We did it just before sunset so it cast a beautiful light over the city.

Jerusalem skyline. You can see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (centre) and the Lutheran Church (left).

The next day, we visited Nablus, the city where my brother was living (if you want to read about what he got up to in Nablus, read his blog here). I was very tired (read: 'grumpy'), due to a snoring woman sharing our room. I slept for most the journey, but do remember getting a welcome message from Jawwal, the Palestinian network provider:

Marhaba.  Smell the Jasmine and taste the olives.  JAWWAL welcomes you to Palestine.

Even the telephone networks show Middle Eastern hospitality in Palestine. We visited Jacob's Well, Joseph's Tomb, and the archaeological ruins of what's thought to be Shechem.

Tell Balata, what was perhaps once Shechem

We then went to the centre of Nablus, wandered the Old City, ate kaneffa (which I didn't really like. It was like a stringy, cheesy crème brûlée.) and really salty falafel. We visited Stephen's university, apartment and bought some Nabulsi soap. On our way back to Jerusalem we had our first experience of Israeli check-points. Although it was quite quick on this occasion it gave a hint of what it must be like for Palestinians.

Top tip: Famous Jerusalem Free Tour. 11 am, everyday, outside the Jaffa Gate. FREE and awesome.

To see more photos go to Israel and Palestinian Territories 1 or Israel and Palestine 2

Israel and Palestinian Territories 1

I mentioned on Christmas Day that I was heading off to Israel. Well, that was over a month a go so I thought I'd better get around to blogging about it. It's amazing how quickly your memory of trips gets muddled and jumbled. Fortunately, I made notes whilst there, so I could remember when I came to blog about it.

If you just want to see some pretty pictures here are my photos:

• Israel and Palestinian Territories 1
• Israel and Palestinian Territories 2

The Flight and border control
My parents and I got up at some ridiculously early hour (I think about quarter to five) to get to the airport. We dropped our car off, checked in and got breakfast. Then we were called to board. All the passengers were crammed into this small room, and you could definitely tell we were going to be going to Israel. There was a scramble to get on the plane and I ended up sitting on my own (much to my relief). Then about half-way through the flight there was an announcement that the men could conduct prayers at the back of the plane, the woman at the front. It was a really surreal experience, to be a mile or so in the sky and watching men in kippas and black hats and coats swaying back and forth among the overpriced peanuts and soggy sandwiches.

We arrived in Ben Gurion airport and then our troubles started. As soon as we entered the terminal building I was spotted by border control personnel. She asked if she could ask me a few questions, and when my parents joined me she seemed to decide to keep it perfunctory and let us go to the next bit. We queued at the little booths and we finally reached it to be quizzed by a woman with broken English. She asked us questions, like "Why are you here?" (As tourists), "Do you have any family in Israel?", (My brother. He's been here since September), "Where are you meeting him?" (Jerusalem), "Where does he live?" (Nablus), "What is he doing?" (teaching English), "What's his date of birth?" (6th February 1988. The same as mine; we're twins).

Then she asked, "What is your father's name?" I thought she was talking to me, so I said, "Martyn. It's there in the passport." Then she looked at my dad and repeated the question. There was a pause. We gave each other a sideways glance. After a while I said, "Stephen Charles Ashmead". She may have thought we were trying to hide something, but we were just confused. My dad's dad has been dead for quite a few years now. She looked at us. She picked up the phone. She put the phone down, got out the booth and asked us to follow her. She took us to a side room, and told me to tell my parents to wait there. She then took me to another side room on the other side of the border control forecourt. After about a minute, she returned, said sorry and took me back to the room with my parents. We waited about half-an-hour and then my dad was taken into another room on his own. The door was left open so I could hear the clicking of a computer keyboard and a string of questions, "What do you do for a living? What does your wife do? What does your son Stephen do? What does your other son do?" After about fifteen minutes of this we were allowed to go.

My bed for a week

We took a taxi to Jerusalem, met my brother at the Christ Church guest house (where my parents were staying), got some food and then Stephen and I went to our hostel, The Jaffa Gate Hostel. It was dark, basic, with scratchy sheets. I loved it. I felt like we were really roughing it and I loved the novelty of it (the quickly wore off, quickened by a lack of sleep).

Quick Questions

1. Do you have any interesting flight stories?
2. What is your worse experience of border control?