JERICHO, THE DEAD SEA AND BETHLEHEM

ON THE ROAD

I went with a few folk on a wee road trip last Friday. The first stop was Jericho, or rather just outside Jericho where there’s an Orthodox church built into the side of a clifftop. It made for quite a sight. The trek up to the monastery was a bit of a mission, especially given the heat, but it was worth it for the view right across Jericho.

MONASTERY OF THE TEMPTATION

VIEW FROM THE MONASTERY

In order to get into the church, you’re supposed to pretend to be from an Orthodox country. Nobody told me this though, so I was wondering why I was getting funny looks from the guy at the door when I proudly declared “Scotlanda” when asked where I was from. Luckily, given that I was with a “Serbian” (i.e. someone who knows how to play the game) I managed to get in okay.

OVERLOOKING JERICHO

Nothing much to report back on about the rest of Jericho, or the Dead Sea which was our next stop. It’s just another beach. We took a wrong turning and ended up going to the Israeli part of the beach, which led to my first encounter with Israeli Border Police. They pulled us over because we were in a car with Palestinian plates. They just quizzed the driver for a bit then let us go. Not too much bother then, but I was very conscious of the fact that there were two very nervous Palestinians in the back seat.

THE DEAD SEA

After the Dead Sea, we went to Bethlehem and visited the Church of the Nativity. It’s administered jointly by the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and the Armenians. I can’t help but think that this compromise has sucked all the character out of the place. Walk into any Orthodox or Catholic church and what you’ll see will be much more impressive.

And that’s not even starting on the amount of tourists crawling all over the place. There’s nothing in the world uglier than a tourist. It made grateful to be staying in Nablus.

OUTSIDE THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

I’ve discovered that there are Jewish settlements all over the place, including right bang in the middle of the West Bank. You don’t notice them until you’re with Palestinians who can point them out. For me, it raises massive question marks over the validity of the “two state solution” people talk about.

Anyway, I’ve just read over the above and don’t think I’ve done justice to what was, in fact, a really great day. Most of the plus points were to do with the people I was with. It was particularly good spending the day with Muhammad and Borhan, two local volunteers with Project Hope. (By now, it should be apparent that I’m guessing with the spelling of a lot of the Arabic names.) They’re both great lads and a credit to both Nablus and Project Hope.

JESUS