Jerusalem, Israel
2239 (local time)
I haven’t been this tired since I did 2 weeks of full power windsurfing, instead I have just done 2 days of non stop, full power WALKING. So if you have been following, yesterday I walked all around d the Old City and also visited the Mt. Of Olives, which was an amazing experience, that really got your mind thinking in the old Ancient Jerusalem times.
Ok, so this time, I got up a little bit later, had a lovely breakfast cooked by Sandra and this time leaving home not only with my 3 litres of water, but also with 2 homemade sandwiches an array of different fruits (all made by Sandra)… she’s not too bad!
So I left and headed to the bus station as today I was going to make my way to Bethlehem and Hebron. The problem with these cities is that they are both located in the West Bank which is Palestine Territory, which is generally where the danger is.
So I left and headed off to the bus station, caught a bus to Bethlehem. The bus journey was fine apart from the mentalist bus driver that drives like he is in a Porsche. Got to Bethlehem and made my way to the tourist info centre so I can grab a map. First thing I visited was the Church of Nativity which is (supposedly) where Jesus was born!
I got in, had a look at the church, snuck in, infront of a whole Russian tour group, watched them get their photo taken in the spot that Jesus was born and then left, from here I walked down the street to the Grotto of the Nativity where (supposedly) Jesus was cared for by Mary. Once I was all Catholic’d out, I then inquired about catching a service taxi to Hebron.
Hebron is the largest city in West Bank, and it is home to one of the most important mosque’s the Ibrahimi Mosque. I was taken there by a very old man that was telling me about his city, he was explaining to me that as a young boy, the new city wasn’t there, and he used to play in the streets of the old city.
On arrival to the Mosque I tried to get inside, but they stop letting ‘tourists’ after 11am due to Ramadan. Not to worry, as it gave me some more time to walk the old streets and do some shopping.
It was my Mum’s birthday so I did some shopping for her, and after I was exhausted of walking through the old city so I then caught another service taxi back to Bethlehem and then started making my way back to the border crossing to get from Palestine to Israel. On the walk back I came to the Security Wall.
The Security Wall separates the Israel from Palestine. It prevents the Palestinian’s from entering Israel and attacking the Israelis. Now obviously not every Palestinian wants to set off bombs in Israel but unfortunately in 2011 this is the only way that Israel (and certain parts of the world) can see a solution.
There is no point in us trying to come up with a magical solution, as a lot of highly intelligent people have sat down together and tried to find a solution and since they haven’t found a solution it puts it really back on us.
The kids of this generation to stop talking about the issue and act!
Please have a look at some of the photos and realise how bad the situation really is.
I spoke to a Palestinian guy as I was leaving, he asked me where I was from etc. He explained to me that he had just come from the American Embassy in Palestine to see if he is able to get a visa to visit America so he could see his family living in the States. He was declined. This is just one of the many stories of people that live in both West Bank and Gaza.
Anyway, check out the photos! Much Love!
Steve xx
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