On my first day I went on a "dual narrative" tour, led my a two guides, one Jewish and one Palestinian, giving two different perspectives as we visited an Armenian church, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and Temple Mount among other places. While there seemed no dispute that Arab Israelis are discriminated against and racism is common (apparently an area explored by a popular TV sitcom called "Arab Labor"), neither guide seemed to see a resolution any time soon, although both agreed outside interference by people was not particularly helpful (no matter how many books they had read).
Today was election day, the third in a year due to the difficulty of forming a coalition government. The two main party leaders, Netanyahu and Gantz appear to have similar policies so it is more a matter of personalities. Maybe the election explained the large police presence, tear gas at the ready, although apathy seemed the most general response.
In the evening I went down to Gethsemane and then up the Mount of Olives to get a night time view of Jerusalem.
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| Mocking the election, the man is dressed in ballot papers, the letters referring to different parties, you pick one and put it into an envelope when voting, if you put money in his box, he made some suitably nonsensical political utterance. |
On my second day I went on a tour of Bethlehem, visiting the Church of the Nativity where according to tradition Christ was born. A silver star marks the spot where the Virgin Mary gave birth and the stone manger where baby was laid is nearby. It was in a cave which did not fit my image of the scene when I starred as Jesus in the Junior school Nativity play. I envisaged a wooden stable and manger all above ground as seen in all the nativity scenes (apparently a much later Italian visualisation). The guide told us it was much quieter than usual, there was little queuing. Worries about the spread of Coronavirus seems to have dissuaded people from travelling. We also drove by the "Walled off" hotel and viewed some of Banksy's artwork. I was told you have to be a guest to go inside the hotel and the rooms are not cheap.
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| The star indicates the spot where Mary gave birth to Jesus (not re-enacted in my school nativity play. |
In the evening I had a meal in an Ethiopian restaurant, I had "well cooked" meat served on some interesting "bread", nearer a bubbly pancake; a fellow traveller from the hostel had the vegan option, served on the same bread, which looked much more attractive. Afterwards I walked down to the King David Hotel used by the British when it held the Mandate of Palestine. For this reason it was the scene of a bombing by Irgun, a Zionist paramilitary organisation, in which they killed 91 people mainly Arabs, British and Jews in 1946. I bought a gin martini in the 1930s bar where the smartly dressed bartender looked the part with his cocktail shaker. I thought it an appropriate end to my stay in Jerusalem remembering some of the many who have died.
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