March 13, 2018

Today has been a great day and very different from yesterday. It has been full of sight seeing. The hardest part was saying goodbye to our guide and going through the checkpoint into Israel. Since we have now crossed back into the state of Israel, our guide is unable to travel with us without a special permit but either way couldn’t legally be our tour guide.

We dropped our guide off before the checkpoint, but as we approached the checkpoint barrier between the West Bank and Israeli we were stopped by security since they saw us drop off a man. I wish I could have taken a picture while we were actually at the checkpoint. Since they saw our guide jump off the bus before the checkpoint, they ordered the driver to open the carriers under the bus and crept up to the hold with machine gun drawn. It was menacing. I watched it all from my seat above, looking out the window at the guard.

The checkpoint is surrounded by grey watch towers with spotlights and small windows, only big enough for binoculars and guns. All Palestinians have to get out of their vehicles (as they aren’t allowed to take vehicles across the border) and walk through the checkpoint. They are funneled into aisles designed like cages that lead into a cement building no one can see into and often brought into separate rooms that are not open to ensure the behavior of the guards.

Meanwhile outside, some vehicles are pulled aside to a separate lot for additional searching. And we were one of those vehicles. We sat and waited for guards to come and search the bus as they instead took care of vans who came in after us. One of the things that the Israeli guards do is try to make the checkpoint miserable for internationals so they won’t want to come back to Palestine. After a 20 minute wait three armed guards walked through our bus searching under seats and checking passports. When all was said and done, the search took about one minute. The experience was frightening for me because I felt like I could do something wrong but wouldn’t know what. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be a Palestinian in this experience.

Backing up: This morning we woke up in Zababdeh after our homestays and toured the city. It is the only predominantly Christian town in the Northern part of the West Bank. We were able to visit a stable similar to the one Jesus was born in – as most cities at the time had these facilities for travelers.

This is the basilica, the part closest to the camera was the seat of the King.

After leaving Zababdeh we travelled onto Sebastia, a Roman town. Much of it was built by Herod the Great, including the famous basilica. It is most well known for the place where Herod the Lesser (son of Herod the Great) was presented with the head of John the Baptist. The city was the capital of ancient Israel and thus important to Jews and Jewish settlers. Because of this there were settlers there when we arrived. Whenever settlers travel in the West Bank, they are accompanied by several trucks of armed military personnel for protection. One feature of Sebastia that is rather well known is their proudly raised Palestinian flag. All day, every day, some young people raise the flag on the highest hill. However, military persons take down the flag. The youth then run to put it back up and the chase begins again. When we arrived this “game” was going on so we decided to do our shopping first and get away from the inevitable conflict. Later, as we hiked through the Roman ruins, we got a very strong smell of tear gas. Our guide told me that it was most likely from the chase between the youths and the military personnel. (Reminder to readers, tear gas is not to be used as a weapon, but a means of crowd control). I can tell you, even walking through the brief remains of the gas was awful.

Ten Lepers Church, Burqin

Finally, our day ended at St. George’s church (the third St. George’s church we’ve been to in 48 hours) in Burqin, which means the lepers. Yes, the site of the ten lepers and the miracle Jesus performed. Historically, it is the fourth oldest church in the world. Architecturally, the church is unique because it is the only Greek Orthodox church where the iconostasis is made entirely out of stone (traditionally they are made from wood).

After saying goodbye to our wonderful guide and going through the check point, it was about a two hour drive through northern Israel into the Galilee region where we landed in Ibillin, a small town of 14,000 Palestinian people. It is in the formal state of Israel so gone are the checkpoints, land classification, and military personnel. However, just because we are no longer in Palestine, doesn’t mean Palestinians are home free.

The rest, I’ll leave until tomorrow!

~ Monica Shaffer