After the Christmas church service in Bethlehem, we party late into the night and end up missing the last bus back to Jerusalem.
Sister with apple hookah (shisha, waterpipe) and partying with African Christians out in the streets.
Bethlehem at night
We start walking back towards Jerusalem and eventually pick up a couple of companions, a pair of guys who were following us with great curiosity. We chat about life and before you know it, we've reached the West Bank Wall (that big wall that Israel builds to make it incredibly difficult for Palestinians to get around, claiming it's for the protection of Israelis).
Compared to the barren "Israel" side of the wall, the "Palestinian" side is far more alive, with varying amounts of political graffiti including that of Banksy and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.
We arrive at the border consisting of a large gate for cars staffed by IDF soldiers, and a small caged walkway for pedestrians.
Image sourced from The People's Voice.
After entering the tunnel, we reach a large warehouse building with a series of gates, each dead bolted closed. No staff are visible, all of the doors are locked. After waiting twenty minutes, we eventually head back outside to the gate where the cars pass, where the IDF soldiers are, we tell them that the gate is locked, they tell us to leave.
We head back to the warehouse and wait, eventually one of the gates is unlocked and we head into the next room, a turn-style ensures only one person can enter at a time, a soldier sits in a booth behind bullet proof glass, takes our passports and asks us where we've been, who we've spoken with and what we're carrying. The entire process is as clinical as possible and we are grateful when we are able to leave out of the other side one hour after reaching the gate.
I really like that wall, messages to think about