فلسطين

I got the stamp of death.  That is how my trip started, but it only improved from there.  Also, apparently things are not Middle East-priced in the land of the occupier, so that was not the greatest, but we found some good prices in Khalil.  There were many soldiers, which was definitely the first thing I noticed.  Two soldiers, each with an extremely large gun, entered our minibus to check passports on the way from the border to Jerusalem.  There were soldiers stationed at every corner, so I guess in some ways, it is a little bit safe to be surrounded by machine guns at all times.  The vast majority of the soldiers looked my age, or maybe even younger, which was kind of sad.  Jerusalem was amazing, and we saw a good deal of exciting things.  The Dome of the Rock was gorgeous, and visible from almost everywhere in the city, its gold dome shining in the sun.  St. James Cathedral was also beautiful, and we accidentally slipped inside with an Armenian group, guided in Armenian.  I didn't understand much, and by much I mean anything, but it was gorgeous nonetheless.  We took a bus up to the Mount of Olives, and saw a few churches, but unfortunately the Mary Magdalene church is only open 4 hours a week, and we missed it by about an hour.  The following day, we embarked for Bethlehem, where we had to enter a checkpoint.  There were a lot of Palestinians coming through from the other side to enter Jerusalem, and it seemed as though many of them were interrogated before they were let through.  A lot of women came through, and waited almost 20 minutes for their husbands.  Once we got through, we took a service taxi to Khalil.  Khalil definitely had a different feel than Jerusalem, and because it was Friday, there were even more Israeli soldiers standing around.  It seems to me at least, that this type of situation is not very sustainable, just based on the amount of soldiers needed.  It was very clear which parts were Muslim and which parts were Jewish, as marked by guards, metal detectors, fences, barbed wire, and tall walls.  Some Israeli settlements were actually built above Palestinian homes and shops, and fences had to be placed above the Palestinian level so that Israelis couldn't throw trash and other things at the Palestinians below.  It was humbling to walk through, and to realize the amount of privilege I have as an American.  Usually, a few words in English or a wave of my American passport got me fast-tracked through checkpoints.  Back in Bethlehem, we saw the Church of the Nativity, and went back through the checkpoint to Jerusalem, which closes before dark.  We did some shopping in the Old City, from the multitude of vendors selling things from every end of the spectrum.  There were "Free Palestine" shirts next to "Israeli Defense Force" shirts.  There were "Peace: It's a beautiful thing to see" shirts next to shirts depicting laughing characters next to the words "Peace in the Middle East".  I guess that is just an example of the contradictions existing everywhere in the country.