Seeing Jerusalem

As I approach my last week in Palestine, I'm taking some time to visit the religious and historical sites here on top of my volunteer work. It's not easy - we're expected to be available pretty much all the time - but I manage.

Thursday I finally did some touring in Jerusalem. It was incredible. I was able to see four major holy sites in one day.

Walking around the Old City was pretty wild. The streets are very narrow and not very well marked, and when you enter the city the streets are lined with shops selling all sorts of things.



My friend and I found the Church of the Holy Sepulcre without much difficulty. There were many people there, but it's much larger than the Church of the Nativity and has a lot more to see, so it wasn't very crowded. The final locations in the Via Dolorosa are located there, ending at the Sepulcre itself which commemorates the death and burial of Jesus.

I find it fascinating and very powerful to be in a place where so many resources have been dedicated to making it beautiful. It's hard to describe. I was lucky because I was able to beat the tour groups to seeing the Sepulcre and going inside. They don't allow pictures, but there's a small alter with some artwork depicting the death of Jesus. I was hustled inside with a small group by a rather impatient Orthodox priest, and were were given a minute or so to look. It was short, but still very good.

After the Church, we went to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. The Wall was nice, but rather strange. As special as it is, it's soaked in the symbols of the occupation - Israeli flags, settlers and soldiers. We didn't spend too much time there.

It was difficult finding the entrence to the Temple Mount. Non-Muslims need to go through the Wall plaza to go there, but there are no signs showing you where to go. We finally tracked it down - you go down a ramp next to the exit and get in line.

There were fewer tourists there than any of the places I've been so far, which made the experience a little more intimate and much less rushed. The Mount is only open at certain times in the morning and afternoon, and only for an hour or so. The Mosque is still in use as a place to pray and study by Muslims, and both have been subject to attempts to destroy them by Jewish fundamentalists and others.



The Mount is actually a large complex, containing the Dome of the Rock, the Al Aqsa Mosque, and some other structures, areas to sit, as well as trees and other plant life. I wasn't allowed in either the Dome or Al Aqsa, but seeing them was wonderful. I had studied both in college, and it was very special to see them in person. The very architecture of these monuments is immersed in religious significance.

After the Mount, we did a little shopping. The merchants in the Old City are pretty aggressive, and you need to bargain with them to avoid getting screwed. I did an okay job, I think.

After Jerusalem we headed back to Beit Ommar. You need to transfer in Bethlahem, so I showed some tourists I met on the bus the way to the Church of the Nativity. The cab drivers will swear that it's too far and you should pay some absurd fare to get there, but it's actually a straight shot from the place where you get dropped off in the city.

I may try to go to Jerusalem again before I leave. There's enough to do that I could probably make another day out of it, if I wanted. Other than that, I may try to go to Nazareth, although it's pretty far north. I need to make up my mind soon!

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