Bethlehem Christmas 2005

Bethlehem was visited for a few days before travelling onto Aboud for Christmas

Since the Easter visit the final gaps in The Wall at the Northern edge of Bethlehem had been completed and the elaborate checkpoint terminal at the tourist entrance opened. Likewise travelling into Ramallah on the way to Aboud the checkpoint terminal at Qalandiya was also fully functional.  Two 'international border' crossing terminals reminiscent of crossing the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Both deep inside the occupied territories. Just as the Berlin Wall divided Germans from Germans and split up families, this divides Palestinians from Palestinians. But like the Berlin Wall it will fall!