The wall across the Northern edge of Bethlehem had been built since the visit in 2003. Seeing it for the first time was a shock. The Wall and the difficulty they have in getting permits to travel into occupied East Jerusalem disrupts the lives of the inhabitants of Bethlehem. Note East Jerusalem, including the Mount of Olives as well as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre  and the rest of the Old City are entirely in the areas illegally occupied by Israel since  1967. Yet Palestinians from the rest of the  West Bank are not allowed free to visit there.

Only five percent of Bethlehem residents have permits to enter Jerusalem.  They do not have easy access to employment opportunities, special hospitals and other services in Jerusalem. 

The Old City of Jerusalem is just seven miles from Bethlehem. Yet the two centres of the Christian faith: the sites of the birth and resurrection are cut of from each other. The separation of the twin cities makes it prevents many Palestinian Christians from practising the age old traditions of their faith.  Some one day permits may be given to Bethlehem Christians to travel into Jerusalem on Holy days, but never enough. Permits are often refused to those who actively speak out and organise against the occupation.

On Palm Sunday 2005 Many Bethlehem Christians were denied access to Jerusalem for the traditional Palm Sunday Procession across the Mount of Olives. They organised a Freedom of worship-Freedom to travel to Jerusalem procession in Bethlehem. Some Muslims also participated as did internationals, including British and American Christians.

Procession in Bethlehem Note it starts off silent but the microphone was switched on for the speech in English by Sami Awad. Active content needs to be enabled to view this You tube Video

 Delivered by Holy Land Trust Executive Director Sami Awad on Palm Sunday (March 20) 2005:

Asalaam ‘alaykum, dear friends,

We in the Bethlehem community have come to you today with a message on behalf of our people. We represent the family members and friends who are imprisoned by these concrete walls and wire fences that now create the Bethlehem open-air prison. You, like the prison guards, control our freedom and ability to live as human beings with dignity in this holy land.

Our strong delegation of civilians comes to you without weapons but with great strength and commitment to deliver the message of just peace. In the name of security, you do not permit us to travel to school and to worship in our holy sites in the city of Jerusalem. Your government deprives us each day of basic human rights to self-determination. Each day you keep us from being with our families at weddings, funerals, graduations, birthdays, and religious holidays. Although Al-Quds (Arabic for Jerusalem) is only 20 minutes from Bethlehem, we have not been allowed to pray and worship at our holy sites for many years.

Each day as you come to our city, you serve the system of violence that keeps our people imprisoned and without the ability to live a life of a normal human being. With your guns, tanks, and insults, you teach our children to hate.

However, we believe each of you has the power and choice to choose a different ending to this story. We appeal to your conscience and humanity as individuals and as soldiers who may feel there is no way out of this system. Put your guns away—I repeat, put your guns away—and join us in the fight for peace and freedom.

The People of Bethlehem