April 1, 2002

Bethlehem Checkpoint

[West Bank, Palestine] After a rather long and lonely walk, I managed to make it out of Bethlehem and into Jerusalem. Before I left Bethlehem, I noticed tanks poised on the hill facing my apartment again. The rumbling of their engines woke me at 5am. Streets were empty in town. No one was moving. A taxi driver took me part of the way to the checkpoint but dropped me off well short. He hurriedly drove away, leaving me standing with my laptop and backpack. I walked toward Jerusalem down the center of empty streets -- hoping that neither side would mistake me for the enemy. The checkpoint was closed, so I went through the back fields around it. I backtracked to see the checkpoint from the Jerusalem side. I was amazed by the hardware -- dozens of military vehicles were present.

Photos of Military Hardware at the Bethlehem Checkpoint