May 15, 2002

The Incredible Shrinking Bethlehem

[Bethlehem, Palestine] My friend Felix is an amateur magician. I've seen him pull a dozen decks of cards out of thin air. People gasp as he wows audiences with his tricks. People are gasping here in Bethlehem too. Another daring deception is astonishing the community. I call it the "Incredible Shrinking Bethlehem." Everyday, due to a little Israeli trickery, Bethlehem gets smaller.

When residents were allowed to return outside after the most recent Israeli invasion, they were surprised to find new roads that magically popped up around the community. These roads cut through some of the few remaining tracts of farmland surrounding the area. Of course these roads were not built for the benefit of the farmers. Farmers or other Palestinians will never be allowed to use these roads. These roads were cut through the community to squeeze Bethlehem a bit tighter. Posts were planted, and strands of razor wire were spooled along the roads, very effectively shutting it off for local residents. This means that overnight some farmers lost their property. Farmer has a field one day. Goes to bed. Wakes up next day. Field and olive trees gone. End of story.

Having grown up on a farm, I understand the devastating effects this has on not only the income but also on the morale of the farmer. Perhaps his only source of income and his legacy gone instantly. Undeserved, unfair and unjust. The sad thing is that this in not an isolated incident. Things like this happen every day in the West Bank. Property is confiscated without much if any warning and without legal recourse.

I have no doubt that this now new land will be put to good use. Illegal settlements around Jerusalem will eventually be expanded to include this new area. Homes will be built on it to prove that it is now proper Israeli property. And military equipment will be brought in to protect these new settlers from the dangerous Palestinian element nearby. So what once was a nice undisturbed and peaceful olive grove becomes a site for provocation and aggression. Different location but same old story.

This road was cut through this olive grove beside Ayda refugee camp. I was so far South that I could look due East to see the Bethlehem Bible College! (Note the buildings lining Hebron Rd.) From my map I estimate it to be about 1000 meters (more than half a mile) down from where the Bethlehem checkpoint now sits.

The road and razor wire split this olive grove, leaving most of it inaccessible.

Site of future Gilo settlement expansion? Welcome neighbors! A new Jewish immigrant who moves here has more rights on his first day than the Palestinian whose family might have lived in the community for hundreds (or thousands) of years!