October 17, 2002

Bethlehem - Closed Military Zone

[Bethlehem, West Bank] Rachel's Tomb is hardly ever a boring place. Sometimes you have Palestinian boys throwing stones at the Israeli soldier tower. Sometimes there are small fires. I've heard a few gunshots. Often it is the site of unrest. It's been much discussed recently as Israel has plans to confiscate the property leading to it. Today there were fighter planes and helicopters flying overhead and evidently a lot of Jewish visitors. There must have been a lot of them, because the entire Bethlehem area was called a "closed military zone" to seal the area to Palestinians and open it to Jews who wanted to pray at Rachel's Tomb.

I had seen preparations for this a couple of days ago. I was coming back from Jerusalem and got stuck in a long line of cars waiting to get back into Bethlehem. We waited and waited. Finally a huge Israeli armored bulldozer squeezed down the road as cars headed for the shoulder ditch. We moved forward and saw a new roadblock pushed into place near the Caritas Hospital. The new obstacle stopped traffic from a popular back road to the main Bethlehem checkpoint.

So it was no surprise to me today that the checkpoint was closed. I wanted to see if the Israeli closure was intended to hide home demolitions, so I headed to the main checkpoint on foot. I scrambled over the roadblocks and walked over to the Jerusalem-Hebron Road. All was quiet. I didn't see a bulldozer, a soldier or Jewish prayers. As I walked up the dusty road, suddenly a military jeep appeared with lights flashing and megaphone blaring. I had no idea what they were saying, but I stopped as it approached. A soldier opened the door and told me that the checkpoint was closed, and I should turn around. He suggested that if I wanted to leave, I should go to Beit Jala. (Internationals were allowed to pass through Beit Jala today, but I talked to several Palestinians who were not.)

I got into a taxi and went to Beit Sahour. There we saw an Israeli tank blocking the back way into Jerusalem and Abu Dis. So residents were pretty well locked up in the Bethlehem area today. No coming or going, except for internationals or Jews who wanted to pray at Rachel's Tomb.

A woman got the attention of an Israeli tank in Beit Sahour.

A roadblock to prevent traffic from getting to the main Bethlehem checkpoint.
I believe that's the Caritas Baby Hospital in the background.

The Israeli guard's tower at Rachel's Tomb.