thanks to much prodding from the class above us, we got christmas day 2013 off! christmas eve was spent at our hospital in bnei brak/tel aviv working - just another regular day in israel. as evening wore on we dropped the hint to our tutor that it was christmas eve - and she was all like "omg i totally didn't even realize that - go!!" so we did, hopping on a bus to jerusalem and then another to bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ! the main border crossing into the west bank was closed due to "security concerns", so we had to take the long way around, making what should have been a 20 minute drive into a 3 hour one. by the time we finally arrived at about 9 pm the party was in full swing! bethlehem is obviously a huge destination for christians from palestine and around the world this time of year, and there was a while lineup of ethnically varied choirs singing familiar carols in manger square, including my favorite, a composition of cute toddlers from south korea. we met up with about 20 of my classmates and had a nice feast of chicken burgers and beer in the restaurant on manger square. the funding for bethlehem's holiday festivities comes mostly compliments of the us agency for international development. this year palestinian activists constructed a poignant christmas tree from spent tear gas grenades and barbed wire - it is truly sad that the birthplace of Christ remains under military occupation 2000-some years later, an sadder still that this occupation is endorsed and indeed propagated by so many christians in america. midnight mass occurred in the church of the nativity - prominent guests included the president of the palestinian authority mahmoud abbas and the european union's foreign minister, whose motorcades of black swerving suvs almost ran us over as they arrived. some of us got tickets to go in but the rest of us watched on a big screen from outside. a group of us stayed in the home of a local who we had never met - lined up through some guy my friend andrew spent the whole day traipsing around the west bank trying to track down. turned out pretty well! christmas morning we grabbed some falafel for breakfast and payed a visit to bethlehem's infamous "stars and bucks coffee". we then went for a long walk through the aida refugee camp, which is circumscribed by the separation barrier, upon which is a plethora of fascinating art, including a selection of works by banksy. my favorite art on the wall is a large all-caps "love wins", which is apt for christmas and any time of the year. thank you Jesus for freedom in all its forms, and viva palestine!
