This was the best day of touring so far.
The sites were incredible but the best part was listening to both sides on the Palestinian-Israeli story.
Our driver picked us at the hotel and drove us to Jerusalem to meet our guide. The driver is Palestinian, a resident of Israel and a citizen of Jordan. He lives in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives which is coincidentally where we started the tour.
Here is a picture of the old city from the Mount of Olives. It is hard to miss the Dome of the Rock.
All buildings in Jerusalem are the same color as it is the law that they are covered in limestone. Mr. Pine would not survive here.
Our guide gave us the history of why Jerusalem is an important city and we walked down from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem just as Jesus did. There are churches erected near all the important sites. My favorite church is the one near the place of his arrest by the Romans.
We then entered Jerusalem through the Lion Gate and walked all the stations of the cross and saw all of The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
During the tour of Jerusalem, our guide gave us her point of view of the Palestinians and the wall around the West Bank. She thinks the wall is a good idea until Palestine can find a leader who can control his people.
After Jerusalem, we wanted to go to Bethlehem to see The Church of the Nativity. The only problem is that Bethlehem is inside the West Bank. Israel forbids Israeli citizens from going to the West Bank so our guide cannot take us there but our driver can. As we start driving to Bethlehem, our driver gives us his point of view on the wall. Palestinians hate it and feel like prisoners. He was excited to tell us that John Kerry had just visited and that the Americans are trying to help but he feels that there will never be peace with Israel and that they continue to steal the land of Palestine.
I don't envy John Kerry his job. After talking to both people, I don't feel there is a clear winner. All I can say is that everyone should visit Jerusalem and see the situation for themselves.
The sites were incredible but the best part was listening to both sides on the Palestinian-Israeli story.
Our driver picked us at the hotel and drove us to Jerusalem to meet our guide. The driver is Palestinian, a resident of Israel and a citizen of Jordan. He lives in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives which is coincidentally where we started the tour.
Here is a picture of the old city from the Mount of Olives. It is hard to miss the Dome of the Rock.
All buildings in Jerusalem are the same color as it is the law that they are covered in limestone. Mr. Pine would not survive here.
Our guide gave us the history of why Jerusalem is an important city and we walked down from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem just as Jesus did. There are churches erected near all the important sites. My favorite church is the one near the place of his arrest by the Romans.
We then entered Jerusalem through the Lion Gate and walked all the stations of the cross and saw all of The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
During the tour of Jerusalem, our guide gave us her point of view of the Palestinians and the wall around the West Bank. She thinks the wall is a good idea until Palestine can find a leader who can control his people.
After Jerusalem, we wanted to go to Bethlehem to see The Church of the Nativity. The only problem is that Bethlehem is inside the West Bank. Israel forbids Israeli citizens from going to the West Bank so our guide cannot take us there but our driver can. As we start driving to Bethlehem, our driver gives us his point of view on the wall. Palestinians hate it and feel like prisoners. He was excited to tell us that John Kerry had just visited and that the Americans are trying to help but he feels that there will never be peace with Israel and that they continue to steal the land of Palestine.
I don't envy John Kerry his job. After talking to both people, I don't feel there is a clear winner. All I can say is that everyone should visit Jerusalem and see the situation for themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment