No visit to Israel is complete without a tour of the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem. Just a short ten minute drive south of Jerusalem, you will enter a far different world through Checkpoint 300. Most tourists identify Bethlehem with the birth of Jesus Christ, the Church of the Nativity, and perhaps Rachel’s Tomb. A half-day tour on the bus from Jerusalem will check all those boxes and include lunch. However, if you want to see the darker side of the Israeli-Arab conflict, plan to spend a couple of days. Airbnbs are much cheaper than in Jerusalem, food is less expensive, and people, for the most part, seemed friendlier.
Immediately after passing through the checkpoint, I got my first view of the intimidating solid concrete wall that separates Jerusalem from the West Bank. Although tourists are free to enter and exit this checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem without restriction, there exists varying degrees of (some may say intentional) difficulty. This may entail exiting the bus, submitting your bag to an ex-ray machine and your person to a metal detector, and then walking through the checkpoint tunnel into the West Bank. Since I had luggage and was staying a few days, I took a private Israeli taxi to Bethlehem, and passed through the checkpoint with no issues. However, when I reentered Jerusalem several days later, I did have to show my passport and visa, answer questions through my open window, and my bags were inspected. It’s slightly unnerving to be confronted by a soldier wielding a loaded M-16, and every time it happened to me, I was reminded of the freedom we enjoy as US citizens.
My taxi driver had no clue where he was going and relied on me for directions, which I found hilarious. Who was the tourist here? It was like the blonde leading the blind…
Between Google, several heated conversations in Arabic with Issa, my host, and a free tour of the ‘little town’ of Bethlehem, he finally got me to my destination.
I stayed in this amazing house for $32 per night! Issa provided bread, milk, juice and all sorts of coffee and teas, and spoiled me with fresh pomegranates from his own trees.
Issa lived in the house, but in an apartment with its own entrance. I couldn’t believe how spacious and comfortable my accommodations were. There was a great food store and fruit market at the end of the road and Manger Square was an easy 10-minute walk.
He also had a lovely farm with goats and sheep, chickens, a vegetable garden and many fruit trees.
When I ventured out, I found Bethlehem very different from Jerusalem. It felt like I had stepped into another country. Under the Palestinian Authority, the streets and a lot of the buildings were in disrepair and it was not as clean. It was much more hilly than Jerusalem, with many steep inclines.
Here in Palestine, Muslim women wear hijab, a head and shoulder covering. I seemed to draw attention with my wild blond hair and blue jeans, which made me vaguely uncomfortable as I walked around by myself.
For the record, this was not my favorite place to visit. Although I’m glad I came, I was equally glad that it was only for a couple of nights. Now that you’ve had the 10 cent tour of Bethlehem, we’ll go to the Walled-Off Hotel, which I visited the following day. This was part of a personal half-day tour of the refugee camp Aida, which I will need to cover separately. There’s a lot going on here politically, that many people are unaware of.
Over my shoulder, is the reason for this aptly-named hotel. The brief video, less than 2 minutes long, will fill you in on the history of The Walled Off Hotel which is touted to have the “worst view in the world”.
Receiving less than 25 minutes of sunlight each day, the windows of the lobby and some of the hotel’s rooms face the separation wall, a concrete, 430-mile, 25-feet high cement barrier. Built in 2002 after a series of Palestinian suicide bombings in Jerusalem, during which 1,100 Israelis, 880 of whom were civilians, were killed, the wall is controversial and hotly contested.
It dwarfs in height and length the Berlin Wall, to which it is frequently compared. I’ll admit, I had no idea any of this existed, until I began to research my trip to Israel last year. I am beginning to discover that, as Americans, we are kept in the dark quite frequently…
For Israelis, this is a security wall, which protects them from Palestinian attackers trying to enter Israel.
For Palestinians, it’s a prison wall, and they see it as Israel’s attempt to expel them from Jerusalem.
I perceive my role to be a nonpartisan reporter and will refrain from personal comment. However, I will say this: There are usually not two, but three, sides to every story- my side, your side and the truth, which lies somewhere in between the two.
The hotel’s mastermind, Banksy, is an anonymous England-based street artist, vandal, political activist, and film director. Originally, The Walled Off Hotel was intended to be temporary and provocative, turning the oppressive wall into a tourist attraction. Since March 2017, it has proved so successful that it competes in popularity with Bethlehem’s traditional pilgrimage site, the Church of the Nativity.
A former pottery workshop turned working hotel with nine guest rooms, The Walled Off Hotel’s reception lobby evokes a nostalgic feel of a much earlier, a more genteel, period. That goes out the window when your eyes adjust to the duskiness and the artwork becomes visible. It has been labeled decadent, oppressive and ironic. At the very least, it’s disturbing.
Banksy’s satirical artwork is on display with this painting of the children riding the looming, oppressive guard tower as a carousel.
Inside the hotel lobby, the walls are covered with framed art and sculpture. Here is a classical bust in a wall niche, wreathed in clouds of gas snaking out of a tear gas canister.
One of Banksy’s classic works, the premise is that the freedom fighter is throwing the bouquet of flowers towards the occupying army’s headquarters in a gesture of peace.
Next door to the hotel is Wall Mart, the self-proclaimed one-stop shop for decorating the wall…You can buy a stencil or make one, buy the spray paint, and they’ll even lend you a ladder.
Many Palestinians fail to see the humor in something that has brought so much pain and suffering to their families. See how they are striking back.
I took many photos of the graffiti and artwork on the separation wall, but in an effort to keep this post a manageable length, I will present just a few here. If anyone wants to see more, I am happy to share. Contact me with the form or submit a reply.
Coming soon: tour of Aida, a UN refugee camp inside these walls. This is another extremely controversial and hotly contested topic of discussion. As always, feel free to comment or ask questions.
When we were in Israel it was not safe for Jewish people to go into Bethlehem. We had a Jewish bus driver and he would not drive in there and told us not to go. We were very disappointed however reading your blog was very interesting. I watched the video but could not see any pictures you said you posted. Good job, keep on blogging!!!!
Hmmm. I wonder why you cannot see everything? Anyone else having issues with this?
Wonderful blog! Very insightful and your open dialogue is very helpful to better understand what it is like in the holy land.
Thanks for the feedback, Lisa!
My mistake!!! Sorry! I forgot to press the download button.
The blonde leading the blind.
I loved it.😂.
Thanks Sweetie. Safe travels!
I wonder where all the millions of dollars from all over the world that is sent to help the Palestinians has gone?
My friend told me that 90% goes into PA’s pocket. It’s obvious it’s not being spent on the Palestinians or the infrastructure.