Art Under the Occupation: The Bethlehem Wall
For the residents of the West Bank town of Bethlehem, life is not easy. After a series of suicide bombings during the Intifada in 2000, the Israeli army constructed a wall/fence to separate Israeli cities and settlements from Palestinian attackers.
However, rather than constructing the wall/fence along the generally-acknowledged borders between Israel and Palestine, the vast majority of the wall was built on Palestinian land, cutting off Palestinian villages and residents from surrounding agricultural land and neighboring cities. In effect, the wall and its accompanying Israeli-only roads and moving checkpoints carved Palestine into a series of reservation-like, semi-autonomous cantons. Among the cities most affected by the wall’s construction is Bethlehem, the birthplace of both Jesus and King David.
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During a recent visit for a peacemakers’ conference in Bethlehem, I had a chance to see the wall and experience the checkpoints firsthand. While it was heartbreaking to see the collective punishment inflicted on the majority of residents who had nothing to do with the violence of the Intifada and who sincerely desire to live peaceful lives alongside their Israeli neighbors, it was also inspiring to see how many are committed to strictly non-violent means of protest and engagement in the peacemaking process.
Here are a number of images I captured while there…
**To see the pics and continue reading the full article click HERE**
Here is the video I shot during my time there as well:
Categories: Arts and Culture, Blog, Global, Ministry, Political/Social issues
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