Bethlehem 2.0: Three Wise Men Can't Get In

wall: a continuous vertical brick or stone structure that encloses or divides an area of land. barrier: a fence or other obstacle that prevents movement or access. Facts: Israel began to build the 700 km wall in 2002. Partly electronic fence, partly an 8mt concrete wall, its construction is ongoing. The Berlin wall was 155km long and 3.6mt high. Israel calls it a security fence. For Palestine it’s a separation wall. Where: I took the photos in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine in 2012-2013 There is a family home that sits in the shadow of the wall. There is a basketball net on the wall. The woman who put it up there has four children. “They need to play somewhere” she told me the day when I visited her in 2013. “Wasn’t it dangerous to climb up there and drill holes in the wall?” I asked her. “Of course” she said “the Israeli soldiers could have arrested me or shot me, but my children have nowhere to play”. I told her I used to play basketball as a child. She replied “You can play here too”. “I don’t want to get you in trouble with the soldiers” I said. “Don’t worry” she said as she handed me her son’s basketball. A few months later I returned to the same place by the wall, and was welcomed by the woman’s sister in law. She invited me in for tea and showed me a map of Palestine: “The wall does not run on the Green Line, it is not a border between Israel and Palestine, it steals our land and olive trees” she said. “Come” she told me “I want to show you something”. I followed her outside where her house meets the wall: “see...there is a crack in the wall”. From my Palestinian viewpoint I could peek into the Israeli side: a gecko sunbathing and well-kept flowerbeds and sidewalks.