ST MICHAEL’S PARISH CHURCH  • LINLITHGOW  •   EH49 7AL

tel - 01506 842188   e-mail - info@stmichaels-parish.org.uk

MINISTER:  REV DR STEWART GILLAN  BSc MDiv PhD

St Michael’s Parish Church is recognised as a Scottish Charity  No SCO16185

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It was the first day of the tour when Elizabeth lost her spectacles. We had lots of sights to see and a lot of information to read. So, although it was dark and we were in a strange city – Bethlehem – we had to find an optician.

We asked directions from a pharmacist – one of four such businesses nearby (they act as paramedic centres in this traumatised community).

The optician turned out to be a Christian and we learnt, at first hand, about life behind the Wall, cut off from family and relatives by encircling Israeli settlements (each one a very sizeable conurbation), and threatened now by once-friendly Muslim neighbours. They told us how, because Christians tended to be better off, they were leaving the Holy Land in droves. They also expressed disappointment at the outcome of the recent visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury and his counterparts in other Churches, who came and left without raising the plight of Palestinian Christians with the Israeli Authorities.

This was the authentic voice of a suffering people.  The first of many that we would hear during our tour.

Our hotel, The Star, is family run, the only one to have stayed open through the troublesome decades. It struggles to survive today as few tourists are visiting Bethlehem and those who do are bussed in and out by Israeli tourist operators.

Not far from Manger Square are three Refugee Camps, each with its own stories of harassment and death. Despite almost 100% unemployment the refugees retain their dignity with very successful self-help schemes. We met one group which had built a handsome community hall and were now halfway through a hospital project using funds from the Japanese Government. Washing hung from balconies in the narrow streets, prams were at the doors, these were people just like ourselves but dreadfully deprived.

We also visited the Roman-Catholic-assisted Bethlehem University, hearing from the students themselves of the problems and frustrations they experienced every day – missing classes because of hold-ups at control-points, the lack of work experience in hospitals and engineering workshops as such places tended to be owned by Israelis and so closed to Palestinians, and the shortage of jobs once they were qualified. One story stands out particularly: early in the morning of his final exam day he saw his family home bulldozed right before his eyes.

We were taken to Hebron to meet the Christian Peace-monitoring Team there. Hebron is in the West bank; it is also the site of The Tomb of the Patriarchs, hence important to Muslim and Jew.  400 Zionists have ‘taken up residence’ near to the Tomb and are protected by 1600 Israeli soldiers. Streets around the settlement have been closed to Palestinians and control points abound. The Arab market streets have mesh overhead to protect them from missiles (including excreta) thrown by settlers.

Missiles flew in Be’lin too – a village north of Ramallah – which holds a weekly demonstration against their section of the Wall and against an Israeli-only highway  being built  over their land. One of our group was hit by a tear-gas canister fired by Israeli guards and required several stitches. The demo, I should say, was conducted totally peacefully.

We did have one day off – Sunday – in Jerusalem. Elizabeth and I attended a service in St George’s Anglican Church, followed by a walk through an opulent residential area, then a visit to St Mark’s Church in the Armenian Quarter where we were treated to the Lord’s Prayer sung in Aramaic.  Further on we witnessed the baking of bread and its being carried on huge boards balanced on a small boy’s head.  We then went  to the site of Christ’s Prison on the Via Dolorosa, the Dome of the Rock and the Wailing Wall.

Our last day was spent on the coast in Jaffa and then in the Galilee, learning about the setting up of the State of Israel, its early setbacks and fightback and the destruction of Palestinian villages at that time.

PILGRIMAGE WITH A
DIFFERENCE

by Bill Ross