Day 114: Sea of Tourists at Sea of Galilee

(Her: Joanna)

Because there is no bus running during the time of Sabbath, our plan to bus to the Sea of Galilee fell through.  With the time that we have, joining a tour was the best option though it was a bit pricey.   I was really excited to see these places that I have heard from church and the bible where Jesus lived his life and started preaching the gospel.   The story about his first miracle in turning water into wine (Cana), feeding 5000 people with only 5 pieces of bread and 2 fishes (Tabgha), and the place where his first few disciples started to follow him are all stories that I have grew up with (Capernaum).  I cannot tell what I expect from these places exactly but I am hoping I can find or feel traces of Jesus.  

Boy, was I disappointed.  Despite the fact that the Sea of Galilee was a beautiful place to spend a summer holiday, the places where significant events happened in Jesus life are now no more than any regular touristy place.  I cannot see or feel any association to the holiness I was expecting.  On the contrary, all these places are very touristy.  The worst was the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized by John.  Inside me, it hurts to such a religious place to be so commercialized.  There are different sizes of “Holy Water” you can buy and for the convenience of the tourists, the price is even in US dollar; tourists rushed to buy shirts with Jesus’ icon on and have a deep into the Jordan River; a full complex of souvenirs.  

Day 112 - 114: Jerusalem – Where is the holiness of the Holy Land?

(Her: Joanna)

Throughout our journey thus far, we came across a few where a few popular religions live “happily” and “peacefully” together, such as Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sofia in Bulgaria.   But none of these cities were these religions “live” together as dramatically as Jerusalem.  Muslim, Christian, and Jews with the same origin all live actively in this small city.  The somewhat “peace” in Jerusalem is thank to an order or rule book that the Ottoman Empire lay down detailing how the city will be run base on the snap shot when the order was recorded to eliminate any argument.  Whoever wants to change anything, everyone has to agree (which is nearly impossible).  It is quite bizarre that the same Muslim family has been locking the door of the Church of Sepulchre for over 500 years.

Bizarre and crazy are the perfect words to describe Jerusalem (and of course fascinating).  I have never seen so many religious people in one place.  Let alone religious people from 3 religions.  Everywhere you see people praying. 

Jerusalem is divided into 4 quarters – Jews quarter, Christian quarter, Muslim quarter and Armenian quarter (yeah…this is an odd one).  It is total craziness to see a street full of Muslim with ladies all covered up and see Orthodox Jews just around the corner who also dressed in black but with fashionable curly sideburn and big hat.

It seems like that the location where the foundation stone is seems to be the point of conflict.  The foundation stone is situated where the Dome of Rock in the Muslim ruling but this object is both the holy of holy for both Muslim and Jews.  Christians seems to be out of this conflict. 

It is quite bizarre to see people are so intensively touched by the holy objects and speculated location of where Jesus or Prophet Mohammed had been.  There is no evidence where exactly the places are but people just treat these places as the holy depending on your religion.  For example, there are 2 places where Jesus were crucified, died and was buried; there are 2 tombs of the Virgin Mary.  

I was bought up from a Catholic family.  I have always thought that the most important thing is my spiritual relationship with God being a person with a religion.  Rituals and ceremony are solely to assist a person’s relationship with God.  Being in Israel with so many people of different religion cramped in one country was an eye-opener for me to see how differently each religion and each person interpret the meaning of religion and their relationship with God.  Being on this land, I understand why religion has always been in the history of man a source of conflict.  I don’t feel that the Holy Land is a holy place.  What I see is the nature of human being – unfortunately, the ugly side of human being.    

Day 111: What I saw in Palestine… - Bethlehem, Palestine

(Him: Charlie)

The Palestine/Israel conflict makes news every other day, but until being here in person, I have to admit that I am quite oblivious about the true situation. What I have witnessed here, Israel or Palestine depending on who you speak to, is a one-sided tragedy that everyone should know about…

The plot of land, bounded by Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, used to be Palestine. After the WWII, the British who controlled the area at the time, allowed Jewish people in Diaspora to settle on this land. Over the next few years, the massive immigration continued grew, and on 1948, the State of Israel was founded, within the land of Palestine, and has been here ever since. The Jewish people believe this is the “promised land” given by god, but Palestinians and the Arabic nations believe that the Jewish people stole their land.

Fast forward to a few wars later, Israel managed to triple its size, and displaced millions of Palestinians from the Israeli area. Today, Palestinians in the area mostly reside in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and even these areas are under strict controls by the Israelis.

On our trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, we witnessed a lot of unfair treatment to Palestinians. We saw the Palestinians were being yelled at while crossing the border from Jordan. We passed through numerous check-points that were set up to restrict the movement of Palestinians. We witnessed the segregation walls and electric fences between West Bank and Israel. Apparently, these fences and walls were erected well into the Palestinian territories based on the internationally recognized border. We also witnessed pockets of Israeli settlements inside the West Bank, which are fenced and secured by armed forces. Apparently, Israel has a long record of human right violations.

In talking to some Palestinians, they feel helpless about the current situation. Undoubtedly, Israel is overpowering Palestine, who is in dire poverty. It is ashamed that the Arabs lost so badly in previous wars against Israel and conceded so much land, but Palestinians these days are happy just to have a full control of the land they have, namely West Bank and Gaza Strip, and carry on with life. On the other hand, Israel doesn’t seem to keen on loosening its grip on Palestinians’ neck. To get a sense of what Israel is thinking, we bought of copy of the Jerusalem post, and we found it rife with articles about the Israel/Arabic politics and there’s even an article criticizing the two-state solution.

To me, as an outsider, the two-station solution is the best solution for the current situation for a couple of simple reasons. 1. Israel can say what they want about the “promised land”, but they took it away from the Palestinians after all. 2. Ideally, it would be nice to integrate the two communities and share the land, but given the historical problems, it would be wise to each have their own area to avoid mass displacement.