My walk to work...

I have been welcomed with open arms to Bethlehem. There have been wonderful people and there is always something to do. Because I have been welcomed by so warmly I sometimes forget there's an occupation. This doesn't last for too long.

Once I got to Bethlehem, I started the internship part of the program. I am interning at a think tank called ARIJ- the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem.(arij.org) It is a work environment I am not used to- I'm in a cubicle, I'll let your imagination paint the picture of how uncomfortable I am. I am doing research which paints the picture of occupation and the inhumanity that is associated with it all too clearly.

I also am reminded of the occupation when I go outside. On my walk to work I have to walk only a few meters before I see the the wall. A giant wall the cuts a once busy road that went straight to Jerusalem. I know it goes to Jerusalem without asking anyone because the road sign still stands.




Its an interesting way to start my day. To walk along this giant wall, and to wonder about why we put up walls. Why is it ok for some to erect walls, but not for others? Why did the world celebrate when the Berlin wall came down, but didn't put up a true fight to keep this one away? I stand and stare at it every morning for a minute or two and wonder- how on earth did this idea go through in 2002?! In such an era of advancement and technology, why does a nation still use such forceful (and discriminatory) means to deal with an adversary?


The graffiti all over it is fascinating too. The wall, which is abrasive and violent to me who is a foreigner and doesn't have to deal with it for too long. It makes me angry. Yet the vast majority of the graffiti leaves messages of peace, growth and love.




There are people that have figured a way to make the most of the wall. There is a restaurant nearby that has posted their menu on the way and have set up a projection screen on the wall that has blocked off the view it used to have. The Wall Lounge now shows world cup matches every night on the wall. I've acquired a group I hang out with most nights and we've been meeting up there and watched the games. It's bizarre. While it was nice to have a big screen to watch the game on, and not have people standing in my way, it's weird to be watching it on the wall.To be watching a sporting event where the entire world comes together, on a barrier a government erects to control and imprison a people.