For others, there is Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River and the hillsides, dusty roads and villages where he taught his disciples and healed the sick, cured the lame, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. And many think of the Places where Jesus was betrayed, crucified, died and was buried only to rise again on the third day.
Christians come to the Holy Land from every part of the world to visit these most sacred sites that have been made holy by the prayers of Pilgrims over the years. For others, Muslims and Jews, the holy sites differ but all three faiths have many holy sites in this area.
Of course, as we pack our bags and look forward to the sights, sounds and tastes of the Holy Land and prepare to walk where Jesus walked, breathe the air Jesus breathed and eat the food Jesus ate, we all know things have changed a bit. We will not walk the dusty roads of Galilee as Jesus and his disciples did so many years ago. Our hotel will have AC and we will travel by jet planes and comfortable air conditioned tour buses.
One thing that today's Pilgrim will encounter that Jesus and his discipes never saw is The Wall and Check Points. Even today, many people in Israel manage to live their lives without ever encountering The Wall or giving Check Points a second thought. For others--Palestinians--Check Points loom like a dark cloud that affects every aspect of their lives. Living in this shadow becomes a way of life that seeps into the soul.
I already knew somethng about Check Points and The Wall or Separation Barrier, but before I had only gone through with a Tour Group during the middle of the day. The Check Points were sometimes a mild inconveniece but, if they were necessary for the security of the State Of Israel, they were a small price to pay.
But in the early morning hours, long before sunrise, when men are linng up to go to work, the Check Points take on a completely different tone. They are no longer just a mild inconvenience so a group of people can feel secure, they are something all together different.
Let me tell you about what I saw on July 11, 2011 at Check Point 300.
I am taking part in the EAPPI program sponsored by the World Council of Churches and as a part of the program, we are privileged to observe the workings of the Check Points. As we approached Check Point 300 between Bethlehem and Jerusalem at 3:30am, my colleague and I visited with some of the vendors a moment and joined the lines with our cup of tea in hand.
My colleague went up the exit lane to stand just inside the door where he could see the area of the soldier's booth and the opening and closing of the turnstile which allows peple to approach and show their papers to the first soldier.
I joined the main line to go through the check point. The first turnstile began opening at 4:00am. By 4:30am I was at the line for the second turnstile where I stopped to observe as people lined up to go through the metal detectors. Unfortunately only one of the three metal detectors was opened before 5:30am when the lines had become quite backed up.
Even with the glitches and stopping of the lines for no apparent reason, and the false starts and delays with opening the additional metal detectors and with only half of the magnetic card and finger print stations open, the morning went pretty much as well as it ever does. In the 3 hours about 2700 people had passed through.
While I was observing the lines at the metal detectors, I saw many men lining up for prayers as they got to that area. And I saw much kindness between the men as they tried to make an unpleasant situation better for each other.
But above all this there is a catwalk like in prisons with armed private security passing by, stopping at a platform and looking down with guns pointed at the people below. Mostly the men on their way to work try to ignore them. But the cloud over the check points darkens as the gun is trained on everyone from high above our heads.
I saw both kindness and the best in people and intimidation and some of the worse in people all at Check Point 300 on Monday, July 11, 2011.
There will be more on this.
Sharon, EA, Group 40
