Palestine - Why not named on google maps?




Depending on who gets asked, for some, Palestine comprehensively exists and for some it doesnt. For google maps it seems it doesnt. But its complicated, especially as Jerusalem is capital city of Israel AND Palestine :).  Unexpected, it was easier than I thought to get from Israel to Palestine and back.



January 27 - Palestine is a country

My purpose for going to Palestine was visiting Bethlehem, its church where Jesus was born, and the Wall. Only had a few hours to visit it, as in the afternoon I had to be back in Israel to continue the old town Jerusalem.
From Jerusalem and right outside the old town there was a normal bus with normal passengers, stopping at a normal stop and it took me directly behind the border in Palestine.

Arriving in Palestine, in Bethlehem.


Israel citizen are not allowed to go to Palestine, so Israelis are not allowed to see the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

Palestine has its own administration, of course, and so their own number plates for cars.






There is no Shabbat in Palestine, so there was no problem finding something to eat in one of these little side streets on the way to the church.

This is the view from outside of the Church of Nativity. View on Palestine neighborhood.


Inside of the church.

Further inside the church, there is somewhere a "hidden" entrance that leads downstairs to a basement/cave, where Jesus is born.

And as the bible tells us, in this room in this corner, he was born. I had a good moment being in this room, cause two minutes later a busload of Chinese tourists came down the cove.

Free sight onto the place where Jesus was born. Two minutes later Chinese tourists were crawling inside here with their selfie sticks.





Continuing and walking around in the area. It's mostly Muslim territory.





The bird is the famous dove of peace along a street in Bethlehem. It's from a famous artist called Bansky.
The West Bank barrier. The wall that separates Israel and Palestine and is supposed to be a security barrier against terrorism.


I took a taxi here, cause had no idea where to see some cool graffiti. During the short ride, the driver was heavily complaining about Israel and what they are doing against Palestine and its people around the border.


Believing the taxi drivers arguments, Israel wants Palestine to vanish. They slowly eliminate it. Take bit by bit of small amounts of Palestine territory, right behind the border, and build houses for Israel citizen.



The wall is something around 700 kilometers in length.






Driving back on a bus towards Jerusalem. At the border to Israel, all the passengers (except tourist like me:)) had to get off the bus and stand in a queue, waiting to be checked by Israeli soldiers. Every Palestine person had to show its "visa" to enter Israel. This is normal procedure.











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