Thursday, June 22, 2006

Oh little town(s) of Bethlehem...

Israel has split Bethlehem apart with its great dividing jurisdiction-extending law-circumventing wall; images and comment at Bethlehem Bloggers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this on your blog.
This is a link to a map that shows the Wall built by the Israeli government inside Palestinian Bethlehem on the Northern side.


http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/Tomb-bethlehem.jpg

One can easily spot what is on each side of the Wall. Brownish areas annexed to Israel from Northern Bethlehem are mostly agricultural lands and olive groves. The grayish areas are of Palestinian populated areas - over-populated, I'm afraid.
The map shows the area in April of 2006. Will come back to you once find an updated one.

- "Towns of Bethlehem" funny but true -

Anonymous said...

Hi there Aramaniac,

i want to give you thanks for linking to this site. The people in the Palestine need all the help they can get.

there is one thing which causes me concern. Your comments on the bethlehem blog smack of 'west knows best. Writing about other peoples conflicts is a very good thing, but, as one of your readers, i did not like the idea of you telling the palestinians 'where they are going wrong'. We apreciate your support, but you are not in the conflict.

I know it is no easy thing to work for palestine when the fighting comes from both sides, but you must understand what they suffer causes them to fight. Comfortable western people should not tell other how to free their own countries.

Armagnac Esq said...

I appreciate this, but I also believe that many of the problems in the region stem from both sides being too caught in their own perspectives.

Most people who take an interest in the debate fixate on either side, so they either support everything Israel does or everything Palestinians do.

I appreciate that you do not like the points where we differ, however I must respectfully reserve my right to comment and engage in debate. The fact that I am a comfortable westerner does not of itself detract from my analysis, and I note that the Palestinian cause needs, and actively seeks, the support of comfortable westerners like myself.

Peace.