Israel3 min read2016
Dateline June 20, 2016, Bethlehem
Our three days in Israel ended in Bethlehem, just across the line on the Palestinian side, where an Israeli guide handed us to a local Palestinian Muslim guide who walked us into the Church of the Nativity ahead of the lines. We knelt where Jesus is said to have been born, browsed the olive-wood carvings in his little shop, and then ran into trouble leaving: a fire on the road, a backed-up crossing, and a long walk on foot through tunnels and checkpoints to get back into Israel, with our guide telling us to keep it to ourselves. Standing where Christ was born, and the day before where he was crucified, left us with chills we still feel.
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