I truly lost count of how many incursions we have been exposed to accompanied by curfews since March 2002. We have lived through many hardships in our lives under occupation, but never this cruel. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem 

Perhaps “crocodile” is not the right word to describe the big machine which roams our streets, as I did in my previous letter. It looks, and sounds, more like a dragon. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem 

I lazily stroll with Jara along the university street. On the other side are people who exchange smiles and whispers. There are no cars at all, calm reigns, birds are whistling. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem 

The Bethlehemites once again try to catch up with daily life. People shake hands with acquaintances whom they under different circumstances would barely greet. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem 

Since a week the recurrent hope that the siege of the Church of Nativity and the curfew would be lifted, is dashed each time, but on Friday a real end comes to the almost six-week long affair. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem 

Today, I went into Bethlehem; I interviewed the Parish Priest, Amjad Sabbara, who was inside the Church compound for 40 days. I think to myself, why 40 days? What an interesting number: Jesus fasted for 40 days, the Israelis wondered through the wilderness for 40 years. Didn’t something else happen for 40 days? I wonder. Read more about Bethlehem after the siege 

Jara and I play in the neighbour’s garden under the pleasant Mediterranean sun. ‘Do you have everything?’ she asks the neighbour. It is one of those routine questions which people now ask each other and which she has picked up as a normal way of showing concern. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem 

The Israelis didn’t see it coming. Clearly, after the failure to get people inside on April 28, they must have assumed that the International Solidarity Movement did not pose a threat to their siege of the Church of Nativity. Read more about Entering the Church of Nativity 

Here I am in the place where Jesus was born, now a most terrifying place. Monday last week we woke up at 1:00 A.M. I could hear bombing and shelling everywhere. At 4:00 I ran to my mother’s room and hid under her bed because the bombing was very close. Read more about Occupation diary (8-22 April 2002) 

Over three weeks of curfew makes life somehow timeless. The muezzin and church bells are silent, except for the ‘opening hours’ when we are allowed to leave home. Read more about Letter from Bethlehem (April 15-22, 2002)