Alastair Mitchell

East Jerusalem.

I can picture the face of the first Palestinian noticing the first ever pavement being built here – utter joy!  Because now he has somewhere to park his car!  No longer will he have to risk parking it on the road, where other cars might hit it - now he can park it on the pavement, with the added bonus that there will be an almost constant stream of pedestrians walking between his car and the traffic to act as a barrier, should the worst happen.  Why did we not think of this before? - he must have wondered.
I would love to see Lambeth Council spend a week on exchange here – the eyes of their parking attendants would light up brighter than the eyes of our aforementioned Palestinian.

These are common sights…

Bethlehem.

I haven’t put up many pictures lately, so thought you might like to see a couple of new ones. This first one is of the view looking East from my flat towards Jordan, whose distant mountains can be seen on a clear day. In the foreground you can see clearly water tanks on the roofs. Nearly all houses in Palestine have solar panels on the roofs which provide hot water throughout the summer, and around 80% of hot water during the winter. It is one of the very few areas that Palestine is (perhaps unwittingly) ahead of Britain in the enviromental-care stakes. In previous times, when the conflict has been more acute Israeli soldiers have shot at these water tanks, thereby forcing civilians out of the safety of their homes to find water elsewhere.

And this is of the view looking North from my flat, towards the Israeli settlement of Har Homa that I have mentioned earlier. As you can see, the sudden change in the density of urbanisation is very noticeable.

Bethlehem.

As I was studying for my Arabic lesson this morning I noticed several small explosions outside, near the road leading into Bethlehem from the checkpoint. Every now and then around this area you hear an explosion of some sort or gunfire, but this continued for a while so I became curious as to what it was.
Just before anything had happened, I walked past this area and there were many Palestinian Authority personnel waiting by the main road, which is a rather unusual sight. All I can work out is that there was some fighting between the Israeli army and some Palestinians somewhere nearby. One possible reason for this is that last night there was a riot in an Israeli jail in the Negev desert where many Palestinians are held. Apparently, the Israeli guards began some sort of room inspections in the middle of the night, and this sparked off the violence. Several people were hurt, and one died later in hospital. The Israeli army said that his death was caused by injuries sustained by a ‘non-lethal weapon’. Work that out!
So, as a result of this riot there have been some demonstrations around Gaza and the West Bank today, and perhaps today’s violence in Bethlehem was connected to that. By mid-afternoon it was beginning to calm down, and now that night has fallen things seem back to normal.
I stopped off on my way back from the conservatory to have dinner in a restaurant recommended by someone local. For about £7.50 I enjoyed a lovely meal of grilled lamb and lamb kebabs with a nice selection of salads and hummus, accompanied by a bottle of Taybeh – the beer brewed down the road in Ramallah.
Tomorrow takes me back to Jerusalem so I’ll deliver all the instruments that I brought back from the UK, as well as go in early for an Arabic lesson for which I’ve done no practice. Wish me luck!

Bethlehem.

After a rather hectic week back in Britain, I’m ready for a sleep.  This feeling is also added to by the fact that after arriving home this morning at eight having travelled all night, I slept for an hour before preparing all morning a lecture on plainsong and organum then taught all day.  It feels like a nice rest being back, but I’m not actually getting one.
But as I reflect on my week at home, two things strike me.  One is how nice it is to be back here, and the other is how well my week at home went.  My recital was a big success.  In addition to the concert going well from a personal point of view, we managed to raise over £1000, with which we purchased 19 sets of violin strings, six violin bows, 1 set of cello strings, loads of rosin, some pitch-pipes, a new flute, a new clarinet, and various other small accessories.  I’m amazed that the public donated all that, as it feels like it has just appeared out of thin air.
As a consequence of my time off, I now have some lessons to make up, so will be teaching six days per week for the next two or three weeks.  It feels like I’ve not had any time off at all recently as leading up to my trip home I was preparing for it in my spare time, and now I’m teaching all the time.  Still, I always like being busy so I think I’m enjoying it.

Tel Aviv

If you think getting to the gate is difficult at Heathrow, you should try Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.  On arrival, before check-in you are asked why you’ve been in Israel, what have you been doing, where did you stay, who do you know in Israel, did you meet anyone (after six weeks here, I can’t believe she accepted ‘No’ as an answer to that one), were you with Arabs or Jews, etc.  After the initial questioning session is over, your bags are all x-rayed, which allows you to proceed to the next stage.  The next stage is where you go to a table at which you are asked to open all you bags, so that a member of the security personnel can rummage to their heart’s content, then check all your belongings for traces of explosives.  And, in case you think perhaps I’m a target group here, all passengers here are processed in this way.  
Once it has been established that you’re not going to blow-up anything, you are allowed to check in.  Once checked in you then go to the security checks, this seems to be just in case you didn’t notice the first set of security checks, where the entire process is repeated almost exactly.  Speaking of repetition, as you wait in line to be checked, you are asked every two or three minutes where you are flying.  I began to wish I had brought my ‘I’m flying to London’ badge.  You are then sent to passport control, where you get your exit stamp, and feel relieved that you’ve been allowed out.  
It’s a funny system - when you arrive they make it hard to get in, yet they also make you feel privileged to leave.  It makes passing through Ben Gurion airport and coming out the other side feel like an achievement of some sort – whichever side that is.

Bethlehem.

My day of fasting passed surprisingly quickly.  Only in the late morning was I unusually hungry, though the absence of water throughout the day meant that by around 4pm I started getting a headache from dehydration.  The iftar was good too, but after a day of eating nothing you get full very quickly, so it’s not the enormous feast that celebratory meals, such as Christmas dinner, are in the UK.
Tomorrow brings me back to London, and to the start of a week that would have been pretty ordinary a few months ago.  It seems a shame that my trip home has coincided with the holiday here, as it would be interesting to see Palestine during the Eid, but if it was any other way then I wouldn’t be able to come back, so all things considered it has worked out extremely well.

Bethlehem.

My Arabic lesson today went well, which was a little of a surprise as I only got a chance to practise last night and this morning. When I was at the conservatory in Jerusalem, Ata invited my to join their Iftar tomorrow – the meal after sunset during Ramadan. Tomorrow is the last day of Ramadan, and I get the feeling that it’s going to be a little crazy. Over the past few days, the energy levels on the street have been steadily rising, especially after dark. In preparation for the holiday that follows Ramadan, many stallholders are setting up on the pavements, selling all sorts from candy-floss to gifts and clothes, as well as lots of food. The sudden need to shop is similar to Britain during the last few days before Christmas; only most of the shopping here is done late, once everyone has eaten.
As I’m going to take part in the Iftar tomorrow, I thought I’d take my last chance to experience the fast – so tomorrow will be free of food and drink until sunset for me. I’m hoping my first taste of date juice – the recommended ‘breakfast’ - will taste all the sweeter for it.

Bethlehem.

This morning I was shown around the town of Bethlehem by one of the staff at the conservatory.  It was a very nice morning, taking in the Nativity Church and ending in lunch in quite a good pizza restaurant that has amazing views over Bethlehem and farther over to the Jordon Valley.  The hospitality I’ve experienced so far in Bethlehem is far greater than in East Jerusalem and is one of the reasons I moved, and one of the reasons that I’m glad I did.
My second history class went well today, having decided last night at 11pm what I was going to talk about, I managed to spend an hour on the music of Ancient Greece.  It’s amazing what a little late night study can do!
I received the final piece for my recital in Scotland today by fax, so am set to learn that tomorrow, before a couple of days teaching in Jerusalem then heading back to London on Friday.  I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks - both my time at home and to returning here afterwards.

Bethlehem.

I had a day off today, but in the evening went to a concert given in the Bethlehem International Centre by some of the students.  All this week in the Bethlehem branch there have been workshops with visiting Spanish musicians on Spanish repertoire - Turina, Albeniz, et al., and this was the final concert.  The students did very well considering they had the music only a week, but if they had had it earlier they could all have done a better job, so in some ways it was a missed opportunity.
Afterwards I walked home through the Muslim end of town.  After the sun has set and everyone has eaten, the atmosphere there is very excitable.  But this is unfortunately not the case in many areas of Bethlehem.  For obvious reasons, Bethlehem’s economy is based on tourism and since recent years this has been cut back a lot.  The wall affects Bethlehem a great deal – it is very close to the town, and cuts it off completely from Jerusalem, its previous main trading partner.  No West Bank produce is allowed through the checkpoint into Jerusalem, so the Bethlehem farmers now have a very small consumer base. This coupled with the dramatic decrease in tourism since the troubles came to head means that Bethlehem is a town that has a slightly insular feel.  There are many restaurants and bars intended to cater for visitors that stand empty for most of the day.  This is, of course, a thing that is seen in various places across the West Bank, but in Bethlehem it is very tangible.

Bethlehem.

After doing some work at home in the morning, I got a lift to my teaching in Jerusalem with my new landlady, who turns out to be the mother of one of my students.  I picked up the rest of my belongings from my old house on the way, and brought them back to Bethlehem afterwards, so am now fully moved in.
On the way back, I waited for a half-hour at the bus station.  Gradually more people began hanging around the stand for the bus to Bethlehem, while what seemed to be bartering with the driver was taking place.  As far as I could gather, because it was late, the driver was trying to negotiate a fee as there was talk of the fare being 10.5 shekels each, instead of the normal 5.5.  Even after we got under way, no one seemed to have agreed the fee, and not until we arrived in Bethlehem did the driver settle for the normal fare.  It amused me to see the debate going on, especially once we were on the road, and it reminded how different it can be here to at home.  It’s easy to forget.