23rd October
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!
