28th October
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.
