Lovely...and Ugly

I seem to have gotten in a rut of not posting.  I'm sure busyness was the culprit at first, and then laziness.  But now I'm back and ready to commit to posting once a week again.

Although it is still raining in Israel/Palestine, and even there are threats of snow this weekend, we are the point of the winter where we periodically have days of lovely weather.  A few weeks ago, the weather was perfect for a walk in the hills of Cremisan.

The sun was out and the sights were perfect.  It was a well-needed break from being in cities.  Here are a few shots from the day:

Land near Cremisan monastery and winery.  All of this land will soon be confiscated by the separation wall and there will be no green space left in Bethlehem.

Cremisan monastery from a distance.

The first almond trees are in bloom.  It's the start to the prettiest time of year.

I love these poppies (or they look like them anyway) during the spring.

It was amazing to see the trees in bloom, the hills, and the flowers.  As always, however, there were constant signs of occupation.

The bridge of Road 60 which connects settlers to their settlements in the West Bank and cuts of Beit Jala from most of its land and Jerusalem. I travel this road everyday on the bus to school.

Barbed wire is everywhere.

Our trip ended in al-Walaja, a village which will be completely surrounded by the wall and only connected to Bethlehem through one small opening at one end of the village.  This house is the only house in al-Walaja that is located on the Israeli side of the wall.

This is construction of a tunnel that will allow the family on the Israeli side of the wall get to there family and friends in al-Walaja.

Instead of rerouting the separation wall to the internationally recognized Green Line  or even 50 meters, the Israeli government has decided to spend an extra $800,000 simply to build a tunnel for this family to get to al-Walaja.  Talk about stupid! 

Construction of the wall is expanding in al-Walaja even as we speak.

More wall construction coming from the opposite direction.

Just behind the lone house, you can see the Israeli settlement of Gilo.  Most claim that Gilo is a neighborhood in Jerusalem, and living in Jerusalem, it seems like it is part of the city.  But this "neighborhood" is what has caused Bethlehem and Beit Jala so much loss of land.

The view of the wall construction from the streets of al-Walaja.  This is just how close  it comes, and  how little land it lives the villagers.

Living in Bethlehem, I didn't even know about the details of construction of the wall around al-Walaja, and especially the ridiculous tunnel that is being built.  Is the wall built for security? Security does not merit the winding way the wall cuts through the West Bank and cuts off even single families from their communities and livelihood. With evidence of this tunnel staring us in the face, the reason of "security" for the building of the wall is clearly just an excuse.