Bethlehem
Voices
Photography and Writings from Palestine
Ted Haddock
Genema Gallery
March 9 - April 21, 2002
1. Hillside
A rare wooded area used to cover this distant hillside on the outskirts of Bethlehem. In recent months, Israeli settlers have moved onto this Palestinian land to erect apartment buildings there. Such is the tension between what Israel calls "natural expansion" and what Palestinians recognize as a vice that grows ever tighter to suffocate their hopes for independence.
2. Barbed Wire Fence
Barbed wire fence - many new buildings sit vacant due to a lack of building supplies to finish the project or simply due to fear of the residents. These buildings face the Hebron Road, which sustains much gunfire from Israeli soldiers at Rachel's Tomb about fifty yards to the north. The elaborate building to the left is a four star hotel with no guests and, consequently, no staff.
3. Boys by Mortar Hole
Boys from 'Azza refugee camp stand beside a mortar hole in one of their homes. Situated on the front lines the homes here are a choice location for Palestinian "snipers" who fire on Israeli targets from the rooftops. As a result, the residential area is particularly vulnerable and sustains regular shelling from the Israeli army stationed both at Gilo to the west and at Rachel's Tomb a few hundred meters to the north. Many children are afraid to go to sleep at night.
4. Beit Jala Street
The Palestinian homes on this street in Beit Jala were destroyed the night before during sustained shelling from the Israeli Settlement at Gilo, just across the facing valley. The shelling marked the eve of Israeli Independence Day, the day Palestinians call "The Day of Disaster".
5. A Refugee's History
Children of 'Azza refugee camp reenact the history of their displaced people beginning with the 1948 war, tracing both joys and sorrows during their migration to Bethlehem where they now live. The children's grandparents were the ones forced from their homes in an area of Palestine now controlled by Israel. The people of the camp do not consider themselves part of the Bethlehem community. Their home is elsewhere, though most have never seen it.
6. Father Holding Children
Moved by a reenactment of their family's history, a Palestinian father holds the youngest of his seven children. Everyone in this photograph was born into the refugee camp where they now live and have struggled to survive since the 1948 war.
7. Poster of Boy
Families often produce posters and post them all over town as a way of remembering and honoring their loved ones killed in the fighting.
8. Man by Empty Shops
Streets are empty and shops are closed down the main street of the old city. Since the violence erupted this past winter, the steady flow of visitors has dried up. The city's unemployment rate has spiked to 40% as of last May and has increased since then.
9. Checkpoint
The checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem: Previously, several routes connected Jerusalem and Bethlehem-now all the roads are closed except this one. Checkpoints are a source of intimidation and great irritation for Palestinians. Few vehicles are permitted to pass, and every Palestinian is asked to show identification whenever they cross the border, reinforcing deep-rooted bitterness and resentment. Even if they have the correct papers, they are often refused the right to pass. In addition to their psychological effects, checkpoints have also caused social and economic dilemmas as business is curtailed, supplies kept out, and university students regularly prevented from attending their classes in Jerusalem. While the security clamp is most troubling for Palestinian civilians, the Israeli soldiers, also, would much rather be anywhere else. While staying in Bethlehem, I would sometimes grow frustrated with the inconvenience of such security inspections until I remembered that these people have absolutely no room for error.
10. Rachel's Tomb
Military installation at Rachel's Tomb: Israel controls this plot of land at the north end of Bethlehem. Jacob's wife Rachel was buried near this tower (Genesis 35:19-20). Ironically, the holy site now serves the dual purpose of grave and gun fortress. Each day during my stay, the fortress would grow a bit-a new wall, additional sandbags, a sliding door for machine-gun fire…creeping further into Palestinian territory. The barricades mark the northern end of the Hebron Road-now closed to through traffic. As if to suggest the pervasive sentiments of "no going back" a road sign marks the spot where children would gather in weeks past to throw rocks at Israeli soldiers. Fewer go now-they know they could be killed. However, on Israel's Independence Day, I was in a car making this turn when a group of kids had blocked the street in front of us and soldiers began shooting at them from behind us. I suspect they were warning shots as, this time, no one was hit there that afternoon.
11. Damaged Home and Israeli Settlements
This Palestinian home faces the Israeli Settlement at Gilo seen on the hillside through the windows. While some homes have completely collapsed, others like this one are structurally unsafe. Many Palestinians have fled their homes fearing the frequent attacks from across the valley.
12. Boys Throwing Rocks
Several boys vent the day's frustrations by throwing rocks near a garbage pile. When the sun starts to set, parents call for their children to come inside—fearing gunfire after dark. The children respect their parents' wishes, though they sometimes want to express their dissent to Israeli soldiers hidden securely behind the barricades at Rachel's Tomb. This evening, several of the boys asked me if I would join them to take photos while they threw rocks at the barricades. I told them I would not and that throwing rocks at any person was very dangerous. I persuaded them to go home and keep safe so that I could see them again the next day. They agreed and went inside.
13. Shelled Home – Beit Jala
Damaged homes along the streets of Beit Jala show the marks from the previous night's gun battle. In recent months Beit Jala has been the target of regular shelling from the Israeli settlement at Gilo across the valley to the north. Like 'Azza camp, the rooftops of Beit Jala homes are a choice location for Palestinian "snipers", usually from other areas. Though most families object to their homes being used as a gun tower, what can you do if men show up at your house fitted with machine guns and ski masks? Until recently the battles only erupted at night, however much of the damage shown here is from four hours of intense shelling the day before and then another hour of rocket fire that night. (I couldn't sleep that night and ended up writing a letter to President Bush under a low flashlight. I was told to turn off the lights if shooting started after dark.)
14. Sling Shot by Eye
15. Thee Boys
M., F., and A. live in 'Azza refugee camp. When Israel invaded Bethlehem last October and occupied the city for ten days, Israeli tanks camped in the street on the left side of the frame and fired mercilessly into the homes seen in the background. Meanwhile Israeli soldiers occupied the vacant building seen behind the leftmost boy's head, firing into the residential area from a second vantage point. Power was out for ten days and no one could leave their homes for fear of being killed. Their rooftop water tanks drained from gunfire, the families were left without food or water for nearly two weeks.
16. Two Survey Damaged Home
17. Manger Stairs
Staircases leading up and down beneath the Church of the Nativity. The altarpiece and candles mark the site where the star (Matthew 2:9) hung over the manger.
18. Free At Last
Facing a barrier symbolic of the present conflict, Z. picks bullets from the exterior wall of his family's kitchen in 'Azza refugee camp. In coping with the violence around them, Palestinian children display a variety of temperaments and a range of opinions. Some are clearly bitter and quick to produce their prized slingshot. Others like Z. display incredible restraint. Here he wears one of his favorite shirts with Martin Luther King's famed words "free at last" inscribed beneath his image. The other side bears the image of Gandhi and the phrase "non-violent resistance."
19. Women by Poster
Two women pass beside a poster of a killed Palestinian gunman.
20. Boys in Refugee Community Center
Boys sit restless in a community center of 'Azza camp. The center provides after-school activities for many of the children.
21. Barbed Wire and Lanterns
Luminaries and barbed wire flank the stage where children of 'Azza refugee camp reenact the history of their displaced people since the 1948 war. They trace both joys and sorrows during their migration to Bethlehem where they now live. The grandparents of these children were originally forced from their homes in an area of Palestine now controlled by Israel. The people of the camp do not consider themselves part of the Bethlehem community-their home is elsewhere, though most have never seen it. The central sign written in Arabic questions how long such injustice will continue.
22. Soccer Awards
Z. and A. display their soccer awards. Their team won first place, though their PE teacher was killed by Israeli gunfire just a few weeks before this picture was made.
23. Women and UN
Women wait in line to fill their sacks with grain from UN workers.
24. Shirt in Fence
The sun falls low in the west along this Bethlehem street while a shirt caught in a fence marks the spot where someone has tried to make their way around the checkpoint that prevents free passage to Palestinian residents. Attempting passage around the Israeli-guarded checkpoints is an extremely dangerous endeavor, though one many Palestinians attempt in order to reach their homes, schools, or workplaces.
25. Bullet Holes in Roof
Bullet holes in an aluminum roof: The structure had fallen into the street after heavy Israeli fire on the town of Beit Jala the night before.
26. Picking Bullets From the Kitchen Wall
27. Boy by Pole
Women and children wait for food from UN trucks arriving at the camp.
28. Manger Prayer
A man prays beneath the Church of the Nativity at the probable site where Jesus was born. Under peaceful circumstances, visitors would fill the little room at this holy site. This afternoon it was only two of us.
29. Candlelight Procession
Palestinian children remember their family and friends who have been killed since the conflict erupted over a year ago. This is the same girl first quoted in the exhibition.
30. Light
Light falls through the abandoned construction site of a luxury hotel near Rachel's Tomb. Several building projects are left unfinished due to a lack of supplies. The bottom has dropped out of Bethlehem's tourist industry since this recent cycle of violence erupted eighteen months ago
31. Two in Alley
A. and Z. pass through 'Azza camp. Narrow alleys are typical passageways through the cramped quarters of the refugee camp.
32. Tree
A lone tree stands near an abandoned building project on the northern outskirts of Bethlehem. Trees are rare and building supplies run short as Israel clamps down on traffic in and out of the West Bank.