The "Little" Town of Bethlehem

The Church of the Nativity, with Roof Construction

Doorway into the Church, Built Low to Prevent Riders on Horseback from Entering

The Silver Star Signifying the Site of Jesus' Birth

The Chapel of St. Jerome

The Mosque of Omar, Manger Square

A Portion of the Wall Separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem

Yesterday (Saturday) we taveled to Bethlehem.  It's not much of a trip, as the crows fly-only about 10 k from Jerusalem.  We walked over to East Jerusalem again and boarded Bus 21 to Bethlehem.  There were just a few of us non-Palestinians on board.  The town, with a population around 25 thousand, is governed by the Palestinian National Authority.  The population is predominently Muslim, but contains one of the largest Palestinian Christian populations in Israel.
 A priest on board pointed us in the right direction to our destination, Manger Square  and the Church of the Nativity.  The church contains the grotto or Holy Cave, presumably the scene of Jesus' birth.  It was originally constructed by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, in 327 A.D. and reconstructed in much of its present form by the Emporer Justinian 300 years later.  We joined the throngs of tour groups and visited the site of the nativity, and also chapels dedicated to St. Joseph where he supposedly received the warning of Herod's plans to kill all young children, and to St. Jerome, who lived in Bethlehem for 30 years creating the Latin Vulgate version of the bible.  The church is undergoing fairly massive construction efforts, so there is a lot of scaffolding and other re-building efforts going on.
 We enjoyed an organ practice in the adjacent St. Catherine's church, had lunch at Manger Square, a re-boarded the bus to Jerusalem.  Only Palestinians who are legal residents of Jerusalem are allowed back into the city, so there was a delay of about 45 minutes while all of the younger passengers had to get off and go through security.  Evidently, if you live in Bethlehem or other areas under Palestinian control, you are not allowed into Jerusalem, even to visit, unless you are a legal resident.  We noticed that the older Palestinian women on the bus did not de-board, so we stayed on the bus and had our passports checked by the MPs who boarded the bus.  (Age seems to have some privileges.)  The situation seems rather unfair to us.  For example, if you live in Bethlehem and wish to visit a sick relative, or another loved one who lives in Jerusalem, you cannot.  They can come out and visit you. Also, a wall has been built separating the Palestinian Authority controlled area from the Israeli Jewish controlled area.