Urban Art Association

I was traveling with Als - just thought I'd add that we encountered some problems when we got back to the airport @ Tel Aviv. Our taxi driver was questioned as to where he had picked us up from and he had no choice but to say that it was Bethlehem - this set off all sorts of alarm bells with the ever-so- slightly "cautious" Israeli security services. We were detained/interrogated for approx 3 hours whilst they established that we were who we said we were and had not been up to any naughty stuff whilst in the West Bank - It was not a pleasant experience. In conclusion, I would suggest that if you do visit "Santa's Ghetto" (and if you can, you should!) you should not come straight back in one taxi from the Check-point. Go to Jerusalem first & take another taxi from there. Then LIE THROUGH YOUR TEETH and say that you have only visited Jerusalem. It will save you a lot of grief!

no racism here then.....

another guy we travelled with had a Dubai stamp in his passport, he didnt have any problems on the way in, funnily enough they stamped theirs entry stamp next to the Dubai one.

Got back last night and what a bunch of c&** the security at the airport are.....2.5 hours odd to clear customs 1 part strip search and loads of intimidating questions and posturing.

1st the good bits.

Some friends arrived Saturday morning so they met me at the hotel at 6.30am ( f.all sleep again )
and we went once again to Bethlehem, Saturday mornings the roads are empty due to the Sabbath etc so got there at around 8am, now this is the really weird bit:

The day before my taxi driver took me to the checkpoint and waited for me the israeli side whilst I went through a maze of walkways fences scanners and turnstiles .to cross into Palestine....Not really a problem as you just wave your majic burgundy passport and they wave you through.

Saturday however our taxi driver did a different route passing the checkpoint above a hill , did a U turn and then we all drove into Palestine up a back route , No checkpoints .......This still confuses me as what is the point of the major crossing if you can just come in the back route .

Anyway got through and then changed cabs into his friends whose a palestinain taxi driver.

We toured most of the wall getting out and taking photos etc, Went to the shepherds Inn and then had a falafal breakfast right by here......Highly recommended.

Did the Church again and then the Ghetto ( made a few more bids )

We then met up with a girl who took us to one of the refugue camps ...totally not what i had expected as they are all brick houses and not tents ( how ignorant of me) and then took us around some of the bits most tourists dont see ie the house that was bombed by an F16 and is just rubble etc we then eat at a smarmer/ kebab place across the road from where the soldier was shot the other day and didnt feel threatened at all. ...Alll quite sad and moving as they are so persecuted .

We then left through the main checkpoint (on foot) and met up with our israeli taxi driver again who took us to the airport.

On Entering the Airport the fun and games began....Pulled over and given a grilling about where we had come from etc As we didnt really give a fuck as we where leaving we told them we had come from Bethlehem and Santas Ghetto ,after numerous questions etc then let us through into the Airport grounds.

Went to check in more grilling.

Why where you there
Why is your stay so short
Did you visit any houses
do you know anyone
Did you drop off any bags

!5 minutes later I was allowed to go to check in ....Checked in and went to customs ( I only had Hand Luggage.0

CUSTOMS ARE A FUCKING NIGHTMARE .

As soon as you get through the metal detector and your bag comes through the scanner they then interview u again asking the same questions , they swab EVERYTHING for explosives In every nook and cranny and then let me through ....My 2 friends where right behind me so I waited why they got the same grilling .....for some reason they decided to call me back out again and marched us all back into the check in area where they tipped absolutely everything out of all the bags and swipe it all again they then go over it with a metal detector ...and then take the empty bag away and test it again...Now More questions:

Why did you buy a print
how can you afford it
how much do you earn
how long have you know your friends
whose house did you go to
where is your other bag

BE AWARE THEY ARE ASKING YOUR FRIENDS THE SAME QUSTIONS ABOUT YOU AND THEN CHECKING THE ANSWERS .

They then took us all away to another room where we had to drop our trosers as the metal in the buttons on the fly was setting of the metal detector so that they could check for metal .

2.5 Hours later they marched us to the plane where everyone had boarded , took my phone charger from me and made me put my hand luggage in the hold.

THEY ARE A FUCKING NIGHTMARE ...BE PREPARED

Thanks for the advice feel a wee bit more confident now although the wife is not to happy +1 to you all
Cheers Craig

craigmc - you know whats in front of you now, so just go with a smile and come back with an adventure and one that you wont forget for along long time

I too find it shocking that they do not want people to see what they are doing to the people of Bethlehem and Palestine...

At our hotel in Tel Aviv they just laughed at us when I said I wanted to go to Bethlehem and said we should not bother as we would never get in. They told us the story that there were problems at the boarder and no one was being allowed in.

These were the ordinary Israelis telling us this, nothing to do with security.
It seems there is a conspiracy to keep tourists away from Palestine and Bethlehem.

We did meet a few tourists in Bethlehem
A group of Christian tourists from India,
a very nice German who was wandering around on his own and when I told him about the ghetto he said he'd take a look.
Some Chinese
and some Arabs. All very interesting.

At the actual opening of the show I did hear a couple of American voices. I don't know who they were but they seemed not to know anything about the art and were just inquisitive to know what it was all about.

I met lot of locals and apart from the Exuberant Hamas celebrations with loud music flag waving and live gunfire being fired into the air the square was paritty deserted and quiet.

Whats really sad is it seems the Israeli's plan of in imprisonment and separation is working when it comes to tourism.

Your average Israeli couldn't give a toss about the conflict and knows what he's spoonfed through whatever media he chooses to read. If he's a Ha'aretz reader, he'll be a bit more aware of the world. Ynet...not so much.... The difference, to use an American analogy, between someone who watches Fox News and CBS News. There's not much in it, the view of the world is fairly insular unless it involves countries that "want to push Israel into the sea".

Fortunately, all my Israeli friends have excellent bullshit detectors and are cynical about both sides of the argument. Then again, all my Israeli friends are either journalists, aid workers, or psychiatrists.

Israelis love a good argument. Although you feel you have a point to make and really think you can win someone over thru the power of persuasion...don't try. You'll be on a flight back to London soon. They will have the rest of their lives to deal with living in what is effectively a military state. As an Israeli, you not only have to do national service at 18, you have to dedicate time every year of your life to the army. It's a country filled with army reserves. Refusing to go back will land you in jail. Look up the Refuseniks.
You also get into a fair bit of shit if you lose your firearm...which is why you see a lot of young men in clubs with rifles strapped to their backs. You're brought up thinking and believing you are at war and that the whole world is plotting against you and your religion.
So...if you feel like shooting your mouth off at an Israeli soldier, please think twice.

Oh...and the ones wearing yarmulkes (skull caps) are probably zealots and come from settlements and really like shooting people.
Ladies...flirt with the boy guards. Boys...don't flirt with the boy guards...unless you're in Tel Aviv and in which case, you may get lucky.

You may bump into some black Israelis...they're likely to be Ethiopian. It's a sad fact that they're seen as beneath the Ashkenazi -- the ones from Eastern Europe -- by some Ashkenazi (namely the ones who made Aliyah from the United States). It's kind of a sub caste within a caste. Another is the Arab-Israeli minority. There's a lot of prejudice in that beautiful country. There's a lot of fire and a lot of passion too. Like seeing the beauty of workmanship in the gun that's about to shoot you.

CNN VIDEO OF THE SHOW:

GGo to :

cnn.com and then search for "The art of graffit"

Ah and here's something you probably didn't know.... There was an outfit of black Jews who formed the Israeli Black Panthers.
Blanket term for black Jews is Sephardim...though it's not technically correct. I can go into that later.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Black_Panthers

But point is, welcome to a country with a bugger load of prejudice, fear, propaganda. Yet it still produces transvestite Eurovision stars. There's a lot of culture and a love of culture/religion/community around.

But what really gets me is the similarities between Jews and Arabs. They're both extremely passionate peoples...and the men who pull the strings on both sides are stubbornly convinced that they are right. Who gets screwed? Joe Bloggs.

It's my land...no it's my land...no it's my land...it's enough to make you pick up a black and red flag and adopt a dog on a string.

If you really want to get pissed off, head straight from Bethlehem.... Don't go to the King David in J'lem. Drive around the Occupied Territories and look out for settlement towns. Go north of Ramallah. Ariel is one of the biggest settlement towns. Then head back to a Palestinian town. You get more than you ask for in the anger stakes that way.


Check this:
go.ariel.muni.il/ariel/en/

And compare with this:
www.nablus.org/default.asp

(note the ticker)

So...Israeli/Palestinian graff off anyone?

Note: If you go to the top of the Mount of Olives in J'lem a man will ask you to pay for a picture with his camel. If you say no, he will try to sell you hash. Never fails.

Oh...and bring a packet or two of Dioralyte...in the event you get the runs.

While not defending any one person or country I think it's important to remember that there are good and bad people in all countries. I'm an American and while I'm certainly aware of my country's role and reputation in international politics, I always find it refreshing when traveling that 99% of people understand the difference between a country's politics and the people that live there.

I'd hate to see this turn into an Israeli (as in the average joe that lives there) bashing thread.