Bethlehem, Part 2

As quickly as the concrete walls rose up from the cracked and rock-strewn ground, they fell away into the stepped hills of Bethlehem. Politicos and activists will have much work to do if they intend to create a one-state solution because entering Palestine was like crossing into a new country.

Twenty minutes from scurrying Hassids strolled Keffiyeh-clad Palestinians, their wooden canes clacking against the chipped pavement. Stretch taxis jumped curbs and screeched around little old ladies in hijab as they walked under blue-tinted posters of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Just as the settlement freeze has left hundreds of Israeli homes unfinished, years of uneven incomes and trickling investment has left much Palestinian construction in a state of almost-built and almost-repair. Rebar sticks out of half-plastered foundations and ghostly looking apartment buildings whistle as the wind blows in through window-less frames.

Walking around Bethlehem was like viewing people through a one way glass; as if they could look curiosly at my face unaware that I could see them. Even as I stood on the other side of the separation wall, I would feel very separated until our counterpart Ghada Issa, administrator of the Hope Flowers School, picked us up in her silver four-door Hyundai.

Ghada would take us to the school and into "Bethlehem Part 3." To be posted soon.