Banksy In Gaza

The anonymous street artist Banksy released a series of new works Wednesday in Gaza, all commenting on the dire situation of the 1.8 million Palestinian residents confined to the area. Along with a short documentary he scattered a variety of artworks around the region, one of which is this kitten. Banksy's explanation on his web-site: "A local man came up and said ‘Please -- what does this mean?' I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website -- but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens."

Thank you Justine, I am glad to be a part of your wall rainbow :)

UNESCO - Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem, Palestine

The inscribed property is situated 10 km south of Jerusalem on the site identified by Christian tradition as the birthplace of Jesus since the 2nd century. A church was first completed there in ad 339 and the edifice that replaced it after a fire in the 6th century retains elaborate floor mosaics from the original building. The site also includes Latin, Greek Orthodox, Franciscan and Armenian convents and churches, as well as bell towers, terraced gardens and a pilgrimage route.

The Church of the Nativity is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the Altar of the Nativity, beneath which is the star marking the spot where tradition says the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.

There was a looong queue in the church/basilica to see the 'place' where Jesus was supposedly born. After some tiresome waiting we realised that we can sneak in from the other side where everyone else was coming out :) In any case the feeling was too touristy. Much nicer atmosphere in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem!

The Palestinian Authority

While in Jerusalem I've decided to do a day-trip to Bethlehem. We took a mini bus which drove us up to the Israeli West Bank barrier - a huge concrete wall separating Israel from the Palestinian Territory. We were perplexed and didn't quite know where we're going, but after some minutes we caught a sight of a town which turned out to be Bethlehem. Not such a little town as one might imagine! After all it is being visited by millions of tourists every year.

In any case, I was thrilled to find an open post-office in the centre of Bethlehem. To my even greater surprise they had quite an impressive choice of stamps! I was beside myself, I think I must have spent a weekly pocket-money heh. My friend must have 'swollowed a dumpling' watching me do that :D I did stop myself eventually, somewhat lamenting on the stamps left behind, but overly excited about the postcards I was going to send from Palestine!

It took them longer than 2 months to arrive...after being convinced they were lost in transit the joy was...well you should have seen me..! :)

The West Bank Barrier - to my utter shame I wasn't aware of its existance before. Parts of the wall were covered with awesome artistic graffiti, all with the unified message of peace and tolerance.

This postcard shows Palestinian women in their traditional coastal costumes near the entrance of an old house in Old Jaffa. All of these postcards were sent on the 30th of November, 2008.