the trouble with Bethlehem, and John Lennon becomes common again …

Bethlehem borders Jerusalem. There is a strict separation — a wall actually — between the two.
Bethlehem is governed by Palestine. It’s much poorer. People are on edge.
The border scene is almost identical to what one experiences on the US-Mexico border these days … in Nogales, AZ-Nogales, Mexico, or in Ciudad Juarez-El Paso.
My two cents? The problems here (and there) are about poverty. More about the lack of — and real need of — money on the Palestinian (and Mexican) side, than anything else.
Everyone on both sides of this Israel/Palestine fence was very nice to us. Five of us (2 Poles, a German, me and a retired NYC Detective) spent about 3 hours with two Palestinian guides on the Palestine side.
On the way back to Israel, while we waited in line at the border, Robert, the retired NYC cop, told me about how he investigated the murder of John Lennon back in the 1980s. He said that on the night that John Lennon was killed there were a lot of other murders. An unusual amount. He went to the morgue and there he found all these bodies lined up. At the end of the row was John Lennon’s body. Robert said the he couldn’t help but think that that was the commonest that John Lennon had ever been. It was an interesting story. Thanks Robert …

6 October 2011