Bet El

This is a picture of part of the Jewish settlement Bet El (Bethel), located in the area where the Jewish Bible tells of the Jewish patriarch Jacob's dream about a ladder that went from earth to Heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending. It is also a place where the Jewish Bible describes and encounter between Jewish patriarch Abraham and God. The Torah tells how God told Abraham to go forth from his country to the land which God would show him, a land God gave to Abraham's descendants in this encounter. In Bet El, Abraham built an altar based on this experience.


Jewish settlements often start with mobile homes like this and then usually become more permanent with the building of houses. This settlement is located in the West Bank. The West Bank is an area within Israel, but not always governed by Israel. The PA (Palestinian Authority) has been given autonomy to rule many Arab cities within the West Bank. There is often a fence and security checkpoint separating the West Bank from the rest of Israel. Many of the negotiations (of which the US is also involved) include the possible giving of the West Bank territory to the Palestinians to form a separate Palestinian state. One problem negotiators encounter is that there are many Jewish settlements and even some large Jewish cities within the West Bank, including Hebron and Shiloh. An even bigger obstacle is that both sides (Jew and Arab) want Jerusalem. Religious Jewish people do not want to give any land away because they believe all of Israel (and a bit more) was given to them by God through the irrevocable covenant discussed above and elsewhere in the Jewish Bible. Some non-religious Jews are more open to a "two-state settlement". I have not yet met any Arab Muslims that believe Jews have any right to any part of Israel. I do not know what Christian Arabs believe.

The territory on the map labeled Gaza is Palestinian, but is different from the other territories. It has been forcibly taken over by the militant Arab group Hamas. People I have met in support of Hamas think that the Palestinian Authority and Fatah (current gov't of the West Bank) are "puppets of the west" and have no ruling power. Hamas waits for an opportune time to make a take over attempt of the West Bank.