Walking to Bethany via Bethpage

I wanted to walk up the Mt. of Olives again, go to the top, then take a short road that leads around the top to the other side, heading down less than a mile to the old town of Bethpage, then through the town further down to Bethany, Jesus' home-away-from-home with Martha, Mary and Lazarus, when he was in the Jersualem area. Kind of take the walk he would take to get a real-life feel for the stroll. Bethany has a few interesting sights (including the tomb of Lazarus).

The view as you descend that eastern side of the mountain is impressive, looking at the valley below and the Dead Sea in the distance. Each of the following pictures gives you a slight glimpse, but sadly can't show you how much prettier it is in person.

The first picture shows the road leading down to Bethpage. Other than watching out for traffic, no big deal.

Unfortunately, as I got to the edge of the town, it kind of became a bigger deal.

Just after I snapped the picture below, a group of about seven or eight young boys -- probably between 9 and 14 years old -- who had been hagning around in the street just out of camera range to the left started heading over toward me. Following behind them was a less than friendly-looking guy in his twenties. I saw them coming, and sensed almost instantly this was not the town welcoming party. You just kind of knew. Now with all of this hiking the past few days, my legs and wind are getting pretty good. So I quickly put my camera in my pocket, and decided, "I'm not sure what Jesus would do in this situation (as my daughter is so helpful at recommending), but I am turning and bailing out of here real fast." Unfortuanteley, a few of the local whippets managed to run ahead and outflank me. Too late to make a sprint for the top of the hill a 1/2 mile up. I was wondering if there was some sort of circle dance this quaint little village practiced for greeting visitors, hoping that was the case, but figuring it was probably a long-shot. Second thought that flashed through my mind was they were just going to aggressively beg for money as a lot of the young people here do. (Hey, does anyone give these Palestinian kids allowances? I suppose, present situation and living conditions considered, the answer is sadly "No".) I quickly found out they were well-educated in global political dynamics, and must follow CNN closely in their abundant spare time. They pegged me as an American, and as much as survival mode kicks in, I refused to claim Canadian citizenship or affect a French accent. So, these young political wonks began some gentle shoving with some Arabic that was lost on me. A little English, talking about Gaza and the Jews, but I missed the rest. I was going to tell them I wasn't consulted on the Gaza strategy, and that I actually voted for Al Franken, but since both he and Norm are Jewish it probably would have fallen on deaf ears. They might get CNN, but probably not 'CCO on cable. Their older scout leader started to chime in and fan the flames a bit, and pretty soon -- well, let's say I was more scared than I think I have been in quite a while. Make that probably more than ever. (A few guys came after me at an Iron Maiden concert back in the 80's when I worked security at the old Met Center, but that was a piece of cake comparatively speaking.) I was out-numbered. Thinking, what was I going to do, start fighting with a bunch of these local kids? They all probably had brothers looking out the windows, and besides, how does an American explain to the Palestinain police how he was acting in self-defense, you know?

A little more pushing ensued and my mind was racing to figure out where to go from here. (Lazarus was raised the next town down in Bethany, but that was still a distance, and I wasn't sure if Jesus did encores anyways all these years later.)

This went on for, what seemed like ten minutes, but was admittedly, probably less than a minute. A bus/van passed by and the driver stopped and started yelling at the kids out his window. They drifted away, and with my jello-like legs barely holding me up, I thanked him.

He said something back to me I won't print, but it wasn't at all like the verses to "God Bless the U.S.A." Nahhh, pretty much just the opposite.

So........I got the heck out of there, and never made it to Bethany. Sorry no trip report. I am sure it is a nice little town. Their neighbors in Bethpage? Hmmmmm.