Terraces of figs and olives at the Cremisan Monastery, Beit Jala, Palestine (Photo by the author, 2019)

PHOTOGRAPHY | PALESTINE

A Monastery in Beit Jala and the Village of Battir, Palestine

Terraces of eggplants and water gushing from barren rock

My Journeys in Palestine: photo essays narrated using quotes from Fugitive Dreams

(Not a Medium Member? Read full article here.)

The ancient terraces and Roman ruins of Battir have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like many of my photos from Palestine, the ones you will see here have become historic. This spring of 2024, the Israeli occupation lay claim to the site, which thus far has rested under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The islands open to Palestinians shrink as the Wall swallows more land for stolenments.

Beit Jala

The town of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, and home to Palestinian poet Banayot Zeidan (Photos by the author, 2019)

‘We passed through an open Gate that could completely isolate the northern West Bank from the southern West Bank, and another elsewhere that could isolate Bethlehem from villages to the West.’

Israeli Apartheid Wall and fortifications surrounding Beit Jala (Photo by the author, 2019)

Cremisan Monastery

Cremisan Monastery and surroundings (Photos by the author, 2019, and by the author’s brother, 2025)

“The Virgin’s Throne” at the monastery (Photo by the author, 2019)

‘From a nearby monastery, we saw a new Israeli bridge connecting to the tunnel we took to escape Beit Jala in 2004. Underneath, the Wall looped around the bridge’s foundations.’

The Israeli bridge; Mt. Nebo in Jordan towers among the faint ridge in the back (Photo by the author’s brother, 2025)