PHOTOGRAPHY | PALESTINE

Shepherds’ Field: Beit Sahur and the Palestine Museum of Natural History

One of the most daring acts of the Intifada was organized by the neighborhood committees of Beit Sahur, a Christian Palestinian town near Bethlehem, at the site of the field where the angels appeared to the shepherds to herald the birth of Jesus

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

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A field east of Beit Sahur, on the same hills on which the shepherds lay on the eve of the first Christmas watching their flocks (Photo by the author, 2004)

A view of Beit Sahur from the Museum of Natural History, looking east towards the Dead Sea. The bluish hills in the back are in Jordan (Photo by the author, Oct. 5, 2023)

Church “at the site of the field where the angels appeared to the shepherds to herald the birth of Jesus” (Photo by the author, Oct. 5, 2023)

1988

‘One of the most daring acts of the Intifada was organized by the neighborhood committees of Beit Sahur, a Christian Palestinian town near Bethlehem. After the PLO’s Declaration in 1988, Beit Sahur decided that independence was meaningless as long as we carried Israeli identity cards and continued to pay its taxes. The cards were symbols and instruments of Israeli domination. The taxes, forced on us without our consent, subsidized the Occupation.’

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‘Shedding their fear of consequences, the citizens of Beit Sahur opted for civil disobedience, stopping tax payments to the occupier, and holding a mass ceremony where everyone burned their Israeli ID cards. Their courageous move posed a tough challenge to the Israelis, who were used to preying on lone individuals: would they arrest everyone in town?’

‘Perhaps our greatest mistake during the Intifada was not following the example of Beit Sahur. Instead of summoning the courage, our attitude was “let’s wait and see what happens to Beit…