FROM GILO TO GOLAN, AN ISRAEL DIARY

A barbed wire fence and a bit of a concrete wall separate the Israelis from the Palestinians. It is upon bridging this gap hinges a solution to one of the world’s most intractable challenges, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

- JOYEETA BASU

From Gilo, the city of Bethlehem is clearly visible.

Bethlehem and Beit Jala, two adjacent cities that would be barely at a distance of 3-4 km as the crow flies from the Gilo neighbourhood in the southern part of Jerusalem, better known as East Jerusalem. On a clear day, it would take a moderately good smartphone camera to zoom in on the activities of the residents in these twin cities. But the actual distance is far greater: It's a distance defined by history and conflict, with a barbed wire fence—and a bit of a concrete wall—separating the two sides. It is upon bridging this gap hinges a solution to one of the world’s most intractable challenges—the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gilo, established in 1971, is Israeli, while Bethlehem and Beit Jala are in the West Bank, in territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority. It's a different matter that Palestinians say Gilo too is located on the West Bank, as Israel came to occupy East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War of 1967. Israelis counter that they won a decisive victory in the war, which was thrust upon them by hostile neighbours such as Egypt, Jordan and Syria—a war that would naturally reshape the political boundaries of the region in favour of the victor.

Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, still has its churches, but the city is now majority Muslim as most Christians have left. While Gilo is Jewish. In fact the area is peppered with settlements that are Jewish and Muslim, and from a distance they seem to meld into each other. But on the ground is the reality of the barbed wire fence and security check posts that separate the two sides. The issue can be contentious and moves Muslims worldwide to accuse Israel of ghettoising the Palestinians. But the Israelis have been harassed long enough by an unending stream of terror attacks emanating from the West Bank to find the security justifiable.