All this week, I am sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the production of my new public television special, “The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.” In this clip, you’ll see how our work was made much easier by the car and driver provided to us by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. It was a long, hot hike down to the Monastery of St. George. Coming up, we were pleasantly surprised by our driver, who managed to drive his car down to a crevice in the mountain, cutting our hike by half.
“The Holy Land” has already aired to great success on stations in several locations. Many other stations, such as WTTW 11 in Chicago and KCTS 9 in Seattle, are excited to air it soon. Call your local public television station to find out when you can see it too.
All this week, I am sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the production of my new public television special, “The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.” In this clip, I was sitting on a curb working on my script when a series of cute kids stopped by to see who had dropped into the neighborhood. You’ll see a little of that interaction. It ends with a big brother coming in to shut me down. (I don’t blame him to be wary of some stranger filming little kids on the street.)
By the way, there’s a common image of Palestinian kids with toy guns shooting imaginary Jews. I saw lots of that, and it was a bit disturbing to me. But then, in the Jewish West Bank settlements, I also saw Jewish kids with plastic guns gunning down imaginary terrorists. And it occurred to me that, if we’re being honest, what American man today didn’t grow up with a toy gun happily shooting Indians or Soviets in their imagination? Whether it’s cowboys and Indians, Commies and Capitalists, or Jews and Palestinians, little boys throughout the world are raised with a toy gun in their hands to shoot their parents’ bad guys. That’s what I love about actually traveling in places like Palestine—you see things with a broader perspective than you would if you just stayed home. And that’s the mission with our TV special.
“The Holy Land” has already aired to great success on stations in several locations. Many other stations, such as WTTW 11 in Chicago and KCTS 9 in Seattle, are excited to air it soon. Call your local public television station to find out when you can see it too.
All this week, I am sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the production of my new public television special, “The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.” In this clip, I take you on a spin tour of Bethlehem’s Manger Square, which fronts the Church of the Nativity. (Sorry about the noisy wind buffeting. For on-the-fly videos, I like to go with just one take.)
“The Holy Land” has already aired to great success on stations in several locations. Many other stations, such as WTTW 11 in Chicago and KCTS 9 in Seattle, are excited to air it soon. Call your local public television station to find out when you can see it too.
All this week, I am sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the production of my new public television special, “The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.” In this clip, I found some fellowship on my first night in Palestine. After dinner with my guides, I came back to my hotel and met a dozen Lutheran pastors in the lobby. They were heading into a 2,000-year-old cave, upon which the hotel was built, for a devotion service and invited me along. I was really tired but followed my current travel ethic: If an opportunity presents itself, say “Yes.”
The pastors were just finishing a multi-year Pastoral Leadership Institute program. Their theme (as taught by English church leader Mike Breen): up, in, and out (“up” is relationship with God, “in” is relationship with community, “out” is outreach beyond their immediate community). I climbed down into the cave with them and enjoyed a wonderful hour of singing, reading, and sharing.
While our image of “no room at the inn” is brick and wood, the “inn” of Bible fame was very likely a series of caves. And “no room” meant a woman about to give birth would not be welcome in the main quarters, as it was an unclean thing. Mary was sent to the manger cave where the animals hung out to give birth to Jesus.
The next day I told my guide about the wonderful evening. He said, “Yes, but if you hear it as much as me, it is annoying.” Nearly all the tourism in Palestine is religious tourism. While I would have enjoyed covering more of the Christian dimension to travel in the Holy Land, my main interest was in introducing Christians to the Muslim and Jewish heritage of the region.
“The Holy Land” has already aired to great success on stations in several locations. Many other stations, such as WTTW 11 in Chicago and KCTS 9 in Seattle, are excited to air it soon. Call your local public television station to find out when you can see it too.
All this week, I am sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the production of my new public television special, “The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today.” In this clip, I sat down to good food, excellent beer and lots of laughs during my first hour filming in Palestine.
Leaving Israel I took a cab to the Security Barrier, then walked through the lonely no man’s land, which reminded me of the US-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana. Once across, I hopped into one of the many Palestinian cabs waiting on the Arab side of the wall for the quick ride into downtown Bethlehem. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are just minutes apart…except for the nasty border.
I checked into my Dar Annadwa guesthouse (run by the Lutheran Church and a great place to call home in Bethlehem) and within minutes met the two guides I’d hired for my week in Palestine (Hassam Jubran and Kamal Mukarker). Organizing my time in advance was tough because I couldn’t really know just how complicated getting around would be.
Hassam and Kamal took me to a tourist-friendly restaurant called “The Tent.” It posted a “families only” sign so they could turn away rowdy young men. I guess we looked harmless enough as they let us right in.
We sat down and an impressive array of Palestinian plates appeared. We enjoyed a great meal, and planned our itinerary. The Palestinian beer, Taybeh, was excellent. And I think I laughed more in my first two hours in the West Bank than I did in the entire past week. This was a great introduction to my Palestine filming adventure.
“The Holy Land” has already aired to great success on stations in several locations. Many other stations, such as WTTW 11 in Chicago and KCTS 9 in Seattle, are excited to air it soon. Call your local public television station to find out when you can see it too.