Born in Bethlehem
Tim Butcher, currently based in the Middle East,
has just become a father for the first time, but he is not sure how grateful his
son will be when he realises the significance of his birthplace.
Jane and Kit Patrick
A nice non-denominational tale. In fact, you shouldn't be surprised that this wee story is offered by a crusty, old atheist like me. Hopefully, we ALL believe in giving this child and his parents a chance to live in a better world.
A baby has just been born in Bethlehem and, while the birth might not quite have the same global impact of its illustrious predecessor, for Jane and me it was our own modest miracle.
Based as journalists in the disputed city of Jerusalem, the arrival of our first child posed a dilemma, as where the baby would be born had implications.
Some ex-pat friends of ours, about to have a child, chose to fly all the way home to the United States rather than risk problems downstream.
They were fearful that, without a tectonic shift in Middle East politics, their child would find travel in the Arab world problematic with a passport giving Israel as place of birth.
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We simply wanted to find the hospital with the best facilities, that would make Jane feel the most comfortable.
Rather unexpectedly, the one that won us over was in Bethlehem.
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Our Israeli - that is to say Jewish - friends thought us quite mad for opting to have the baby in Bethlehem.
One Jerusalemite I spoke to became quite indignant.
"Jewish health care is among the best in the world," she said. Why would you want to go to an Arab hospital? Do they even have the right equipment?''
Her words spoke volumes about the mistrust between the Holy Land's oldest and yet most divided peoples.
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Today, the city of Jerusalem is claimed by Israel but the border with occupied Palestinian land lies just beyond the city limits.
Bethlehem, home to thousands of Palestinians (both Muslim and, perhaps not surprisingly, Christian) is close enough to the city to be a suburb. But it lies on the other side of that border, a border that is now marked by the Jerusalem Wall, the concrete curtain erected by Israel, it claims, to protect against suicide bombers.
All this meant that, when the moment came, Jane and I would have to cross an Israeli army checkpoint to reach the maternity hospital.
I cannot deny this caused me some worry.
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As it turned out, we got away with it.
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Jane gurned, I wept and Kit Patrick joined us after 22 hours of labour.
To me, peacock proud, Kit was perfect but, as he snuffled on his mother's chest and took his first bleary view of the world, could I detect a world-weary gleam of resignation in his blue eyes?
They seemed to be saying:
"Come on, Dad. You've given me a lifetime of mickey taking. No passport official in the world is going to pass up the chance to remark on my place of birth: Bethlehem."
Hopefully, by the time Kit is as old as his dad is now [or younger?], his birth town will be a place of peace.
Posted: Sat - September 17, 2005 at 06:43 PM