The West Bank in Pictures

This morning I took a local bus to the Be’er Sheva bus depot, then the bus up through the West Bank back to Alon Shvut. I learned that the reason the buses that go through the Territories are so much cheaper than the buses that go around (14 shekel versus 29 shekel) is that they are half-price to encourage Israelis to take them. After the Intifada, a large portion of Israelis are still too scared to go through the West Bank. The windows on the bullet-proof bus were the best I had yet. Here are photos of my journey.

The Be’er Sheva bus station, full of soldiers on their way somewhere, and other assorted commotion.

People here pack a lot of heat. I'm still not completely used to seeing it.

Most of the West Bank looks like this. Scrub, scattered fields, sheep.

The entry gate at Otniel with the Otniel Yeshiva on the hilltop.

People getting on at the Otniel stop. The greenery and Western architecture set it apart from the Arab towns.

An aerial view of the Otniel area, courtesy of Google. Notice the American suburb-style layout of Otniel on the right, with small rows of white trailers directly north and downhill of the yeshiva. The town is only accessable from a single road with a security gate. The cluster of white buildings on the northern arc of that road is an army base. On the left is an Arab town, built along the road and without the same kind of meticulous organization.

View of what I think is greater Hebron from inside the gate of Haggai.

My final destination: barricade with soldier, and guy not waiting behind it.