It is not at all idyllic or pastoral, this church with shepherds milling about the fields, nestled in an olive grove with settlements in both back yard and front, edged by the ghost of barracks that held the border that carved out the West Bank from the newly declared state of Israel between 1948 and 1967.
lets try a map, maybe the absence of olive grove will help:
The green hills from the first set, vis-a-vis the map, are where I've drawn an x/cross is just strait up from the big "Gilo" red x checkpoint symbol.
Oh yeah, now lit looks less pastoral. I think its the red lines. I love how maps do that (thanks to the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for making this one... the black smudges are me)
Notice the church property, where most of the following photos are taken, is located between Israel's separation wall, and the internationally recognized boundary between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories....
