Tiles of the 20s make Palestinian comeback

 Jalal Aslan Tiles is the only place in Palestine that makes --by hand-- these beauties:

Popular for the fancy classes from the turn of the century right up into the 40s and 50s, the cement tiles had a good long time to develop a whole Palestine-wide fashion landscape, with different styles becoming popular in different cities, with everything from colour preference to motif becoming characteristic of a region, a family, or a home. This one, with its yellow, red, and green, round formations and flower edges, is typical of the Nablus area.

A Church, a border, two settlements and remnants of war

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.

But then again, it looks pretty idyllic and pastoral....

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....