Dheisheh Refugee Camp
and
Bethlehem
West Bank

May 21

Dheisheh Refugee Camp was founded in 1967 (time of the Six-Day War) after many Arab residents from a number of small villages in the south of Jerusalem fled from or were forced out of their homes. Currently, the 15-20 thousand residents of this camp maintain their U.N. refugee status and hope to one day return to their homes and villages. This is called the "Right of Return" and it has consistently been one of the most difficult points of negotiation between Israelis and Palestinians seeking a resolution to this conflict (There are many more refugee camps, some much larger). The camp is just outside of Bethlehem, which is just south of Jerusalem.
We also visited the Chuch of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The upper map shows Bethlehem (and Dheisheh) in red, with Jerusalem to the North.

The lower map shows current refugee camps as orange dots. The bigger the dot, the larger the camp.