Two accounts in the New Testament describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' parents lived in Nazareth and travelled for the Census of Quirinius to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, after which they returned home. The Gospel of Matthew accounts that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and fled later to Nazareth to escape persecution. Matthew says that Herod the Great, told that a 'King of the Jews' has been born in Bethlehem, ordered the killing of all the children aged two and under in the town and surrounding areas. Joseph is warned of this in a dream, and the family escapes this fate by fleeing to Egypt and returning only after Herod has died. Bethlehem, Palestine, 2012.

Street stall in the old city of Hebron, Palestine, 2012.

Hasim 18 is a resident of Aida camp. Aida is a Palestinian refugee camp situated 2 kilometers North of Bethlehem. The camp had a population of approximately 3,260 refugees. In the distance the settlement of Gilo sits on top of the hill. Gilo is an Israeli settlement with a population of 40,000, mostly Jewish. It is one of the five ring neighborhoods of Jerusalem and is built on land in the West Bank that was annexed to Israel in 1980 under the Jerusalem Law. The international community regards it as an Israeli settlement that is illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. A tall concrete wall prevents Hasim from getting to Gilo. the Israelis argue that the number of suicide bombers have dropped dramatically sine the creation of the wall. Hasim speaks little English but manages to communicate that his only desire is to keep his job as a waiter in the Intercontinental Hotel outside the camps wall. Aida Camp, Palestine, 2012.