On the surface, campus life at Bethlehem University feels disarmingly familiar. And then you're reminded why this region is unlike any other.
Between classes, students pour into the courtyard, maybe spending a little too much time laughing and socializing. But here, each young person can recount experiences of violence and hardship. Like North American students, you can find them hastily finishing their course reading on the bus. But to commute a few miles from neighbouring East Jerusalem, students have to pass through an eight metre high concrete wall—or sometimes not pass, and wait for hours at an armed checkpoint.
And like a Catholic university in the West, stressed-out students will head to the chapel to pray. But in addition to typical freshman worries, Bethlehem students pray for an end to the cycle of war that haunts their city.
This spring, S+L will tell the story of Bethlehem University, the De La Salle Christian brothers who run it, and Christian students who will sacrifice everything for their education. Together, and with the intercession of St. Jean-Baptiste De La Salle, they aim to build a better future for the Holy Land.
