IN STEREO

[I grew up in] Shuafat Camp, near Jerusalem. [Bethlehem] is the same as the old city of Jerusalem. For me, it’s the same type [of place] – the structures and everything – but without the same feeling of tension. Like, soldiers everywhere, and you know, the tension of Jerusalem, the city. There is no tension in the Bethlehem old city. And it's historical, for sure. I live in a cave, actually. There is no sun. The old buildings in Palestine, I think they all have the same idea of structure. They are cold in the summer, and they are warm in the winter. I love this place. I will leave soon [though]. It’s very important to move. [Me and my girlfriend] moved from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It was really hard for two Arabs, Muslims, to live together in the same place. We fought the society for our lifestyle and how we like to live. So when we broke up, I started to hate Bethlehem.

It was a very, very bad moment for me. I started to lose time and space in Bethlehem. For three months, I felt like I didn’t exist in this place. I rented a place near the Jerusalem bus stop. It was very bad, cameras everywhere, the police came by my place… It was very bad. Then I went to the old city, and everything changed. I don't know how, but this is my story, the silly story of Bethlehem for me. I think the historical place made the change. My roommate, for sure. The people surrounding me, let's say. And my room, actually. A very big room, a very old room. You can see paintings on the wall, you can see people’s ideas, you can imagine people who lived here in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. So that made the change for me. – Ahmad