A trial in Bethlehem.

• Author: Normey, Robert
• Position: Law and Literature

The Collaborator of Bethlehem (An Omar Yussef Mystery) (2006) is Matt Beynon Rees' take on life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories ( I use this term following the lead of the United Nations and the International Court of Justice amongst others. Other terms are also used). In many respects, the book is a fictional exploration of themes Rees wrote about in his 2004 nonfiction work on life in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Cain's Field." Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East. Rees was born in South Wales and was, until recently, the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for Time magazine.

Rees' main innovation in employing the detective form is to set the story in the harsh world endured by the Palestinians in the West Bank, territory under the military occupation of Israel, albeit with some cities and towns under local Palestinian control. He focuses on the Palestinian city of Bethlehem--a place which has important associations not only for Muslims but also for Christians and Jews. Indeed, it's worthwhile canvassing Bethlehem's history because the setting is absolutely crucial to the story Rees tells.

Bethlehem is located approximately 10 kilometres south of Jerusalem with a population of about 26,000. The city is the traditional birthplace of Jesus and is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, though the size of the community has been reduced in recent times through emigration. The city is the site of the famous Church of the Nativity. During the Christmas season, Christians from all over the world make a pilgrimage to the Church. The Church is the setting for a key encounter in the novel between the detective hero and a Palestinian gunman who holes up in the Church to hide from the Israeli Forces.

Bethlehem has been captured and placed under the control of a number of invaders over the centuries. It came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. The British assumed control in 1917, and Bethlehem was to be part of an international zone under the 1947 Partition Plan for Palestine. Jordan annexed it in 1948. It was next occupied by Israel in the Six-Day-War of 1967. Bethlehem's status was dealt with under the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza in 1995. This provided for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the city and the assumption of administrative and military control by the Palestinian National Authority.

The Second Palestinian Intifada commenced in 2000, and during this...