Mark Ziese August 18, 2014 Israel-Palestine, Bethlehem The First to Hear the News Mark Ziese August 18, 2014 Israel-Palestine, Bethlehem Packs on our backs, Issa and I follow a ridge out of Bethlehem. The asphalt drops down sharply. We swing east to face the morning haze. Bethlehem’s sister villages rise to meet us. They huddle on desert’s edge.