Political treachery? Spying? Welcome to the first Christmas

At the time of Christ’s birth, ‘peace’ was maintained by the Roman occupying force, but under the surface, spying and oppression countered the risk of rebellion, says Rosemary Hector. Today Palestine and Israel are engulfed in appalling suffering, how far is that from the first Christmas?

We were in southern Italy in spring, looking after a remote farmhouse that belonged to friends. The route to it through an empty countryside of olive groves, and small walled fields was confusing.

As we got to know our surroundings, I became puzzled. Our house and garden, although modest, were fenced and padlocked. Further up the hill, a large empty house, its windows boarded, would be frequented by cars, creeping up the lane without lights at night. At a crossroads nearby, there was often a car parked with someone sitting in it, as if keeping watch. A mile away stood the blackened shell of a seaside café. A recent fire? It was all rather mysterious. Yet to me it felt oddly familiar.

Eventually I recognised why. I grew up in rural Northern Ireland during ‘The Troubles’. Here, there were similarities. Near a friend’s home there was a crossroads where a car had sat, an ever-present watch. There were places you didn’t visit – remote places regularly mentioned in news bulletins –  marshy fields where arms would be smuggled across the border, equipment hidden in barns, bodies dumped. If you had to go through these areas, you drove without stopping unless flagged down at a check point.