Walk of death in the search for daily bread

CARMEN Danielle Darwish cuts a lonely figure as she hurries down the backstreets of Bethlehem, hugging the sides of pock-marked buildings, to seek food for her family.
It is her daily mission. Ignoring the dangers, the young Romanian-born wife risks her life to get supplies for her Palestinian husband, Mohammed, and his family.

Determined to provide for them, she walks to Jerusalem, through military check-points, praying that soldiers will let her pass.

Although the troops seem to be in most parts of the West Bank, the number of tanks suggests that the battle of Bethlehem has become one of the fiercest of this military campaign aimed at crushing Palestinian terrorism.

Now it is the ordinary people who are terrified and who clearly have no wish to see more bloodshed.

“Sometimes I am scared but I believe in God that this makes me strong,” said Mrs Darwish, who has remained an Orthodox Christian even after marrying a Muslim. “If I die, at least it will be on holy land.”