Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

It's easily the most contentious piece of real estate

in the world.

And there's no hope, none, of

ever talking about it without pissing somebody, if not

everybody off.

Maybe that's why it's taken me

so long to come here, a place

where even the names of ordinary

things are ferociously disputed.

Where does falafel come from?

Who makes the best hummus?

Is it a fence or a wall?

By the end of this hour, I'll be

seen by many as a terrorist

sympathizer, a Zionist tool, a

self-hating Jew, an apologist

for American imperialism, an

orientalist, socialist, fascist, CIA agent, and worse.

So here goes nothing.

I was raised without religion.

One side of the family long ago, catholic... I think.

The other side, Jewish.

I've never been in a synagogue.

I don't believe in a higher power.

But that doesn't make me any

less Jewish, I don't think.

These guys sandbagging me at the

wailing wall, they don't seem to think so either.

Only half.

Jewish?

Yes.

You a righty?

I'm a righty, yes.

Mazel tov.

Mazel tov.

Thank you, gentlemen.

I've never felt so much like I'm macerating as

something I'm not.

I am instinctively hostile to any kind of devotion.

Certainty is any enemy.

I'm all about doubt, questioning

ones self and the nature of reality.

When they grabbed hold of me and

in a totally nonjudgmental way

essentially... god's happy to have you, here you go.

Oh, man.

My treachery is complete.

Just because I was raised outside the faith with no

particular attachment or loyalty

to Israel doesn't mean that

plenty of people on this earth

don't hate me in principle.

I know that.

But the state of Israel, I never

really knew what to think.

First look around, it's like

everybody says... it's pretty.

It's awesome.

It's urban.

Sophisticated.

Hip.

Like Southern California.

Only nicer.

Then you see the undraftees in

the streets and you start to get the idea.

This is Jerusalem.

I'm taking you through Damascus gate, which is one of

the gates to the old city.

These walls are pretty ancient.

People say they go back to king David.

As history progressed, they built up the wall.

So the top bed is the newest.

And by newest you mean...

Up to about the ottoman time.

The Turks left here about 150 years ago.

And the Brits came and they conquered us.

I wasn't here.

Born here, now cooking in

London, he is the widely known

respected chef and co-author of the book "Jerusalem."

Basically, this city was

divided into two until 1967 when

there was the famous six-day war.

Yep.

And the hall that we're

traveling in now, walking in is east Jerusalem.

It's the Palestinian part.

That was up until '67 belonged to Jordan.

So now it's under Israeli control.

Very controversial because for

the Jews, for the Israelis, the city has been unified.

But for the Palestinian, they

are under occupation, as far as they are concerned.

We just have to go for a falafel

because it's so much part of the culture here.

Again, contentious because Jews

or Israelis make falafel their

own and everybody in the world

thinks falafel is an Israeli food.

It's been done for generations here.

And here, you get falafel that's just been fried.

You don't get it any other way.

When I come to a place like

that, I see there's a few left

from the previous customer, I don't take that.

I want them to fry them for me.

That makes all the difference in the world.

A whole different animal, isn't it?

So is there a historically

provable answer to who invented it?

Who made it first.

The one thing that's very clear

in this part of the world,

Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, it's

been cooked for many, many, many generations.

On the other hand, you get Jews

from Yemen coming here... They say hey, my great uncle

was in Syria at the time.

Hey, I remember distinctly so there is actually no

answer to it.

But the question of food appropriation or who owns the

food.

If you go you can go on arguing about it forever.

The old city is divided into four quarters.

There is Muslim quarter.

There is a Jewish quarter.

There is a Christian quarter.

And there's an Armenian quarter.

Each one functions independently, but people that

live in the certain area are all from that religion.

So here you see these Israeli flags over this house.

So basically Jews have bought

this house, although it's in the Muslim quarter.

That's very controversial

because it breaks the separation

that people would normally expect in this city.

Now we're walking in the steps of Jesus Christ, right?

As I so often do.

So this is villa de la Rosa,

which is the last trip Jesus did

before he was crucified.

People feel very emotional.

They come here and they feel

like oh, my god, I am walking in

the steps of Muhammad, David, or Jesus.

It's like Jesus was here.

I feel like I should be more something.

A little bit more pious?

A little bit.

It's too late for me.

Great.

Get your own crown of thorns?

In answer to the question what would Jesus wear?

Oh no, that's just wrong.

Israel is bordered by Egypt,

Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

In 1967, after the six-day war,

Israel took control of the Gaza

strip, the Sinai peninsula, the

west bank, and east Jerusalem.

In 2003, Israel began construction on a wall along the

green line representing the

Israeli-Palestinian border.

The wall now stretches 450 miles.

When completed, it will span 700 miles.

85% of it in Palestinian territory.

On one hand, there's no doubt

that the number of suicide bombings fell drastically.

On the other, there's this.

You cross from Jerusalem into the west bank.

Also called Judea, Sumaria, also called Palestine.

Since 1967, half a million

settlers have moved here, all in

contravention of international law.

Many in contravention of international law.

Though it seems to make little difference.

They're here and in ever-larger numbers.

This is one of our drivers from

Tel Aviv who I asked about

graffiti on this house near the settlements.

So what is price tagging?

Something happens in a settlement or some attack with

Jews, kids from the settlement

would come and have a price tag for every activity.

So they come to a village like

this, they will destroy cars,

they will write on walls like this.

It says against Arabs, the state

of Israel is alive, and death to the Arabs.

Intimidating.

I mean, you put two targets on my house, I'm moving.

This is Ellie, a settlement with

a population of over 3,000,

relatively isolated from the rest of Israel.

This is the chief executive of

the settlement and its former head of security.

Here you see from up above most of our town.

You see the Palestinian villages all around.

It's an unusual situation.

A lot of your neighbors would