Sad Christmas in Bethlehem

Palestinian Christians are suffering “severe blows” at the hands of Muslims, a Palestinian wrote in an exceptionally candid column about the situation of Christians in Arab countries.

“Let us be honest with ourselves and courageously say out loud that Palestinian Christians are taking many severe blows, yet are suffering in silence so as not to attract attention,” wrote Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar in the P.A. daily Al-Ayyam. (A translation was provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute this week.)

Muslims and most Christians in Palestinian areas tell journalists that they are all Palestinians. Publicly, they usually deny that there are any problems or differences between them. They say that they get along fine and the main problem is the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank.

Privately, however, some Christians admit to job losses, land seizures, attacks on churches, intimidation, torture, beatings, kidnappings, forced marriage and sexual harassment of Christian women. Some Christians have been killed.

But examples of inter-religious tension rarely make it into the Palestinian or Arab media.

In his column on October 25, Al-Najjar, who is himself a Muslim and a regular contributor to the official P.A. newspaper, criticized the Muslim persecution of Christians in Arab countries, particularly in Palestinian Authority-administered areas.
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"...The fate of BETHLEHEM offers a fine example. Since 1994, when Arafat first came to administer Bethlehem the Christian population has gradually been reduced from a 60% majority in Bethlehem to a mere 20%
This Arafat ensured by first gerrymandering the municipal boundaries of the city, extending them to include the neighboring refugee camps – Dehaisheh, El-Ayda and El-Azeh and adding a few thousand from the Ta'amarah Bedouin tribe. Concurrently Arafat fired the city council which was composed of 9 Christians and 2 Moslems while appointing Muhammed A- Hjabari, a Moslem from Hebron as mayor. The entire political structure of the city – in the bureaucratic, security and political spheres were eventually cleansed of Christians. Today the Bethlehem region is in reality run by the local Fatah leader and his thugs.

The physical and psychological intimidation of Palestinian Chrisitian Arabs throughout the territory then proceeded rapidly. Mosques were erected in close proximity to churches in order to Oscure and Dminate them.This is the case with the Al Khanga and Abdul Malek mosques which today tower over the Church of the Nativity. Christian cemeteries, convents and monasteries were desecrated, their personnel intimidated and in places, their land confiscated.[......] Not that it wasn't expected. The late Christian mayor of Bethlehem Elias Friej warned that the implementation of the Oslo Accords would result in Bethlehem becoming a town with churches but no Christians. For over 7 years Christian Arabs in East Jerusalem and other West Bank towns have besieged Israeli officials with requests for Israeli I. D. cards knowing full well that the institution of Palestinian rule would result in the kind of extortion and corruption seen wherever the PLO has hoisted its tent.

Those who know something about Persecution of Christians throughout the Arab world will not be shocked by what has occurred in the Palestinian Authority. In Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, Christian populations suffer from both direct and indirect state sponsored discrimination. In other Muslim countries such as Nigeria and Indonesia there is open persecution of Christians while in the Sudan it is estimated that close to 2 Million Christians have lost their lives in the course of a bitter civil war. [.....]

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Apocalypse said:

Weird, two days ago I've read an article in YNET that has stated quite directly something around "The Israeli government has given pass to around <number> of Palestinians over the age of <31-35, don't exactly remember), in order to allow them to partake in the Christmas celebrations".

I'll run a search for that article.

Edit: Well, I've only found this article:
Israel lets 300 Gazan Christians travel to Bethlehem for Christmas / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

I don't think that it is smart, security wise, to allow such a big number of people to pass the cross all at once.
While the Palestinian Christians are, as you say, presenting a smaller security threat than the Palestinian Muslims, they're still presenting an actual security threat, and allowing too many of them to pass would be very risky.

Israel has taken a tactical move and has let the people over the age of 31 to pass, as it is more important that the adults would take part in the ceremonies, and by that, has decreased the number of pass-given Palestinians to a reasonable amount.

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Never mind dreaming of a White Christmas. This Christmas, tourists and pilgrims to the Holy Land will need to keep their piety under wraps. AsiaNews reports that in Bethlehem, the city of Jesus’ birth, the Cross has been banned for fear of stirring up unrest among followers of Islam (aka, the religion of peace). Writes AsiaNews:

Some textile workshops in Jerusalem and Hebron have begun to print and sell T-shirts depicting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem without the cross. Because of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in the Palestinian territories, the cross was also removed from T-shirts of football teams.

Samir Qumsieh, director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, is reported as having said, "I want to launch a campaign to urge people Not to buy these products,” adding “removal of the cross is an intimidation against Christians, it is like saying that Jesus was never crucified.”

As the article further notes, recent years have witnessed a mass exodus of Christians from the Palestinian territories, their chief motivation fear. Since Hamas’ rise to power, the Christian population in Gaza has dwindled from 5,000 to less than 1,800. If the decline continues at the current rate, it is not inconceivable that the Holy Land will eventually have zero Christians living within its borders.

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One of the staples of television news over the Christmas holiday is coverage of celebrations in the Holy Land, providing a familiar and comforting nod to the ancient roots of Western civilization.

Even in our increasingly secular society, images of Christians worshipping in Nazareth and Bethlehem provide welcome confirmation that we have a long and substantial history - even if we're fuzzy on the details. It all looks so traditional and Christmassy.

Unfortunately this comforting image depends to a large extent on a dwindling number of embattled Christian communities. We are, in fact, witnessing the Twilight of Christianity across much of the Middle East.

Not so long ago Bethlehem was a majority Christian town - about 80% - and now is down to less than a third. Nazareth, too, has seen its Christian population almost halved in recent decades, and in Jerusalem itself the Christian community has fallen from a slight majority 80 years ago to below 2% today.

Christians are leaving the West Bank, in particular, to escape the instability and a long-standing Muslim Boycott of Christian businesses that has Ravaged the community's economic foundations.

Thankfully this modern-day exodus is mostly peaceful, which puts it in marked contrast to much of the history of Christian depopulation in the Middle East.

This is history the West has largely forgotten and ignored. Your average European or North American will certainly be more familiar with the story of the Palestinians and the Much-Publicized grievances of the Arab world in general.

Yet we're not talking ancient history here...

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alexa said:

I am not convinced on this cross thing. With the internet we get a lot of red herrings. I have had a look and can find no big news reporting this and on something so crazy and so offensive to so many people I would expect this.

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alexa said:

I am not convinced on this cross thing. With the internet we get a lot of red herrings. I have had a look and can find no big news reporting this and on something so crazy and so offensive to so many people I would expect this.

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Degreez said:

You are correct. That some shopowners in Bethlehem do not have the cross on a few of their merchandise is not the equivalent of banning the cross. There is no reputable or credible media outlet that confirms that ridiculous notion that crosses are banned in Bethlehem.

Of course, mbig will come here and quote what I said and then go on to not address one thing that I posted. :roll:

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Some textile workshops in Jerusalem and Hebron have begun to print and sell T-shirts depicting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem without the cross. Because of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in the Palestinian territories, the cross was also removed from T-shirts of football teams.

Samir Qumsieh, director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, is reported as having said, "I want to launch a campaign to urge people Not to buy these products,” adding “removal of the cross is an intimidation against Christians, it is like saying that Jesus was never crucified.”

As the article further notes, recent years have witnessed a mass exodus of Christians from the Palestinian territories, their chief motivation fear. Since Hamas’ rise to power, the Christian population in Gaza has dwindled from 5,000 to less than 1,800. If the decline continues at the current rate, it is not inconceivable that the Holy Land will eventually have zero Christians living within its borders.

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