A Not-So-Merry Christams
December 23, 2005Bethlehem walled off by Israel this Christmas
BETHLEHEM, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Pilgrims travelling the ancient route from Jerusalem to Bethlehem this Christmas will find themselves hitting a dead end — a towering concrete wall and metal gate under the lock and key of the Israeli army.
The dusty road to the town of Jesus’s birth has been the gateway to Bethlehem since biblical times and would have been the likely path taken by Mary and Joseph. But today it leads to what the mayor of Bethlehem calls “the world’s largest prison”.
At the entrance is a brand new military crossing where for the first time this Christmas pilgrims and local Christians will pass through X-ray machines (more on X-ray machines) before emerging into Bethlehem from behind eight-metre (26-feet) high concrete walls.
“If Mary and Joseph were here today, they would go through the checkpoint just like everybody else,” said Sister Erica, a nun, at the crossing.
Bethlehem is marking its first Christmas since being walled off from adjacent Jerusalem by an internationally condemned barrier Israel erected with the avowed aim of preventing Palestinian suicide bombers from infiltrating its cities. [More…]
Today’s Joseph and Mary would face 15 checkpoints
THE road from Nazareth to Bethlehem begins by dropping down from a ridge south of Galilee into the Jezreel Valley, looking out across Jordan and Samaria.
….But first you slam into a checkpoint. The first, that is, of 15 Israeli military roadblocks and mobile checkpoints that now control passage along the roads south from Nazareth.
It is a huge yellow gate at Jalame, close to the old, invisible, green line that separated Israel and the West Bank before Ariel Sharon’s “separation” strategy gave birth to the million-pound-a-mile razor wire and concrete barrier that Israel has built around — and deep into — the West Bank. The gate at Jalame — the northern edge of this “security fence” (Israeli ) or “apartheid wall” (Palestinian) is flanked by a watchtower and razor wire. But it swings open unusually quickly upon the production of foreign passports and press cards and the car slips through.
Inside Bethlehem, goodwill is hard to find. Since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000 Christmas celebrations have been dismal, Dr Victor Batarseh, the town’s mayor, says, pointing to a dwindling Christian population and the rising wall. “Now Bethlehem has become a big prison for its citizens. We are remembered one day a year. On Christmas Eve all the world speaks of Bethlehem but they give nothing to us. Nothing.” [Read full article]
Bethlehem mayor lacks Christmas celebration funds
Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh on Thursday accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to provide financial assistance to his city as it prepares to celebrate Christmas.
In an urgent letter to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Batraseh called for solving Bethlehem’s financial crisis as soon as possible. He pointed out that the new municipality has not received any funds from the PA since the last elections in May.
He also complained about Israeli security measures around the city, which, he added, are threatening to spoil the atmosphere in Bethlehem on the eve of Christmas. [More…]
Christmas behind Israel’s wall
Every year on the morning of Dec. 25, the Latin Patriarch and a host of Church dignitaries head southward from Jerusalem via an ancient road to Bethlehem. But this year, the procession will pass through a metal gate topped with rolls of barbed wire, normally closed but opened briefly so as not to impede the tradition. [More…]
I Have Come to Bring You Peace
I have come to bring you peace.
Not the peace of the season, for it is too fleeting,
Not the peace of the carol, for it is nostalgic,
Not the peace of the greeting card, for it is too slick,
Not the peace of the crib, for it is too wistful.
Rather, I have come to bring you peace,
Peace of the ordinary, the daily, the homely,
Peace for the worker, the driver, the student,
Peace in the office, the kitchen, the farm.
Without peace, my coming is unfulfilled.
Without peace, my birth is forgettable.
Without peace, Christmas is a contradiction.
I have come to bring you peace.*
Happy holidays for all, wish you peace, health and contentment and may you live to see a better Christmas in the city of Jesus.
