Simon
26-12-02, 19:17
Bethlehem Embraces for the Saddest Christmas Ever
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"Christian leaders earlier this week called on all Christians in the holy land to remain indoor to protest Israeli repression .."
By Khalid Amayreh
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Palestinian Christians are embracing for what may well be the bleakest Christmas of their lives.
“There is nothing to celebrate; Israeli tanks have crushed the spirit of Christmas,” says Jeryes al Bandak, a community leader in Bethlehem.
Al-Bandak and other Christian leaders earlier this week called on all Christians in the holy land to remain indoor to protest Israeli repression which claimed up to 2000 Palestinian lives in addition to thousands of homes destroyed in the past two years alone.
“We would be lying to ourselves and to the world if we put up a happy show, Bethlehem is undergoing the bleakest of all times. Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and apache helicopters have killed the Christmas spirit,” al-Bandak told reporters in Bethlehem Tuesday.
The tragic conditions facing Jesus’ traditional birthplace are felt by every citizen, Christian and Muslim alike.
“This will be the bleakest Christmas ever because we’ve been robbed of our freedom, says Johnny Babun, whose garage and car wash facility was razed by Israeli bulldozers over a year ago.
“We will find some solace in the midnight mass, beyond that, there won’t be any Christmas celebrations.”
Nativity Church warden Father Ibrahim Faltas makes the same point.
“This will be the saddest Christmas ever celebrated in Bethlehem. We shall pray for peace but we won’t celebrate beyond the traditional Christmas procession and mass.”
Some secular Christian leaders go as far as calling the present situation in Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns “a holocaust.”
“It is a virtual holocaust here, the Israeli army is murdering innocent civilians everyday, it is demolishing people’s homes every day, it is forcing people to remain locked inside their homes round-the-clock. Yes there are no gas chambers, but death and suffering are being effected by other means,” said Hanna Kukali.
The Israeli occupation army said it would redeploy tanks and armored personnel carriers from the Manger Square and the vicinity of the Church of the Nativity for the duration of the Christmas celebrations.
However, the people of Bethlehem seems utterly unimpressed by the Israeli announcement.
“Israel will lift the curfew and makes its forces invisible on Christmas day, but it is not for us Christians, it is because the world’s cameras will be focused on Bethlehem and Israel wants to project a good image of itself,” said Jamal Salman, an administrator at Bethlehem’s municipal council.
“Is the world satisfied with this situation?”
Palestinian Christians make up close to 15% of the Palestinian people worldwide.
- The Palestine Chronicle -
http://palestinechronicle.com/images/articles/2_images/gaza_1224.JPG http://palestinechronicle.com/images/articles/2_images/peace_1224.JPG
"Christian leaders earlier this week called on all Christians in the holy land to remain indoor to protest Israeli repression .."
By Khalid Amayreh
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Palestinian Christians are embracing for what may well be the bleakest Christmas of their lives.
“There is nothing to celebrate; Israeli tanks have crushed the spirit of Christmas,” says Jeryes al Bandak, a community leader in Bethlehem.
Al-Bandak and other Christian leaders earlier this week called on all Christians in the holy land to remain indoor to protest Israeli repression which claimed up to 2000 Palestinian lives in addition to thousands of homes destroyed in the past two years alone.
“We would be lying to ourselves and to the world if we put up a happy show, Bethlehem is undergoing the bleakest of all times. Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and apache helicopters have killed the Christmas spirit,” al-Bandak told reporters in Bethlehem Tuesday.
The tragic conditions facing Jesus’ traditional birthplace are felt by every citizen, Christian and Muslim alike.
“This will be the bleakest Christmas ever because we’ve been robbed of our freedom, says Johnny Babun, whose garage and car wash facility was razed by Israeli bulldozers over a year ago.
“We will find some solace in the midnight mass, beyond that, there won’t be any Christmas celebrations.”
Nativity Church warden Father Ibrahim Faltas makes the same point.
“This will be the saddest Christmas ever celebrated in Bethlehem. We shall pray for peace but we won’t celebrate beyond the traditional Christmas procession and mass.”
Some secular Christian leaders go as far as calling the present situation in Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns “a holocaust.”
“It is a virtual holocaust here, the Israeli army is murdering innocent civilians everyday, it is demolishing people’s homes every day, it is forcing people to remain locked inside their homes round-the-clock. Yes there are no gas chambers, but death and suffering are being effected by other means,” said Hanna Kukali.
The Israeli occupation army said it would redeploy tanks and armored personnel carriers from the Manger Square and the vicinity of the Church of the Nativity for the duration of the Christmas celebrations.
However, the people of Bethlehem seems utterly unimpressed by the Israeli announcement.
“Israel will lift the curfew and makes its forces invisible on Christmas day, but it is not for us Christians, it is because the world’s cameras will be focused on Bethlehem and Israel wants to project a good image of itself,” said Jamal Salman, an administrator at Bethlehem’s municipal council.
“Is the world satisfied with this situation?”
Palestinian Christians make up close to 15% of the Palestinian people worldwide.
- The Palestine Chronicle -