Trump Visits Bethlehem Bearing Gifts to Child Killers

Finian Cunningham

May 20, 2017

US President Donald Trump makes his first overseas visit this weekend, beginning in the Middle East and continuing to Europe. His tour to the “holy land” is being presented with feel-good, messianic spin.

Trump touches down first in Saudi Arabia, then will go Israel and from there make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem in the Palestinian territories. After his stop at the reputed birthplace of Jesus, the American president will then fly to the Vatican, where he will be greeted by Roman Catholic Pope Francis. He will later meet NATO military leaders in Brussels.

resenting the president’s Middle East itinerary like a momentous religious event, Trump’s senior national security adviser General HR McMaster said:

“This trip is truly historic. No president has ever visited the homelands and holy sites of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths all on the same trip. And what President Trump is seeking is to unite peoples of all faiths around a common vision of peace, progress and prosperity.”

The White House, reported the Washington Post, described it as “an effort to unite three of the world’s leading religious faiths in the common cause of fighting terrorism, reining in Iran and unifying the world against intolerance.”

Hold it. Screech the brakes on this Hollywood-type script of Saint Donald saving the world. What utter claptrap.

The main purpose of his sojourn is to cut a record arms deal with Saudi Arabia and the other closely aligned Gulf Arab monarchies. While in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, addressing regional leaders about “world peace,” Trump is set to sign off weapons deals worth $350 billion. That’s more than double what his predecessor Barack Obama flogged to the Saudi rulers during his presidency.

According to Bloomberg, topping the list of US arms transfers are warships, helicopter gunships, anti-missile systems and tanks.

The THAAD anti-missile system, recently debuted in South Korea, is said to be among the inventory for the Saudis and other Gulf states to the tune of $10 billion. The crisis in Korea provides a convenient sales pitch to the Saudis. Maybe that’s partly why the Trump administration has dangerously provoked the tensions in Asia, precisely to push through their THAAD sales in the Middle East.

In addition to the weapons purchases, the Saudi rulers are also promising to invest $40 billion from their oil-rich sovereign wealth funds in American companies.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and personal adviser, has been instrumental in lining up the mega sales, in conjunction with the Saudi deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The 30-year-old son of King Salman, who is also the defense minister, has been courting the Trump presidency ever since the election last November.

The Saudi prince, known as MBS by the Trump inner circle, is the chief strategist behind the Saudi war on Yemen since March 2015. That war is a blatant aggression on Yemen carried out by Saudi forces supplied by the US and Britain. Thousands of children have been killed in Saudi air strikes, using internationally banned cluster bombs in indiscriminate attacks on civilian centers.

Just days before Trump’s departure to the Middle East, Saudi air strikes reportedly killed 23 civilians, including six children, near the southern Yemeni city of Taiz.

Millions of other Yemeni children are dying from starvation and preventable diseases like cholera because of a naval blockade imposed on the country by Saudi and American forces. No doubt the new warships that Trump is lining up for Saudi Arabia will add to the “efficacy” of the genocide that is underway in Yemen.

With staggering cynicism, the Trump administration is “justifying” this ramped-up military support for Saudi Arabia as an effort to “fight terrorism” and to “counter Iranian meddling” in the region.

It is alleged that Iran is sponsoring militia in Yemen, Syria and Iraq and this is posing a threat to regional stability. Such claims are an insult to common intelligence, when we know that it is the American CIA and their Saudi client regime who have bankrolled and directed terrorism across the entire Middle East over many years in order to serve hegemonic interests of regime change.

But what is disturbing is just how braindead the Trump administration is. Trump is recklessly promoting the ridiculous fantasy that Saudi Arabia and its despotic terror-sponsoring clients are somehow the custodians of law and order. He is also pumping up the surreal Saudi narrative that Iran is largely responsible for the Middle East’s conflicts.

When the American president addresses Saudi and other Muslim leaders in Riyadh this weekend supposedly on the challenges of finding regional peace, two nations are banned from the gathering – Iran and Syria.

Saudi rulers have recently threatened Iran with fomenting a Syria-style proxy war inside Iran. The record arsenal of weapons that Trump is bringing to Saudi Arabia will only embolden its House of Saud tinpot dictators to pursue even more confrontation with Iran. Much of the small-arms weaponry that the Americans supply to Saudi Arabia already ends up in the hands of terror groups like Jabhat al Nusra and Daesh (so-called Islamic State).

There are perplexing signs that the US under Trump is ratcheting up military aggression toward Iran and its ally Syria. This week, US warplanes reportedly attacked Syrian armed forces and Iranian allies Hezbollah in southern Syria. It was the second such direct assault on Syria after Trump ordered Tomahawk missile strikes on the Shayrat airbase in April.

Syrian sources claim that the latest US air strike was carried out to protect militants being trained by American special forces inside Syrian territory. Those militants, known as Maghaweer al Thawra, are part of the Al Qaeda terror network, according to independent journalist Vanessa Beeley in email correspondence with this author.

Seems more than coincidence that the latest US operation was timed with Trump’s departure for Saudi Arabia. This is the kind of military action that the Saudis were constantly pushing the Obama administration to carry out. The strike on Iranian interests too will no doubt endear the new US commander-in-chief even more to his Saudi clients.

Trump’s messianic zeal to visit the Middle East – his first foreign destination being the dubious human rights “haven” Saudi Arabia – is all about flogging ever more deadly weapons to the already explosively-charged region. So desperate is Trump to pimp billions of dollars that he is willing to fuel war with Iran and perhaps Syria’s other ally, Russia, in the pursuit of lucre.

And to add further insult to injury, the whole tour of the “holy land” is being sold by the American government and media as some kind of benevolent religious duty to mankind and world peace.

The only “gifts” that Trump is bringing to Bethlehem and the region are ever more monstrous ways to murder children.

If Pope Francis had any integrity, or even news savvy, he should cancel Trump’s call at the Vatican, and explain exactly that child-killing regimes are not welcome.

Source: Sputnik

Interview with Filmmaker Leila Sansour

Posted on March 10, 2017

by Richard Edmondson

Last month I put up a post on the film “Open Bethlehem,” and specifically I linked to a podcast discussion about the documentary that was posted by the folks at We Hold These Truths. Directed by Leila Sansour, the film deals with the apartheid wall now encircling the birthplace of Jesus and its impact upon the people who live there.

Sansour, who is a native of Bethlehem and whose father was a founder of Bethlehem University, was recently interviewed over BBC radio. In the interview she discusses why she left Bethlehem in her teen years and why she returned there to make the film she did.

If you would like to watch the full documentary, it is available here for a $4.50 charge. Below is a two-minute trailer.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/104393049

 

You can also visit the Open Bethlehem website as well as Peace in Our Name.

‘Open Bethlehem’–Podcast Discussion on Palestinian Film

Posted on February 16, 2017

by Richard Edmondson

https://player.vimeo.com/video/196587736

Recently the good folks at We Hold These Truths uploaded a podcast featuring a discussion on the film, “Open Bethlehem.” That’s the trailer of the film you see above. The description of the podcast is below:

Victories for the struggle for peace and justice for Palestinians come slowly, but are coming more frequently. We discuss the inspiring documentary Open, Bethlehem by Palestinian filmmaker, Leila Sansour. and her Bethlehem passport project designed to put wings to her film. We also talk about a recent, major victory in Boulder, Colorado where a resolution to make the Palestinian city of Nablus a sister city to Boulder was passed by the city council over strong opposition from vocal, local Zionists.

You can go here to access the full podcast. And you can also go here to visit the “Open Bethlehem” website and here to apply for your own Bethlehem passport. Should you be issued a passport, you will automatically become eligible to become an official ambassador of the holy city where Jesus was born. Here is a picture of former President Jimmy Carter being issued his own passport:

The passport reads as follows:

“In that the bearer of this passport is a citizen of Bethlehem; that they recognize this ancient city provides a light to the world, and to all people who uphold the values of a just and open society; that they will remain a true friend to Bethlehem through its imprisonment, and that they will strive to keep the ideals of Bethlehem alive as long as the wall stands; we ask you to respect the bearer of the passport and to let them pass freely.”

Bethlehem Christmas

DEC. 24, 2016 9:26 P.M

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinians marked the occasion of Christmas Eve on Saturday morning in the southern occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem, which is traditionally held as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

 A parade lead by the Latin Patriarch of Palestine, Jordan, and the Holy Land Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is also the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, are set to arrive in Bethlehem in the afternoon and will be officially received at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah are also expected to arrive in Bethlehem later Saturday to partake in Midnight Mass.

Abbas released a statement Friday marking the occasion of Christmas, saying that “Despite the Israeli occupation, our presence in our homeland and the preservation of our cultural and national heritage are the most important form of resistance in the face of the darkness of a foreign colonialist occupying power.”

He described Christmas as “a Palestinian call for hope and justice,” which is “a unique message that we have been carrying generation after generation, as a precious treasure that began in Palestine and is celebrated all over the world.”

“We are about to mark 50 years of Israeli occupation, the longest military occupation in modern history,” he wrote in his statement, highlighting that despite Bethlehem’s religious and historical significance, the town “has not been spared the brutality exercised by decades of humiliation, colonization and Apartheid.”

“Jesus’ place of birth is a city now surrounded by 18 illegal Israeli settlements and divided by the illegal Annexation Wall, including the latest illegal Israeli steps to construct the Wall at the Cremisan Valley.”

“Israeli occupation policies have cut Bethlehem’s connection with Jerusalem, both an integral part of the occupied State of Palestine, for the first time in 2000 years of Christianity.”

He affirmed that the state of Palestine would continue to preserve its national heritage as well as “the historic status quo of all religious sites, including the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound” in occupied East Jerusalem.

He lauded the commitment of Palestinian Muslims and Christians to coexist peacefully throughout the centuries, and condemned “failed attempts” to divide them that he said “originate from those with a racist and colonialist mindset,” referring specifically to a recent law proposed by Israel to mute the Muslim call to prayer.

Abbas addressed all Palestinians in his message, “particularly our refugees in Syria and Lebanon, including al-Dbayeh and Mar Elia refugee camps, as well as those who will celebrate Christmas in Gaza and in our occupied capital Jerusalem.”“I salute our prisoners,” he added.

“The message of hope, the message of justice and peace brought by Jesus from a humble Grotto in Bethlehem shall prevail over the darkness of exile, colonization, unlawful imprisonment, and Apartheid.”

O Come All Ye Faithful

Posted on December 19, 2016

by Richard Edmondson

“Come and behold Him born the King of angels;
O come let us adore Him Christ the Lord”

Occupied Palestine: Hundreds of Children Participate in ‘Bethlehem Heart of Christmas’

Posted on December 17, 2016

by Richard Edmondson

Christians in US, Occupied Palestine, Hold Joint Worship Service

[ Ed. note – It’s always nice to see Christians in America reaching out to their Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine. That’s what took place today as the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem held a live-stream simulcast. The “Bethlehem Prayer Service,” as it was called, began at 5 p.m. Bethlehem time and at 10 a.m. Washington time.

Meanwhile, as you’ll see from the article below, hundreds of children, both Christians and Muslims, have been bussed into Bethlehem from all over Palestine to visit the city’s renowned holy sites. Their activities have included visits to Manger Square as well as the Church of the Nativity. ]

***

Hundreds of Children Arrive in Bethlehem for ‘Bethlehem Heart of Christmas

IMEMC

On Friday, December 16th, 350 children from around Palestine visited Bethlehem’s holy sites to learn first-hand about Palestine’s living Christian heritage. The event was part of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s 12th Annual “Journey to Bethlehem.” For the majority of these children, this represents the first time they have ever set foot in these holy places. Children came from schools and orphanages around Zababdeh, Jenin, Tulkarem, Jericho, and Birzeit.

During their journey, the children received educational tours of Shepherds Field, the Church of the Nativity, the Milk Grotto, and Bethlehem Museum, where they learned about the role that everyday Palestinians have played in preserving Christianity in the Holy Land. After visiting the sites, the children reflected on their favorite things:

“We loved visiting the Church of the Nativity! We saw the priests give mass for the first time ever. It was really cool!” – Alisa, 8 years, Jericho

“We enjoyed the museum, especially seeing the solidarity cross because the word ‘peace’ was written on it. We hope that there will be peace for us soon.” – Dala, 8 years, Jericho

“I loved the Christmas tree because its was so beautiful! I loved seeing Bethlehem!” – Hala, 12 years, Jenin

“Today I learned a lot, that we should love each other and pray for others.” – Zaed, 9 years, Birzeit

After their tour, the children joined in with local families to participate in a Christmas celebration at Catholic Action Community Center, where they enjoyed face painting, games, and treats followed by an interactive Christmas play. After receiving a gift from Santa, the group of 400 strong processed down Star Street to Manger Square—down the very path that Christians believe the Holy Family took over 2000 years ago! The procession was met with fanfare, as community members lined the streets, enjoying the singing and laughter of the children.

According to organizers, the procession commemorates Jesus’ call to “follow the children, ” and serves as an important reminder to the community that our children are our future, and that it is our responsibility to educate them about their history, heritage and identity.

The event was sponsored by World Vision International, Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Caritas Jerusalem, and by individuals from around the world who donated through HCEF’s 2016 Giving Tuesday campaign.

The Regional Director of Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, Anthony Habash, said the procession carried the message of peace and hope to the entire world, and delivers a message that the children of Palestine, just like all other children, deserve to live in dignity, justice and peace.

Follow

Abbs Winston @AbbsWinston

Palestinians light the second Christmas Tree in Occupied Jerusalem

11:23 PM – 17 Dec 2016

•  233233 Retweets
•  239239 likes

 He added that the children in this procession, who came from different parts of the West Bank, are Christians and Muslims, and delivered a message or brotherhood and peace, the message of Christmas in the holy city of Bethlehem.

Habash expressed his hope that such activities will build help break in restrictions and barriers imposed by the Israeli occupation army in Palestine.

For his part, Kayed Boulos, vice-president of Terra Sancta School in Jericho, said he came to Bethlehem in a procession of peace, to introduce the children to the birthplace of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, and to introduce them to its historic and religious importance.

Samer Sharqawi, the head of Ta’ayush grassroots movement, said the visit and this activity aims at introducing the children of Palestine to Bethlehem, and its significance.

Sharqawi added that Palestine is the land of coexistence and dialogue, and sets an historic example of love and brotherhood, and that the children, who came from Tulkarem, Jenin, Jericho, Nablus and Bethlehem, got this great opportunity to learn about Bethlehem, and to learn about all holy sites in their homeland.

Sister Mariam Ba’abish of the Rosemary School said there are many children who do not know the importance of all holy sites in Palestine, and that this activity was a great opportunity for them to meet and learn.

***

[ Ed. note – Below is a video of the joint worship service live-streamed earlier today. You can click here for a program guide in PDF format. The service includes music as well as prayers, readings, and scriptural lessons in both English and Arabic. I strongly urge you to access the program guide as it provides English translations to the Arabic portions of the service. All in all a very wonderful and uplifting service.

Another thing worth mentioning is that this is a service that has been held on an annual basis for several years now:

In 2006, a group gathered in concern for the deteriorating situation in Palestine and Israel. It was a few months before Christmas, and thoughts turned to Bethlehem and the present-day wall around the city. What if the Christmas events took place today? Would Mary and Joseph be able to cross into Bethlehem on their journey from Nazareth? The 30-foot wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem would block the way. Perhaps Mary would give birth while waiting to cross through a checkpoint, as happens for some Palestinian women today on their way to the hospital. Recognizing that most Americans do not know about the realities of Palestinian life, the Ad Hoc Committee for Bethlehem was formed to raise awareness.

This committee then sponsored events to lift up the need for justice and peace in Bethlehem and throughout the land, and to remind the faithful of the calling to be peacemakers. This service is an outcome of their work.

Today, a concrete wall not only separates the West Bank from Israel: it cuts through Palestinian land, separating farmers from fields and effectively annexing their land. Israeli roads and settlements in the region further segment Palestinian communities. Many Palestinians who have the means have left the Holy Land in search of a better life elsewhere. The Christian population of Bethlehem has declined from a majority several decades ago to about fifteen percent today. The presence of Christians throughout the Holy Land has dwindled to less than two percent.

The current situation in Bethlehem is of concern to Christians around the world who seek to follow the Prince of Peace in building bridges that connect rather than walls that divide. Today we turn our hearts to the one God who loves all equally, and pray that a new day will dawn for us, for Palestinians, and for Israelis.

It’s kind of surprising to see a statement like the above coming from a cathedral in the heart of Washington, but indeed such is the case. The Washington National Cathedral, formally known as The Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, is an Episcopal cathedral. Let’s wish them well in their continued solidarity with the Christians of Palestine. ]

Christmas Tree Lighting in Bethlehem–Ceremony Attended by Thousands

Posted on December 4, 2016

by Richard Edmondson

UNESCO: ‘No Jewish history in Jerusalem’

Apr 20, 2016

UNESCO also decided that Al-Khalil and Bethlehem are integral parts of Palestine

In addition, the resolution affirms that Al-Khalil, the birthplace for Abraham, and Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, “are an integral part of Palestine.”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Association (UNESCO) announced on Friday a number of resolutions regarding Israeli occupation of historical Palestinian cities.

One of the resolutions was entitled “Occupied Palestine” and addressed Jerusalem Old City’s mosque, which is an Islamic site and Muslims call it Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) or Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount.

In the context of Jerusalem’s Old City, the document referred to Israel as “the occupying power” and referred to the site as Al-Aqsa Mosque.

UNESCO decided that the name of this holy place is Al-Aqsa Mosque and said that Jews have no connection to it. It did not recognise the Jewish name for the place as Temple Mount.

The resolution also condemned Israel for “planting fake Jewish graves in other spaces of the Muslim cemeteries” and for “the continued conversion of many Islamic and Byzantine remains into the so-called Jewish ritual baths or into Jewish prayer places.”

Among the states supporting the decision were Argentina, France, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, India and Russia, several of which enjoys ostensibly warm relations Israel.

In addition, the resolution affirms that Al-Khalil, the birthplace for Abraham, and Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, “are an integral part of Palestine.”

Referencing “ongoing Israeli illegal excavations, works, construction of private roads for illegal settlers and a separation wall inside the Old City of Al-Khalil, that harmfully affect the integrity of the site, and the subsequent denial of freedom of movement and freedom of access to places of worship,” UNESCO also urged “Israel, the occupying power, to end these violations in compliance with provisions of relevant UNESCO conventions, resolutions and decisions.”

Palestine news

• Bethlehem; Army Kidnaps A Palestinian In Teqoua’, Closes Al-Khader’s Southern Entrance
• Six members of Jewish Terrorist Group Admit to Attacking Palestinians, Torching Homes
• At Least 12 Palestinians Injured In Al-Ezariyya And Abu Dis, In Jerusalem  
• Israeli Soldiers Kidnap A Palestinian Child In Jerusalem, A Teen Near Tulkarem
• Palestinian Injured In Jerusalem Bus Bombing Dies Of His Wounds
• Israeli Soldiers Kidnap 41 Palestinians In The West Bank
• Israeli Soldiers Kidnap Two Palestinians In The Jordan Valley
• Army Demolishes A Palestinian Home In Qalandia, Injures 8 Palestinians And Kidnap One  
• Including 18 Children, Israeli Soldiers Kidnap 25 Palestinians In Jerusalem
• Mass Rally Against Approval of New “Social Security” Law

 

 

In Observance of Israeli Apartheid Week

Posted on March 7, 2016

by Richard Edmondson

Israeli Apartheid Week is being observed in a number of different countries this week, including South Africa…

From the Israeli Apartheid Week South Africa website…

Press Statement: Palestinian Christians Call on South African Churches to Support #IsraeliApartheidWeek

Writing from the Holy Town of Bethlehem, the Palestinian Christian organization Kairos Palestine, has called on South African Churches to participate and support this year’s #IsraeliApartheidWeek. Their letter reads to the SA Churches and members of the Christian community reads:

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

 

“[W]e write from Palestine to express our thanks and appreciation for your solidarity; the solidarity of all South Africans with our people, our struggle, and our quest for liberation and freedom. With great appreciation we turn to South Africa and its preparation for the Israeli Apartheid Week from 7th – 13th of March 2016. Today, such events are more important than ever, because of the increase in discrimination, violence and apartheid imposed on us Palestinians who have suffered Israeli occupation for almost 50 years now.”

 

“We, Palestinian Christians, call upon you, head of churches, church communities and brothers and sisters in faith in South Africa to campaign and advocate for greater awareness of the Palestinian struggle in general and the plight of Palestinian Christians in particular. We ask you to dedicate Sunday services during that week to pray for and reflect on the plight of your Palestinian fellows who have suffered under apartheid for decades…”

 

“The voices of Palestinian Christians have been drowned out in the turmoil of events; the Western narrative about the ‘Promised Land’ dominates theological discourses in Palestine/Israel and justifies injustices towards Palestinians. As active, responsible, and believing Christians, it is time to review Christian theology and promote a true, Christian way of resisting injustice and work for a just peace – in the Middle East and in the world.We wish you a successful week, full of hope and faith and led by the most essential Christian value of Love. Our prayers are with you during this important event.” (Click here to read the full letter).

 

In an attempt to highlight the plight of Palestinian Christians living under Israeli Apartheid, this year, the official movie which will screened in various South African cities and towns as part of #IsraeliApartheidWeek is “The Stones Cry Out”. The movie documents the plight of the Palestinian Christian community (click here for a trailer, or email southafrica.iaw@gmail.com for a free copy).

In the past various South African Church leaders have lent their support to the #IsraeliApartheidWeek (click here).

—————————————-

#IsraeliApartheidWeek (IAW) is an annual international series of events (including rallies, lectures, cultural performances, music shows, films and workshops) that raises awareness of Israel’s apartheid policies, violations of international law and human rights abuses toward the indigenous Palestinian people. It is endorsed in South Africa by over 85 organizations including our ruling party, the ANC, and takes place in over 250 cities across the world.

Members of the media are invited to an interfaith press conference today (Sunday, 6 March 2016) at Freedom Park Museum (Corner Koch & 7th Avenue, Pretoria starting at 11am). The press conference will launch the South African leg of the annual international #IsraeliApartheidWeek awareness-raising campaign taking place in SA between 7 and 13 March. Speakers at the press conference will include representatives and leaders from the Hindu, Jewish, Tamil, Christian, Muslim and other communities.

Slingshots & Stones: Palestinians clash with IDF in Bethlehem

 Palestine news

• 8 Zionist Soldiers Injured in Run over Attack in Al-Quds & Al-Khalil
• Kerry, Israel, Palestine and Terrorism
• UPDATE: 82 Palestinians Shot and Injured Across oPt on Friday
• Obama Administration Rejects New Settlement Recognition
• 104 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Forces since October 1st (List)
• Army Injures Eleven Palestinians In The Gaza Strip
• 28 Palestinians Injured, 171 Suffer Effects Of Teargas Inhalation in Qalqilia
• Two Palestinians Injured In Kufur Qaddoum

 

Related Videos

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian 

  

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

70 Palestinians Injured in West Bank Clashes with Zionist Occupation Forces

Local Editor

The Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday shot and injured at least 70 Palestinians in Tulkarem, Bethlehem and Ramallah, according to the Palestinian ministry of public health.

In Ramallah’s al-Bireh city, Israeli occupation forces shot and injured more than 50 Palestinian youths with live fire and rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes in the al-Balou area in northern al-Bireh.

One protester, shot in the chest with live fire, is in a critical condition. Medical sources said that the youth underwent surgery in the Ramallah Governmental Hospital where his condition was reported as “very critical.”

Other injuries were reported as light to moderate, with medics and journalists also injured during the clashes.

Sources added that Israeli occupation forces used silencers when shooting off live fire at the protesters.

In Qalandiya refugee camp in Ramallah, Israeli occupation forces shot and injured at least 13 Palestinians with live fire, residents and medics said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health told Ma’an that the injured were transferred to the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah.

In Bethlehem, south of Ramallah, two Palestinians were injured with rubber-coated steel bullets and dozens of others suffered from severe tear-gas inhalation during clashes with Israeli occupation forces near the city’s northern entrance.

Source: Agencies	11-11-2015 – 20:48 Last updated 11-11-2015 – 20:48

 

Related Articles

• Saudi King’s Adviser Says Committed to Peace With Israel, Netanyahu “Vital”
• Israeli Entity Seeks to Jail Palestinians as Young as 12 Years
• Zionist Occupation Forces Kill 2 Palestinians in al-Quds over “Stabbing” Claims
• Obama, Netanyahu Hail Strong US-Zionist Bonds after Row
• Palestinian Intifada Spreads Panic among All Zionists
• Palestinian Stabs, Wounds Israeli Settler in West Bank
• 891 Settlement Units to be Built in Bethlehem
• 141 Palestinians Injured By Israeli Army Fire In The West Bank
• Four Palestinians Injured Near Ramallah
• Thirteen Palestinians Injured, One Seriously, In Qalandia, Child Kidnapped In Jerusalem
• Army Kidnaps Eight Palestinians In Hebron
• VIDEO: Abusive Interrogation of Palestinian Teen Ahmad Manasra
• US State Department v Edward Said
• Updated: “Two killed on Tuesday; 82 Palestinians, Including 18 Children Killed Since October 1st”

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  

 

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

 

 

Palestinian Woman Stabs Israeli Soldier at Bethlehem Checkpoint

 BY NEWS DESK ON JUNE 30, 2015

 

 A Palestinian woman stabbed a female Israeli soldier in the neck at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday, according to Israeli security forces.

The Palestinian had arrived at the checkpoint, which has separate lines for men and women, and “pulled out a knife and stabbed a military policewoman,” a police statement said.

The Israeli Defense Forces emergency medical service Magen David Adom said the soldier was in moderate condition.

The reported stabbing is the most recent in a spate of attacks by Palestinians on Israel’s military in the Palestinian territories.

On June 21, a Palestinian stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli border policeman at Damascus Gate outside East Jerusalem’s Old City before the officer shot the Palestinian, critically injuring him.

On Friday Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian at a checkpoint in the Jordan Valley who they alleged was attempting to attack them.

AFP

 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian 

  

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Israeli forces violently disperse peaceful Christmas march in Bethlehem

A Palestinian man dressed up as Santa Claus distributes Christmas trees along the wall of Jerusalem's Old City, on December 22, 2014, as Christians around the world prepare to celebrate the holy day. AFP / Ahmad Gharabli

Published Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Tuesday violently dispersed a peaceful march calling for “Christmas without occupation” in Bethlehem.

Demonstrators marched to the Israeli military checkpoint in northern Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas and hand out gifts to children in the area.

IOF prevented the demonstrators, some of whom were dressed as Santa Claus, from reaching the checkpoint and fired tear gas at the crowd.

Photo taken from Ma’an news agency

Several people were treated at the scene for tear gas inhalation.

Mazen al-Azza, an activist with the Palestinian National Initiative, told Ma’an news agency that the march had a peaceful Christmas message, but “Israeli soldiers did not miss the chance to suppress it by assaulting journalists and peaceful demonstrators.”

Photo taken from Ma’an news agency

Israel announced earlier this week that several restrictive measures were to be taken to permit the movement of Palestinian Christians during the Christmas holiday season.

Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the [Occupied] Territories Yoav Mordechai said several measures are to be implemented until January 19, when the final Christmas date celebrated in Palestine – Armenian-Palestinian Christmas – will bring the season to a close.

Mordechai said that Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank will be given long-term permits for travel into Occupied Palestine during the holiday season, although no specific number was announced.

He also said that 700 Palestinian Christians from the Gaza Strip, either younger than 16 or older than 35, will be allowed into Occupied Palestine and the West Bank.

500 Palestinian Christians from the West Bank will also be allowed to visit immediate family in the Gaza Strip, while 200 others will be given permits to travel through Ben Gurion airport, which is normally restricted for Palestinians.

According to CIA statistics, 123,000 Palestinian Christians live in Occupied Palestine, and another 226,000 reside in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces maintain severe restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement between the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Occupied Palestine through a complex system of permits.

The discriminatory system has turned Gaza into an open-air prison with over 1.8 million Palestinians rarely given permits to leave the besieged strip.

Gazan Christians are sometimes granted heavily-restricted religious permits.

Similarly, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are not allowed to visit Occupied Palestine except during religious holidays.

Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are able to travel across the Israeli occupied territories as well as the West Bank but not into Gaza, while Palestinian refugees who do not fall under Israeli rule are almost completely denied access to Occupied Palestine and the West Bank but can, theoretically due to the siege, enter Gaza.

Moreover, even Palestinian movement within the West Bank is regulated through a racist system which includes a complex combination of fixed and flying checkpoints, roads exclusively open to Zionist settlers, a public transportation system restricted to non-Palestinians, and many other obstructions.

In February, Israel’s Knesset passed a bill differentiating Christian Palestinians from the rest of the Palestinian community which remains within the 1948 territories.

Arab members of the Knesset unanimously condemned the bill as a “racist” act and a “divide-and-conquer” tactic.

Despite MK Yariv Levin’s contention that Israel is the only place that allegedly “protects” Christians, churches in the West Bank are regularly targeted by “price tag” attacks, a term Zionists use to describe hate crimes against Palestinians.

(Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)

• On this land, there’s what’s worth crying over
• Israel, Western media confuse vinegar with lethal acid
• Israel charges eight Palestinians with incitement over Facebook posts

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Pope Hails ’Treason’’ of Abbas, Peres to Pray for Shalom in Vatican, Meanwhile: Zionist Entity Approves 50 New Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

Pope Hails ’Courage’ of Abbas, Peres to Pray for Peace in Vatican

Local Editor

Pope Francis on Monday praised the “courage” of the Zionist President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas after both agreed to come to the Vatican to pray with him for peace.

Abbas and Peres “have the courage to move forward”, Francis told reporters on his return flight from a three-day trip to the Middle East.

“The meeting in the Vatican is to pray together, it’s not a mediation,” the Argentinian pope stressed of the “prayer summit” scheduled for June 6, after both Peres and Abbas accepted his surprise invitation issued on Sunday.

“It is a prayer without discussions,” said the pontiff, who has made interfaith dialogue a cornerstone of his 14-month-old papacy.

He had stated the three-day trip would be “purely religious” but waded into sensitive issues, praying at the controversial West Bank separation barrier in another unscripted move which the Palestinians saw as a silent condemnation of the Israeli government’s policies.

Francis, 77, on Monday capped his diplomatic high-wire act with a mass at a contested Jerusalem site where he made an impassioned call for an end to religious intolerance, saying believers must have free access to sites they consider sacred within the Holy City.

Vatican efforts to negotiate greater rights for Christians to access the Upper Room have sparked angry and sometimes violent opposition from nationalist and Orthodox Jews, who revere part of the building as the tomb of King David.

Touring the holiest sites in Jerusalem’s walled Old City early Monday, he issued a call for the three religions to “work together for justice and peace” as he was shown around the Al-Aqsa compound, the third holiest site in Islam which Jews also consider sacred.

Meanwhile: Zionist Entity Approves 50 New Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

At the Western Wall, the holiest site at which Jews can pray, he left a note in between the ancient stones before sharing an emotional embrace with two close friends travelling with him, Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Islamic studies professor Omar Abboud.

In Bethlehem he surprised his entourage by hopping out of his white open jeep to touch and briefly pray at the Zionist towering concrete separation barrier which cuts through the West Bank city in what the Palestinians hailed as an “eloquent and clear message”.

In Jordan, the pontiff appealed for an end to the bloodshed in Syria, before flying to Bethlehem, in what was seen as a nod towards Palestinian statehood aspirations.

Source: Websites	27-05-2014 – 09:05 Last updated 27-05-2014

Related Articles

• Zionist Entity Approves 50 New Settlement Units in East Jerusalem
• Pope Starts Two-Day Visit to Occupied Palestine
• Pope to Start in Jordan First Middle-East Trip
• OIC Chief Calls for Visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque
• IOF Detains 13 Palestinians in West Bank
• Israeli Livni’s Visit to London Stirs Protests
• Kerry Calls Abbas to Resume Peace Talks, Recognize ’Israel’

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

THE JEWISH STATE’S JEWISHNESS REFLECTED IN A RETURN VISIT

MONDAY, MAY 19, 2014 AT 8:13AM GILAD ATZMON

by Lasse Wilhelmson

Bethlehem

I arrive at Bethlehem along the same motorway as all tourists, in a taxi from the Ben Gurion airport. They arrive in coaches with their Jewish guides. Pilgrims from all over the world crowd into the Nativity Church on Manger Square. Perhaps the holiest place in the world for Christians? They buy souvenirs and go back home again as if the Palestinians do not exist. Opposite the Church, lies the prestigious Peace Centre, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA.

The town is situated just south of Jerusalem and surrounded by The Wall and by fences. Check-points further limit people’s access and they are resigned to finding inconvenient diversions. Arbitrary travel permits for areas outside the town tear apart families that have lived in and around Bethlehem for thousands of years.

On my first evening in Bethlehem I experienced music of a rare and emotional kind. A Palestinian violinist, Lamar Elias, only 14 years old, was the main attraction and there were many children in the audience. She played sonatas by Dvorak and Vivaldi and ended up, with a trio, playing a piece typical of Arabic music, with its billowing, endless rhythmic melodies. It was quite astounding how this young woman presented and played her pieces to a large audience with such ease and grace.

I was reminded of my own father who, a hundred years ago, was a promising young violinist. He could not pursue a career because he had to work for a living. This was not uncommon for a working class child. He took up the violin again when he retired and played for his children and grandchildren, his favourite was Bach’s sonata for solo violin.

My thoughts went to my Swedish father and my Jewish mother, whose family I visited in Israel 53 years ago, and the kibbutz where I worked, and the Israeli family there who came to mean so much to me and my parents. There was much mutual travel between Israel and Sweden during the 1960s.

The young Palestinian violinist appears like a flower in the ruins of the Palestinian villages that I did not even know existed when I was young. I think it was these mixed feelings that brought a tear to my eye and not just the sentimentality that comes with age or that a violin sonata can set off.

 Peace Centre and the second intifada

Two years after its millennium inauguration in 2000, The Peace Centre, funded by SIDA, was used by the Israeli army as a headquarters during the second intifada. The building served as protection for snipers, as a prison camp, a canteen, a rubbish dump and so on. The soldiers did not always use the existing toilets. An eye witness of the 40-day-long, violent siege and the attacks on, and damage done to the Nativity Church, described 10 years later in detail what happened in an article in the webpaper Countercurrents.

The Peace Centre’s Swedish architect, Snorre Lindquist, also mentions these occurrences in his fantastic account of the construction of the Peace Centre and how it changed his outlook on life and he became a staunch friend of the Palestinians. The Israeli army shot their way in instead of using the keys they had. How could it be that the international community, the Christian church and the Swedish government turned a blind eye and hardly reacted?

Jabal Abu Ghneim and Har Homa

From my hotel window I can see the remains of what was the townspeople of Bethlehem’s nicest and most loved place for outings. This is Jabal Abu Ghneim, a hill previously covered with woods. Now it is contained by the Wall and almost completely covered with the Jewish settlement Har Homa.

The theft of the hill and the subsequent buildings together with the theft of Rachel’s grave, were noted early on as crimes against the Oslo Agreement. Carefully chosen and with considerable symbolic value they confirmed the intentions of the Jewish state. And the whole world let it happen, just like the ongoing situation, which now points towards a final expulsion of remaining Palestinians to Jordan and a transfer of responsibility for the Gaza Strip to Egypt.

Rachel’s grave in northern Bethlehem, worshipped by Christians and Muslims alike, can no longer be reached because of the Wall.  It lies quite close to the Palestinian refugee camp Aida on the other side of the Wall.

Aida Camp

Aida is a result of the ethnic cleansing 1948 – Al Nakba – and has become impoverished tenements, 4 to 5 floors high. I visit Aida a few weeks after the Israeli army’s occupation of the camp due to protests there. The Israeli writer Gideon Levi’s moving description of this in Haaretz is food for thought.  I first read it when I got back to Sweden.

I speak to the head of the camp’s Palestinian youth organisation. We go to the place in the Wall where people blasted a symbolic hole towards the ruins of the villages from which they were expelled in 1948 when the Jewish state was unilaterally declared. He tells of tear gas, of paralysing sound bombs and of how the army went from house to house from the inside, through walls, instead of using the doors. He tells of the young Palestinian woman who died because of tear gas, the young man who broke his leg, and of all the wounds caused by rubber-coated projectiles and about the girl who refuses to go to school, traumatised by fear.

I visit the house that was most destroyed, up partly damaged stairs, and speak to a man who lives there. Many Palestinian children surround us, curious to know what’s going on. I can see a lot of mattresses hanging out to dry on the roof and there is a strong smell of urine, last night’s crop from traumatised children, many with psychiatric problems, not unusual in any refugee camp.

The young man tells how Israeli recruits walked down the alley to his house while receiving instructions from their officers as to how they should advance and aim tear-gas grenades and shoot their rubber-coated bullets. It was part of their training, as he put it. The Israeli army thus uses this impoverished refugee camp from 1948, which advocates non-violent methods, as a training camp for its recruits, in an obvious attempt to break down any moral barriers the trainees might have about attacking defenceless civilians.

The account I have of the events and how they effect the townspeople is different from that presented in the article in Haaretz. But after all, criticism of the Jewish occupation of Palestine is tolerated to a much greater extent in Israel than it is in the West, Sweden included.

The noose tightens year by year on Bethlehem and one of the holiest towns in the world is looking more and more like a prison, as are all the other Palestinian Bantustans, which together make up less than 10% of original Palestine. The Jewish state now controls life between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. In retrospect it becomes all too clear that the Oslo Agreement was just a trick to create breathing space for more theft of land and that the so-called one state solution is a fact since the1967 war.

Deir Yassin and Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem is a museum that tells of Jewish suffering under the Holocaust. Over the years I have come to embrace a revised picture of the official one. I have not been able to find any credible evidence that gas chambers were used in Germany to kill masses of Jews and others, and that the number of Jews killed in World War II is decidedly overrated.

I believe that Jewish suffering is wrongly portrayed as being exclusive compared with, for example, that of the people of Ukraine, Germany and Russia. I am also very critical of the fact that the Holocaust is used politically to motivate new wars in The Middle East. But most of all I am against the use of the Holocaust to vindicate the Jewish state’s genocide, according to the UN definition, against the Palestinians who had nothing at all to do with World War II in Europe.

For holding these and other opinions I have been subjected to a witch hunt by the Swedish media which treat the Holocaust as though it were a religion and not an event in history. In many countries in the West these my opinions would render me a prison sentence.

Is it not, however, strange that as soon as someone points out that Jewish suffering during World War II was not as substantial as claimed, all Jews protest? Should they not instead be happy about it?

Yad Vashem just happens to sit on a hill outside Jerusalem, close to Deir Yassin, further down the valley. This was the Palestinian village that came to symbolise Al Nakba – the great catastrophe – when almost 800.000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and their villages were razed to the ground. In Deir Yassin, most people were killed, among them women, children and old people and their corpses were shown to other Palestinians in order to make them leave their homes. Most of Israel is, in fact, built on the ruins of Palestinian villages. The victims turned into executioners only a few years after the Holocaust.

The central part of the ruined village of Deir Yassin is fenced in and the site has a bar and a guard. The guard denied all knowledge of the village and barked that Deir Yassin is a public hospital for the mentally ill and that there was no access unless visiting a patient.

However, from the rear end of the area, it is possible to get a limited view. Clearly, many of the houses are built on the old stones/ruins of Deir Yassin that form the lowest level of many of the stone houses. I must confess that I found it hard to control my feelings when directly confronted with it. There were no words for the desecration in this manner of the Palestinian symbol of Al Nakba – I was quite dumbfounded. What sort of mentality would produce this absurd project?

My thoughts went to a person I know in London. He has since long worked with the organisation Deir Yassin Remembered. His name is Paul Eisen and he still identifies himself as a Jew, unlike myself. Our efforts to criticize Jewish identity have lead to us becoming personae non gratae in our countries and in the solidarity movements there that claim to promote the Palestinians’ cause. Today, these organisations are in fact controlled by Jewish Marxists and do not support exiled Palestinians’ inalienable right to return to their homes. Simply because this would threaten Jewish hegemony over Palestine.

The Old City of Jerusalem

The Damascus Gate is a powerful entrance to the market in the old city where Palestinians are still permitted to live and they dominate the area. It is Saturday and the place is full of tourists. An Israeli flag marks the house across the alleyway where Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu has bought a house incognito. One or two other houses along the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus bore the cross, have been bought by Jews. I cannot help thinking about how Jesus was sentenced to death by Romans, led by Pontius Pilate, after pressure from the Jewish rabbis – whose power Jesus challenged – and who the Romans were forced to humour in order to entrench their colonisation.

This Saturday, the Al Aqsa mosquewas open only to Muslims and Israeli soldiers stood on guard. Israel does”archaeological” excavations under the mosque. Will this cause it to fall down and be replaced by the Jewish Temple? If I asked this question in Sweden the media would consider it ”anti-Semitic” and it could lead to legal sanctions for ”hate speech”.

Today a group of about 30 Jewish young men in plain clothes are sauntering along the Via Dolorosa. Each one has a machine gun slung over the shoulder. They stop and block the square on Via Dolorosa. It is Shabbat and their day off. They probably come from settlements outside Jerusalem. The message to all the tourists and the Arabs is patently clear: We are in charge here and are taking over. You can see how the Palestinians feel about this by the look on their faces but the tourists do not react. I wonder what they are thinking.

 

Epilogue

What have I seen and learnt? Maybe more of what I already knew? But not about religions, ideologies and human rights, or colonialism and apartheid. All this gets in the way and hides the meaning and understanding of this unique project – The Jewish state – in Palestine. An ever-expanding entity on stolen ground, built after ethnic cleansing of its population. A ”cancer” in the Middle East and more.

What I have described here is also an expression of Jewish mentality, seeing one’s group as chosen, above all others and realize this mentality at the expense of others – or simply Jewish ideology. It is about the meaning of the Jewish state’s Jewishness, as I understand it.

Lastly, it is significant to the answer of the question why I no longer identify myself with this state and, partly, why I have chosen to no longer be a Jew.

Relating articles:

A Portrait that Tells Many Tales

What is Zionism?

My story of Deir Yassin, by Paul Eisen

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Israel’s continious war on Palestinian farmers

Settlers prevent farmers from reaching land near Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers prevented Palestinian farmers from planting their lands east of Bethlehem on Friday morning.

Farmer Hassan Asakra told Ma’an that a group of farmers headed to their lands, which are located near the Israeli settlement of Teqoa, accompanied by solidarity activists to plant olive trees, but settlers prevented them with the help of Israeli forces.

The group was prevented despite having permits to access the land from the liaisons office, Asakra said

Settlers destroy 700 olive tree saplings near Ramallah

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=674735

NABLUS (Ma’an) – Extremist settlers destroyed over 700 newly planted olive tree saplings north of Ramallah on Wednesday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that a group of settlers from the illegal outpost of Ade Ad carried out the attack.

Over 700 saplings belonging to Mahmoud and Rabah Hizma were either uprooted or broken in the al-Sadir area in Turmusayya.

An identity card belonging to one of the perpetrators was found at the scene.

Settlers routinely attack Palestinians and their property to intimidate local communities to leave their land.

Settlers assault farmers in Beit Ummar

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=675693

HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a farmer and his sons in the southern West Bank near Beit Ummar, a popular committee spokesman said.

Muhammad Ayad Awad, spokesman for the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar, said that around 15 Israeli settlers attacked Muhammad Abd al-Hamid Jaber al-Salibi and his sons in the Wad Abu Rish area near the Israeli settlement of Bat Ayin while they were working on their land.

The settlers hurled rocks, but no were casualties reported, Awad said.

He added that Israeli forces came to the scene and forced the farmer and his sons to leave the area at gunpoint.

Walled in by Zionism

by Stuart Littlewood 

(LONDON) – London’s Christmas was made gloomier this year — and rightly so — by the appearance in the courtyard of St James’s Church, Piccadilly, of a replica of the hated Israeli annexation Wall that threads its thieving way around the Palestinian West Bank.

It’s a life-size representation of the actual 8-metre high Wall surrounding Bethlehem and imprisoning its inhabitants. The project, called ‘Bethlehem Unwrapped’ is a response to a call from the united churches of the Holy Land pleading with churches and communities around the world to “help us get our freedom back”.

The Israelis claim that the monstrous Wall, also known as the apartheid Wall, is to protect it’s citizens from terrorist attack. But in reality it is carefully routed to bite deep into Palestinian territory in order to steal choice agricultural land and water resources, as well as to seize strategic landscape and communication features and disconnect Palestinian communities from their livelihoods and from each other.

This is not the first time the evil barrier has been replicated by a British church. Over Christmas 2006 at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in my home town of St. Ives in Cambridgeshire, instead of enjoying the usual live sheep, cow, donkey and newborn babies at a Nativity scene, visitors were greeted by a grim grey replica of the Wall and photos of the real thing.

The parish priest wanted to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinian people and replace the romantic idea of a manger crib with the ugly reality of the brutal occupation strangling his congregation’s ‘Little Town of Bethlehem’. He said he could understand Israel’s need for security but it was wrong to build the Wall on Palestinian land. “The lives of the ordinary citizens of Bethlehem have been devastated… It affects every aspect of their lives: friends and family are separated, earning a living becomes more and more difficult, and access to health care is severely restricted in the town of Bethlehem, which we sing about at this time of the year. If we can provide these people with a few extra basic provisions and give them a little financial support, we can help make their lives more bearable.” He was confident that the people of St Ives would want to express their support for those oppressed people at Christmas.

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in London called it a cheap public relations stunt, and the enterprising priest took a lot of flak from others who thought there was nothing wrong with Israel’s thuggish ways.

The St Ives parish is twinned with the parish of Aboud in the West Bank. Aboud, once called the City of Flowers, is a historic town of about 2000 people, half Christian, half Muslim, not far from Ramallah. On a hill above is the ancient monastery of St Barbara, blown up by the hooligan Israeli army in 2002. Throughout its long history Aboud is believed to have had no fewer than nine churches. The priest had made regular visits and watched local circumstances grow worse. His replica Wall had the support of his bishop, who said: “It is a dramatic way of highlighting the fact that in Bethlehem today, in particular the ordinary people, still suffer in all kinds of ways as they did in Jesus’ day.”

I’ve been to Aboud myself on a couple of occasions. It is a place one could easily fall in love with, but even here in this one-time Arab paradise the wretched Wall threatens to separate the townspeople from much of their land and olive groves and their water supply. The same goes for many more such lovely places in the Holy Land. In the case of Aboud massive protests have caused the Israelis to adjust the route of the Wall but it will still steal valuable property, restrict personal movement and rob the inhabitants of their freedom.

Condemned as illegal by the International Court of Justice, and ordered to be dismantled, the annexation Wall, with its sinister ‘goon’ towers, continues to be built in utter disregard of international law and other people’s human rights. It is symbolic of all that’s hateful and disgusting about the Israeli mentality. Because of its despicable purpose, and its sheer cruelty, the Wall contains the seeds of its own destruction. It is only a matter of time.

Meanwhile campaigners would do well to max up the potential of the Wall to shock and shame. And it is the Americans who are showing the way. As Finian Cunningham explains, one thing often missing from the Christmas celebrations is a connection between the original [alleged — DV Ed] historical event – some 2,000 years ago – and how this story relates to present reality. A new billboard campaign now running in the US gives the traditional Christmas story realistic, contemporary meaning. “Massive public hoardings, currently on display in various cities across the US, show Mary, pregnant with her soon-to-be-born baby son, Jesus, being led on a donkey towards the ancient Palestinian town of Bethlehem by her husband Joseph. Confronting this weary family is not the occupying forces of the Roman Empire, as in ancient accounts of the nativity, but rather it is the occupying forces of the Zionist Israeli regime.”

___________________________________________

About the author

Stuart Littlewood’s articles are published widely on the web. He is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk

BETHLEHEM UNWRAPPED

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2013 AT 9:02AM GILAD ATZMON

http://www.sjp.org.uk/

St James’s Church welcomes you toBethlehem Unwrapped 
23 December – 5 January

At Christmas, we sing about the “little town of Bethlehem”.  This Christmas, we are hosting a festival celebrating the people of Bethlehem today and drawing attention to the Barrier that affects every aspect of daily life.

The wall in our courtyard is a replica segment of the wall that surrounds Bethlehem. It is 8 metres tall because the real wall is 8 metres.  It obscures the view of this historic church because that is what has happened to Bethlehem’s holy sites and historic places.

In 2009, Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued a joint appeal to Christians throughout the world to understand and help to alleviate the desperate hardship the wall has caused. It is a daily disaster for ordinary Palestinian families.

In hosting this festival, St James’s Church joins the movement in Bethlehem known as “beautiful resistance”, celebrating the culture, music, food and humour of those who live behind the Wall.  St James’s stands in solidarity with the universal call for a just and sustainable solution for both Palestinians and Israelis.

The stated aim of the wall at its inception in 2002 was to protect Israeli citizens from terrorism. St James’s Church opposes all forms of racism including anti-Semitism and supports the right of the State of Israel to exist with secure internationally recognised borders.

This wall is symbolic of walls all over the world that divide and confine peoples, restricting free movement and dominating the imagination of those who live behind them.  We believe that bridges not walls are the only lasting foundation for peace. On Sunday 5 January, the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany, the Wall installation will itself become a bridge accompanied by music and dance. We join with people of all faiths in praying for the day when the Wall will come down.

Bethlehem story, present reality

28 Dec 2013 9:53
By Finian Cunningham

The annual Christmas celebrations around the world conjure up a kaleidoscope of emotions, ranging from the sombre to the joyful, from pity to awe.

One thing often missing though from the celebrations is a connection between the original historical event – some 2,000 years ago – and how this story relates to present reality.

But a new billboard campaign in the US is giving the Christmas story a refreshing, but realistic, contemporary meaning.

Massive public hoardings, currently on display in various cities across the US, show Mary, pregnant with her soon-to-be-born baby son, Jesus, being led on a donkey towards the ancient Palestinian town of

Bethlehem by her husband Joseph.

Confronting this weary family is not the occupying forces of the Roman Empire, as in ancient accounts of the nativity, but rather it is the occupying forces of the Zionist Israeli regime.

The billboards, organized by campaign group IfAmericansKnew.org, show the present-day reality of Bethlehem, the town where Jesus is reputed to have been born nearly two millennia ago.

Gone are sword-wielding Roman centurions, replaced by Uzi machinegun-toting Israeli soldiers.

But the essential story remains the same one of foreign military occupation and oppression of innocent civilians. Indeed, given technological advances, it is easily arguable that today’s occupation of Bethlehem and other Palestinian communities is much more brutal and oppressive under the Israeli regime than it was under Caesar.

At this time of year, millions of Christians around the world, as well as Muslims and many other faiths, celebrate the event of Jesus Christ’s birth as a sign of hope for humanity. This hope stems from the fact that, amid physical conditions of extreme privation and injustice, a baby was born into this grim world.

Yet, it is peculiar that while this historic event is venerated across the world, often in exalted cathedrals of opulence and splendour, the harsh reality of Jesus’ birth and its significance is weirdly sanitized and reduced to a sentimentalized travesty.

Today, Bethlehem, as for other parts of the Palestinian Occupied Territories, continues to be under an illegal and brutal siege.

The town of some 22,000 inhabitants is cut off from the outside world by an eight-meter concrete wall built illegally by the Israeli regime.

This regime, based in Tel Aviv, has violated countless international laws since 1948 until today, including the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions, to dispossess more than 95 per cent of historic Palestine and to turn that entire territory into an apartheid police state, where Palestinian Christians and Muslims are killed, kidnapped, imprisoned and thrown out of their homes with total impunity.

That duress includes Palestinian babies born literally on roadsides and in makeshift dwellings because of heinous, inhumane Israeli travel blocks.

On Christmas Day this week while the world was “celebrating” the historic birth of Jesus, a three-year-old Palestinian girl, Hala Abu Sbeika, was being buried.

Hala was killed the day before by an Israeli air strike on the Gaza strip, allegedly in retaliation for the fatal shooting of an Israeli defence worker. It was the usual disproportionate criminal response from the barbaric occupying Zionist regime, which regularly and indiscriminately kills thirteen times more Palestinians for each Israeli fatality.

Bethlehem is also surrounded by four large Israeli settlements – each the size of a city and each of them built illegally in contravention of international law.

This Israeli construction has been at the expense of the farmers and shepherds of Bethlehem, whose land is confiscated and ring-fenced. Also confiscated is Palestinian water.

Israeli occupiers enjoy limitless supply of water for their villa swimming pools and gardens, while Palestinian farmers and families share dilapidated pipes that routinely run dry.

Christian Palestinians who wish to visit Bethlehem from others parts of the West Bank or Gaza and from other Arab countries are prevented from doing so by the Israeli occupiers.

Even in this special week of Christmas commemoration, the grounds given for denying entry to Bethlehem by the Israelis is a vague, callous one of “security”.

This arbitrary prohibition on people celebrating their religion is a calculated insult by the Israeli regime, and no doubt is part of its long-term campaign to further depopulate Palestinian territories and “cleanse” the demographic facts on the ground.

In short, the Israeli military assault on Bethlehem and Christmas is but just one facet of the wider genocide against Palestinians.

That genocide is allowed to happen largely because Western governments in Washington and Europe either support the Israeli regime with billions of dollars a year in military aid or, at best, refuse to hold Tel Aviv to account under international legal standards.

There are no grey areas in this matter. Either we oppose the genocide or we support it through varying degrees of complicity.

This is a matter that affects all human beings, whether Christian or Muslim, or any other. And the growing commercial and cultural boycott of Israel by citizens around the world is proof of a global awakening despite the moral torpor of their governments.

Ironically, as Western political leaders send out their usual perfunctory Christmas messages proclaiming goodwill, and while many of them attend church ceremonies paying homage to the Christian nativity story, these same leaders are blind to the ongoing real and urgent meaning of that beautiful story.

Believers hold that Jesus came into this world as a sign of hope of human victory against injustice and oppression, and as a promise of world peace.

Fulfilment of that promise depends on what other human beings do about it.

In today’s world, the Christmas story is as relevant and as powerful as ever. The same location and circumstances of Bethlehem should make that shockingly obvious.

Just swap the Star of David for the Swastika & what’s the difference?

In video: Nabi Saleh woman shot at close range by Israeli forces

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=660696

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Activists from Nabi Saleh have released a video showing an Israeli soldier shooting a Palestinian woman in the leg at close range following clashes on Friday afternoon.

The video, uploaded by prominent local activist Bilal Tamimi, shows Manal Tamimi walking towards two heavily-armed Israeli soldiers who raided the village and being shot with a rubber bullet from a distance of only a few meters.

The incident is reported to have occurred as Israeli forces deployed in residential areas of the village of Nabi Saleh amid clashes following the weekly demonstration against the wall.

Israeli forces shot five Palestinians, including two journalists, and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation during the clashes near the village. Israeli troops then deployed into the village itself.

It is at this point that local activist Manal Tamimi confronted the troops, and was subsequently shot.
The people of Nabi Saleh have been protesting weekly for four years, demanding that their lands confiscated by Israeli forces to build the separation wall be returned.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to stop construction of the separation wall within the occupied West Bank.

When completed, 85 percent of the wall will run inside the West Bank.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.