Palestinian man was killed By Army Fire In Bethlehem

Palestinian medical sources have reported that a Palestinian man was killed, and another Palestinian was injured, by Israeli army fire, in Husan town, west of the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

The sources said Mahmoud Saleh Hamamra, 34, was shot by a live round to the chest, and died under surgery at a hospital in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. 

Head of the al-Mezan Hospital in Hebron, said Hamamra was transferred from the Beit Jala Hospital in Bethlehem, due to the seriousness of his condition, but died of his very serious injury. 

Another man was shot by a live round in his thigh, and is currently in a moderate condition. 

In addition, soldiers invaded the al-’Arroub refugee camp, in Hebron, and fired gas bombs at homes, causing dozens of residents to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. 

Red Crescent medics said three Palestinians were shot with live rounds, rubber-coated metal bullets, and dozens suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 

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Bethlehem clashes rage for ten days against Gaza bombing

Bethlehem protests began after the murder of Abu Khdeir, but they have manifested into a collective rage against the death toll in Gaza - 

Sheren Khalel and Matthew Vickery

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Usually the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank is quiet at night. But for the past ten nights it has been a chaotic scene of clashes. Ambulance sirens mix with tear gas in the air, and live ammunition zips down the main road in Bethlehem as it is fired toward demonstrators. These clashes have now become a nightly occurrence, with no end in sight.

Fires usually begin to blaze immediately after residents break their fast for the holy month of Ramadan, at sunset. Tyre smokescreens are lit up in desperate attempts to stop the Israeli army from directly targeting particular protestors, while molotov cocktails are set afire and chucked at the Separation Wall. The wall at eight meters high is twice the height of the Berlin Wall which once divided Germany and is a constant reminder of the continuing Israeli presence in Bethlehem.  

The wall initially acts as a shield for dozens of armed soldiers who wait behind it before opening the large gate to confront the clashes raging on the other side.

Clashes in the mixed Muslim-Christian city, usually last for at least four hours every night and in recent days have pushed Palestinian Authority police to appear. When they do, however, they are able to do very little and stand armed but largely impotent against young men wielding rocks. This is in sharp contrast to the Israelis who have moved increasingly from utilising tear gas and rubber-coated-steel-bullets, to instead shooting off deadly live ammunition. In recent days, at least 20 protestors have been shot with live fire, mostly in the feet and legs. 

Much of Bethlehem is in so-called area A of the West Bank and as such is supposed to be under full Palestinian control, but Israeli forces often to enter the area regardless and make frequent incursions from their bases inside the wall. 

Tear gas, which was fired on the first days of protest more sparingly, is now fired in short, sharp bursts. The last three nights have seen a major escalation. Now it is not uncommon to hear between 40 and 60 canisters go off in the space of a few minutes. 

On occasion, protesters have had to be dragged into nearby homes to be revived after passing out from gas inhalation. Medics are always present and ambulances wait on standby for the young demonstrators to begin screaming and signalling for medical help. 

Despite the intensifying security response, tensions continue to run high and protests say that they expect to carry on demonstrating as long as the Israeli military operation in Gaza continues, or even longer. 

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The Hitler Of Bethlehem

 

"I discovered that even 2000 years later, many Jews are not willing to forgive

Jesus and still relating rather gleefully and vengefully to his 'execution."

Israeli ambassador to the United State Michael Oren recently tried to bully CBS to kill a story exposing Israeli persecution, harassment and mistreatment of Palestinian Christians, forcing many of them to emigrate.

Oren, a Jewish supremacist, reportedly described the '60 Minutes' broadcast of 12+ minute story on Israel's mistreatment of Palestinian Christians as "a strategic threat" to Israel. He didn't explain how a short documentary would be a threat to a nuclear power that is armed to the teeth and which also happens to tightly control the government and Congress of the only superpower on the planet, namely the United States.

The story was prepared by veteran CBS reporter, Bob Simon who is expert on the Arab Israeli conflict. It began with a segment about the disappearance of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, with emphasis on a family whose Bethlehem home, once on the busiest street in town, is now surrounded on three sides by Israeli military walls.

Eventually, the story gained special attention as Oren approached CBS before the story was even completed and demanded that the network not air the story because it would do such a "hatchet job" on Israel.

I watched the story and honestly it never raised my eyebrows. I knew too well and all along that Israel had been persecuting and tormenting Christians since time immemorial, even before Oren and Simon were born.

Israel is not only a harsh and insidious occupier and persecutor, but is also a deceitful, pernicious liar. It knowingly and deliberately torments its victims, and then tries to turn the black into white and the big lie into a "truth" glorified by millions.

Does anyone still remember the fate of the depopulated Christian villages of Iqrit and Bir'im in the Galilee, which Israeli forces expelled their Christian inhabitants in 1948? Four 64 years, the banished inhabitants who had been dispersed all over the region and beyond pleaded to successive Israeli governments to allow them to return to their ancestral homes and land, but to no avail.

Israeli courts ruled on several occasions in favor of the villagers, but the Zionist establishment stubbornly refused to heed the rulings as Zionist leaders argued that carrying out the rulings would open up a Pandora's box for Israel, an allusion to millions of Palestinians uprooted from their homes and villages when Israel was created in 1948.

But the special hatred (and contempt) of Christians by Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, goes deep in history and certainly precedes modern Zionism by numerous centuries.

According to Yisrael Shahak, author of Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, Judaism is imbued with a very deep hatred toward Christianity, combined with ignorance about it. He argues that Jewish hatred of Christianity, though partly aggravated by Christian persecution of Jews, was mainly religious and theological in nature.

According to the Talmud, Jesus was executed by a proper rabbinical court for idolatry, inciting other Jews to idolatry, and contempt of rabbinical authority.
Shahak, who died at the age of 68 in 2001, clarified that all classical Jewish sources which mentioned Jesus' execution were quite happy to take responsibility for it. Jesus is also accused in the Talmud of witchcraft, a charge the punishment for which is death.

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FROM BETHLEHEM TO GAZA

by Flora Nicoletta

Photo: Fahmi Kan'an at a sit-in at the ICRC, Gaza City, October 2010. On 2 April 2002, the Israeli army reoccupied the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Fahmi Kan'an was among the 250 people who took refuge in the Church of the Nativity. He then was among the 26 deported to Gaza. Here he tells the story. "My home is distant 200 meters only from the Church of the Nativity. I was born in Bethlehem on 1st June 1971. Now I am 39. "I was arrested for the first time in 1988 during the 1st uprising. I only was 17. From 1987 to 1996 I went five times in jail. I was arrested, released and rearrested... five times. In total I spent three years and three months in jail. "When I was freed in 1996, the Palestinian Authority was in control of Bethlehem. I was informed by the PA that the Israelis wanted to arrest me. So, why did they release me? "I got married in 1997. Awatef, my wife, is from Halloul, in the Hebron region. Before the marriage, I told her everything. I told her I had been in 15 Israeli jails, I was wanted, I could be arrested or killed any time. Nevertheless, she accepted to marry me. "She was studying Religion at Hebron University, she was at the second year. When she came to live in Bethlehem, she continued to go to Hebron University even when she was pregnant... 30 minutes' drive away from home. And when our son Mohammad was born, my mother looked after Mohammad while my wife was at the university. "I worked for Bethlehem 2000 celebrations. We were renovating streets, restoring ancient places. In September that year erupted the 2nd Intifada and everything came to a standstill. "In 2002 the Israeli army returned to Bethlehem. It was on 2 April 2002. I took shelter in the Church of the Nativity because I was wanted by Israel and if they caught me they would not take me alive... so I run to the church because the Israeli army wanted to kill me. "We remained in the church for 39 days. The first day we took refuge in the church they cut the electricity and water supplies and there was no food in the church. They were speaking through megaphones: 'You have to come out and we will not kill anybody', but they were lying... "It was around 19:00. The Church of the Nativity was already surrounded by the Israeli army. Since four or five hours I was in the church. We were 250 people, all men. Many of them were from the PA: police officers, Preventive Security, mukhabarat [General Intelligence], Naval Police and also activists from different political groups. Do you know that? There were approximately ten children, aged 12, 14, 15 in the church... because the Israeli troops were in Bethlehem... and Apache helicopters were in the sky and tanks in the streets... and ordinary citizens run to the church too. "At the time Ramallah had already been reoccupied and the city of Jenin too and a massacre had taken place in Jenin refugee camp. "We spoke to the priests of the church... with Ibrahim Faltas, he was the spokesperson of the church. Maybe he was a Greek-Orthodox... he wore a short beard. We told him we were in the church to protect ourselves. He replied: 'Don't be afraid. The church here protects all the men'. During the night the Israelis fired at the church and threw bombs and they had snipers positioned on roofs around the church. "There was no food but the priests gave us a small quantity of rice... because for 250 people there was nothing! They gave us a small glass of rice like this one and water, only, for the entire day, every day... And do you know that? Israeli snipers killed people inside the church compound... the man who rang the bells... they killed him on the second day! His name... I think his name was George, from the Christian community of Bethlehem and he was working in the church. I knew him because when I was a child I used to go to the Nativity Church and I knew all the things of the church. George was around 40-year-old. "Because there was no food we ate the lemons in the garden and when there were no anymore lemons we ate the leaves of the lemon trees. It was a large garden but we couldn't go inside because the Israelis were firing... the snipers were firing at us... and we were eating leaves of lemon trees... and at the end we drunk water with salt to remain alive. And when we left the church after 39 days there were no anymore leaves on the lemon trees, only naked branches. "Nidal Abayat... a big wanted by Israel... from the Martyrs El-Aqsa Brigades. He had killed soldiers... and Israel wanted him... While he was hanging out the washing on the line to dry in the garden he was shot dead. "In total nine were killed inside the church compound and 30 injured... even a clergyman was shot dead, Jack El-Assad. He was Italian, 40-year old... They executed him in the Santa Marina Church. El-Assad family is from Beit Sahour. "One night five collaborators escaped from the church with ladders provided by the Israelis, after twenty days. They said to the Israelis that we were without food. At the time there was an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis: only six will be deported to Gaza. However, when the Israelis knew from the five spies how our situation was they broke the agreement... They thought we were going to surrender because we were hungry. "One of those killed inside the church compound... I knew him. His name was Khalaf Najaj'ra... yes... he was my friend. They killed him because he was wanted... He belonged to the Martyrs El-Aqsa Brigades. When they fired at him, Khalaf was beside me. The Israelis were observing us through binoculars. They took him alive when he left the church, but one hour later they informed us Khalaf was dead. How? They executed him inside the ambulance, on the way to the hospital. I think so... because Khalaf spoke with me when he was injured and he asked me to take care of his boys and girls. He was 43-year old. "Most of the people who died in the church compound bled to death in front of our eyes.... because nobody was able to attend them. The Israelis took them to hospital only after three or four hours... "At the time there was with us a group of foreigners who after a certain time succeeded to enter the church compound. They had food, biscuits, but only a small quantity. I spoke with them because nobody knew English well. I spoke with them the first night they came. They were Americans or British. They came and sat with us. They asked us about our life in the church and how we felt... and they wrote like you and took pictures... but I don't know where went the pictures... There was an American girl. Everyday I spoke to her in the church. "They saw how Khalaf was shot. They took pictures. I told them: 'The Israelis don't want to take him to hospital.' And when Khalaf was transported out of the church, they took pictures of him and when the Israelis announced he was dead, they cried... because Khalaf spoke to us before leaving the church... "Many groups attempted to enter the compound, but they failed. This group was the only one successful and they remained with us for a few days. "Before that, four of five days after we took refuge in the church, the Israelis attacked the side called El-Khukhaniya, where are located the priests' rooms. They broke the windows and entered the rooms... but our men inside fired at them and the Israelis responded to the fire. In the morning, when our men went to check the rooms, they found M-16 rifles, four other weapons and four revolvers. The Israelis fled and left their weapons behind! The priests took pictures of the weapons... and a fire broke out in the church compound that night because they threw bombs. "We believed at the beginning that the Israelis couldn't touch the church because it is an international holy place for all the Christians in the world. The Nativity Church is not like a Palestinian mosque! "The Israeli negotiated with the PA. Some groups left the church. After 34 or 35 days the PA told us 26 of us should go to Gaza and 13 to Europe for two years. We refused... but at the end we were obliged to accept. Inside the church there were two PA officials who took shelter with us. They advised us to accept the deal, otherwise they said many men will leave and the Israelis will come to kill us. "After 34 days we couldn't walk anymore, no shower, nothing. I had lost 15 kilos! I couldn't walk! I couldn't stand! We were afraid they will killed us inside the church... For that we were obliged to accept the agreement: 13 will be deported to Cyprus, as a prime destination, and 26 to Gaza for two years. The others will be checked and sent home. "I didn't tell you... the smokers rolled cigarettes with tea. We were sleeping on a blanket put on the floor... two or three men for a blanket without cover and it was very cold in April in the church. We were so weak that we performed our prayers sitting on the floor. It was the first time that Muslims prayed in the Nativity Church! And I saw something very moving... when someone was dying the priests were crying... "Among the men not all of them were from Bethlehem and there were three Christians: Raed Shatara, from Bethlehem, who was later deported to Gaza; Chris who was then sentenced to life and the third one, George, returned home. "Every night the Israeli troops were firing at the church compound and throwing bombs. Powerful projectors illuminated the church and loud music was played all over the night... and continuously they were shouting through megaphones, day and night. "We were not terrorists, as they pretended. We wanted to defend our town. The occupiers came to Bethlehem and surrounded our church! We wanted them to leave Bethlehem and we didn't want to surrender. "On Friday 10 May we were taken to the buses... we were extremely happy and extremely sad at the same time. Extremely happy because we left the church and we didn't go to jail in Israel; extremely sad because we were separated from our families. When I came out of the church I saw at a distance my mother and my wife standing near the Mosque Omar Ibn El-Khattab. I waved at them farewell. "In the bus they beat us and there were dogs. Two buses took us to Gaza, we were thirteen in each bus. Inside my bus the armed soldiers were fourteen or fifteen with two or three dogs. They ordered us to bend our heads and not to move. They took us to Atziun, it's an Israeli jail in the West Bank, in the Hebron region. After that we were questioned by the mukhabarat and then we left for Gaza. "At Beit Hanoun [Erez] crossing, we couldn't stand on our legs. We were exhausted... but when we saw all the people of Gaza coming to welcome us, suddenly we became very strong! The Gazans wanted to see us! We were heroes for them: 39 days without food and under fire! "We were taken to Beach Hotel, El-Quds Hotel or El-Hilal Hotel [of the PRCS]... and we ate kebab, but many of us fell ill and were taken to hospital because we ate meat after fasting for 39 days! In addition, the water of the church was bad... we were drinking from a well. We suffered from stomachaches in Gaza and a number of us had to see a doctor. PA rented flats and after some days we went to the flats, four or us in every flat. "Six months later I asked my wife to come to Gaza through Jordan and Egypt till the Rafah border. She travelled for four days with Mohammad, 4-year old, and Nasrallah, 2-year old. She took a plane from Amman to Cairo, she paid 300 or 400 dollars. It is extremely expensive to travel from Bethlehem to Gaza via Jordan and Egypt. Instead, to enter Gaza through Erez is only one hour's drive from the West Bank and it is extremely cheap. Israel doesn't want our families to come via Erez! "Since we are in Gaza some of us have been to Egypt for three or four months for medical treatments or to meet their families. Samed and Raed have been in Jordan for five years now. Ali, from Ed-Dheisheh refugee camp, got married two years ago in Jordan but the mukhabarat asked him to leave the country and he went to Syria. Mazen, a police officer from Jenin, studied psychology at the university in Gaza and went to Egypt for the doctorate's degree. "When I came to Gaza I studied at El-Qods Open University Social Services. I wanted to continue at the same university for the master but there isn't such kind of study there. "Life in Gaza is very hard for us. We were told we should remain for two years far away from our homes and then we will return to Bethlehem. Two years have passed and another two years have passed and another two years have passed and now, after eight years and a half, there is no return in sight! The Israeli army surrounds the Gaza Strip. We the deportees cannot go to Jordan. We can only go to Egypt for medical treatments or to pursue our studies and to Mekka for the pilgrimage. "If my wife wants to travel to Bethlehem via Egypt and Jordan it will be extremely difficult because we have five children now. She cannot go like this... it is a long and very expensive journey. I cannot afford it, even if my wife has a job and teaches Religion to girls in a government school at the twelfth grade for the Tawjihi [matriculation exam]. "Further, there is something very difficult for us in Gaza. We leave in the uncertainty. We don't know when we will return. It's very difficult. We don't want to remain in Gaza but we don't know when we will leave. So we cannot start to build anything stable here. "Last year I travelled to Mekka and I met my mother because [President] Abu Mazen offered us the pilgrimage, to all of us and to one of our parents. I saw my mother after more than seven years and a half. I met my mother in Mekka. It was a happy day... but when I saw my mother I had a tremendous shock because I saw her ill and weak and old. My father couldn't travel to Mekka because he suffers from a severe heart condition. He is very weak. "I want to see my father but I cannot. My father is far away from me one hour's drive, less than 100 km. My father told me over the phone he wanted to see my children before dying. Every day we call Bethlehem. I ask my father about his health. He says: 'My son, I want to see your two daughters and your three sons. I am afraid I will die without seeing them.' Three of my children were born in Gaza, he has never seen them... He is very ill. Several days ago he was taken to hospital for two days. He is now 70. I am afraid the day will come they will tell me my father has died... I am very afraid of that. I expect any moment to receive such call... My wife too... she wants to see her parents. One of her brothers died two months ago at the age of 25 of an illness. She couldn't see him... and her parents are aging... "We have been to all the human rights organizations in Gaza. We told them everything. They took note on a paper and then nothing. We have called [the Israeli organization] Hamoked in Jerusalem. We spoke to them and we submitted medical reports concerning the illness of my father... but the Israeli authorities don't want... "Even if you give me a castle I don't want to remain in Gaza. I have my home in Bethlehem and my father has his home and I have land too... but we cannot go there... Here it's my country, but Bethlehem is my hometown. My children want to see their grandfathers and their grandmothers and they want to see their cousins and to speak with them. They speak with their cousins only over the phone. "I forgot to tell you... On the second day, when we were in the church, the soldiers went to my home and to my father's home and devastated our homes... and they threw the water tank from the roof on my car and my car was damaged. They took my ill father and my brother to the Peace Center in Manger Square. Inside the Peace Center were stationed mukhabarat and Israeli soldiers. They wanted my father to call me through a megaphone and to ask me to leave the church. My father refused to do that. They locked my father in a room... he is diabetic... he became sick in the room. They had to take him to hospital... but he refused to call me! He refused to do that! "We negotiated the deal for our exit from the church? At first Mohammad El-Madani, the governor of Bethlehem, who took refuge in the church and the deputy Salah Et-Tamari, but they failed. The Governor of Bethlehem was with us in the church, but he was sleeping in the priests' rooms. Then Khaled El-Islam, whose other name is Mohammad Rashid. He was the [economic] advisor to Yasser Arafat. He negotiated with the CIA, the British intelligence, Tony Blair, Yasser Arafat and the Israelis. "The Pope's envoy, Monsignor Etchegaray, came from Rome, but he was stopped at the Israeli checkpoint at the entrance of Bethlehem. As the priests told us, Israeli didn't want Etchegaray to come to the church. The EU was also involved and when the 13 were taken to Ben Gourion Airport for Cyprus, I saw a EU car in the convoy. "Every week, on Monday morning, in Gaza City, I take part in the sit-in at the ICRC in solidarity with the political prisoners who languish in Israeli jails... because I have been a prisoner in Israeli jails and because I know how harsh it is. Secondly, because I am a prisoner in Gaza. When they deported us to Gaza they wanted to deprive us of our freedom and it was in 2002, long before the Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip. "Last August, on the first day of the Holy Month of Ramadan, we the deportees and our friends and my wife went near the Erez crossing. At 18:30 when came the time to break our fasting we ate our meal there. In Bethlehem our families were doing the same. We wanted to be symbolically reunited with our loved ones... and El-Jazeera TV broadcasted the images live. "Abdallah Daud, a former mukhabarat from Nablus, was deported with the group for Europe. He passed away in Algeria, on 26 March 2010, this year. His mother and later one his sister died, and the heart of Abdallah couldn't resist. After Cyprus, he had been to Mauritania and to Algeria. The Israeli authorities didn't give him the authorization to return to see his mother and his sister for the last time. Abdallah Daud returned to Nablus in a coffin. "The deal concocted by Israel, the CIA, the British intelligence, the EU and Mohammad Rashid was illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention and international law. An occupied people cannot be displaced to another territory, it's illegal, it's a crime. And Europe, in the first place, should not accept the deportees on its soil. "We have written a number of times to the former Secretary-General of UN, Kofi Hanan, and to Bamki Moon. They didn't reply to us. "Finally, I want to send an appeal to all the people of conscience around the world and to all the countries of the United Nations. I speak on behalf of all the deportees of the Nativity Church and I am the spokesperson of the deportees of Gaza: We want to return to Bethlehem. Please help us!" - Flora Nicoletta is an independent French journalist living in Gaza. She is currently working on her fourth book on the Palestinian question.

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Scores of Reporters Protest in Bethlehem in Support of Iraqi Journalist

Scores of Palestinian reporters protested on Thursday at the Manger Square in Bethlehem expressing their solidarity with the Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at the US President, George W. Bush, during a press conference earlier this week in Iraq.

Montathir Al Zeidi

The reporter, Montathir Al Zeidi, was arrested after hurling his shoes at George Bush, and could face up to two years imprisonment for “insulting a foreign leader”. Currently, the whereabouts of the reporter remain unknown as the US-sponsored Iraqi regime is holding him among fears that he might be killed.

The protesters in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, carried Palestinian and Iraqi flags. They also carried signs in English reading “Bush deserved it”, referring to the shoes Zeidi hurled at Bush.

A similar protest was held in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The protesters demanded the release of Al Zeidi and stepped on photos of Bush.

The protesters said that the Iraqi reporter expressed the anger the Arab public feels regarding the US policies in the Middle East, the occupation of Iraq, and unlimited support for Israel's occupation of Palestine.

In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets in solidarity with Al Zeidi and condemned Bush's vist to Iraq. Dozens of protesters raised their shoes in the air and repeated what Al Zeidi said before he hurled his shoes at Bush.

The Al Baghdadiyya Sattlite TV in Iraq demanded the release of its reporter, Al Zeidi. The station said that dozens of political figures, intellectuals and heads of tribes in Iraq sent letters of solidarity with Al Zeidi to the Iraqi government to expresse their miscontent with his continued detention.

Approximately 100 lawyers have vountered to represent Al Zeidi in court.

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Palestinian boy is the latest Palestinian shot at by Israeli army

by Rula Shahwan

The Israeli army invaded Deheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem early Wednesday, and injured an unarmed Palestinian boy.

Eye witnesses reported that a number of Israeli military vehicles invaded the camp at dawn. Troops shot grenades, live rounds and sound bombs at random, wounding a sixteen year old boy with shrapnel from a bullet. The actual purpose of the incursion is still unclear.

Medical sources reported that the boy was transferred to a local hospital and he is suffering from a moderate injury.

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Israeli High Court: Nu'man villagers reside illegally in ancestral homes

Nu'man children walk to school through Israeli settlement

Bethlehem – The Israeli High Court decided on Wednesday that the "facts on the ground" in Nu'man village, between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, are "non-negotiable."

The practical reality of the "facts on the ground," is that the 220 inhabitants of Nu'man have become illegal residents in their homes, and must apply to the Israeli Ministry of Interior to legitimize their presence. As it stands, residents can be arrested for "illegal residency" at any moment.

Such arrests, in fact, were what precipitated the villagers' initial 1993 petition to the Israeli judicial system, according to the human rights organisation Al-Haq.

Arrests began shortly after the villagers learned that their homes had been included within the boundaries of the Municipality of Jerusalem, even though Nu'man is in the West Bank, on the east side of the Green Line.

From the complaint residents learned that there had been a "bureaucratic oversight" on the part of the State of Israel. Census takers had failed to include the people of Nu'man after redrawing the borders of Jerusalem, annexed in 1967.

The petition, brought by Al-Haq, Defence for Children International – Palestine Section and the residents of Nu'man village against the Prime Minister of Israel, the Minister of Defense, the Israeli military commander in the West Bank, the Minister of Interior and the Municipality of Jerusalem, sought to study the possibility of dismantling the separation wall that cuts the village off from the West Bank.

Since the petition was rejected on Wednesday, the "facts on the ground" for the people of Nu'man remain unchanged:

-Access to the village is granted only to residents of Nu'man, while others, including foreigners, aid workers, and both West Bank and Jerusalem ID holders, are excluded.

-No building permits are being issued; young married couples must either live at home, or leave the village to find housing.

- All public transportation to the village has stopped. To reach their schools, or workplaces residents (including primary school children) must walk between half an hour and forty five minutes to reach public transportation.

-In order to purchase food or supplies, residents of Nu'man must cross the checkpoint, and justify any large purchases to the soldiers on guard. For those without transportation, goods must be carried from the checkpoint to their homes.

The majority of residents, as West Bank ID holders, submit a request to the Israeli Ministry of Interior for a temporary permit to access their own village, thereby undergoing the Ministry's arbitrary scrutiny, hoping that no security issues are raised to deny such a permit. Should the permit application be refused, the applicants will have no option but to leave their homes and be indirectly forcibly transferred from their birthplace.

The court denied the petitioners' request to postpone the final decision in order to give them the opportunity to think through the consequences of applying individually for such permits.

According to Al-Haq, the decision Thursday proves that Israeli authorities are pursuing a political agenda of indirectly forcibly removing the residents of Nu'man from their land and homes for the benefit of the expansion of the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa. Indirect forcible transfer is a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and Al-Haq called for Israeli decision-makers to be held criminally responsible.

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Israeli settlers continue attempts to overtake area of Beit Sahour for new settlement

Bethlehem / exclusive / PNN – A tour bus and four cars full of Israeli settlers arrived in Beit Sahour around noon on Friday.

They have been coming weekly to the Bethlehem District in an attempt to overtake the site of an evacuated military post and turn it into yet another settlement to link Har Homa and Efrat Settlements built on Bethlehem lands.

Eyewitnesses said that a group of nonviolent Palestinian demonstrators were there on the scene in Beit Sahour where a park has built and plans for a children’s hospital are in the works. A group of foreign supporters were there as well.

Two Israeli military jeeps forced the Palestinian and foreign group to “go back down to the park,” an eyewitness told PNN. "But then we went back up. The settlers were spray painting more things in Hebrew and English over what they have already been writing.” The slogans include racial slurs and claim this Palestinian "land belongs to the Jews.”

The eyewitnesses reporting on the spray painting said that it was difficult to get close to the settlers as the simple two military jeeps and eight to 10 soldiers were all that were called in to hold back the nonviolent Palestinian resistance.

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The Israeli army attacks a village near Bethlehem and kidnaps a man and his Jewish wife

Here is another story on the Occupation that I doubt will be covered in the North American Press.

Ed Corrigan

by Najeep Farajj – Bethlehem

The Israeli army invaded the village of Hussan located near Bethlehem city in the southern part of the West Bank. During the invasion on Thursday morning the soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian man and his wife that is from Jewish origins.

settlers in the West Bank - File 2008

Mohamed Hamamerh, 25, met his wife Melissa, 23, several months ago when he used to work at the settlement of Bitar Illit, an Israeli settlement built illegally on the land of Hussan village.

When the young couple decided to get married, they came to Bethlehem city were Melissa converted to Islam. They were married last month during a large wedding at Hussan village, Hamamerh's family reported.

The settlers of Bitar Illit attacked the village of Hussan, demanding that Melissa was kidnapped and forced to get married, which the family of Hamamerh denies.

The village told media sources in Bethlehem that the settlers threatened to send the Israeli army to get Melissa out using force, which was done today. Witnesses said that the army surrounded the couple's home and then kidnapped the two, and took them to an unknown location.

The Hamamerh family said that the settlers are using the army forces as a tool to force their son to divorce his wife.

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Instead of removing checkpoints, Israeli forces increase maltreatment

Najib Farrag / exclusive / PNN – Palestinians living east of Bethlehem in Za’tara describe the actions of Israeli soldiers at the local checkpoint as “humiliating” and “provocative.”

All Palestinians within the West Bank have to pass through military checkpoints, but some are known to be worse than others. And it is widely spoken of that often the treatment doled out “depends on the mood of the soldiers.”

Soldiers use the checkpoints as “sport,” according to many, but suppress freedom of movement and engage in acts of humiliation.

While a PNN editor was being held at Container Checkpoint, soldiers were jumping to the ground and pointing their machine guns at people and cars as if they were going to shoot. It was a game, they were laughing, but those who thought they were about to be shot could not see the fun.

Abu Ramy, Director of the Office of Jerusalem Media and three of his colleagues were pulled from their car in Al Eizariya, north of Jerusalem. At gunpoint they were “asked” to take off their clothes. Abu Ramy was beaten with rifle butts and kicks on his arms, legs and torso. He suffered bruises and contusions on his face and eyes, while his three colleagues were bruised and bleeding. All were treated in medical centers. Besides the degradation and humiliation of such treatment, it can be life threatening.

In another incident on Friday a bus carrying children between the ages of six and 10 years old was detained. They were from Beit Jala and were held for two hours without any action. “Security reasons,” the soldiers told teachers who were protesting this detention of small children. But this was “the mood of the soldiers” that day in that place. There is no “access to freedom of movement” which international law protects as a Palestinian right.

Regarding the Za’tara checkpoint, the town mayor told PNN that the “barrier constitutes a source of humiliation and infringement of the dignity of the citizens who are subjected to humiliating inspection procedures. Long lines of cars are forced to wait as the soldiers take their time, stand around. They force students, children, women and men to disembark” and wait for nothing other than the nod of a soldier. This comes in minutes or hours. Sometimes it does not come at all. “Several days ago a woman was in car enroute to the hospital in Bethlehem to give birth. But the soldiers forced her to turn around. It was nighttime and her only hope became a road used by settlers and soldiers from Takua and Har Homa. This was incredibly dangerous for her.”

The Israeli military sniper tower is 300 meters from the Municipality of Za’tara. All of the eastern Bethlehem villages need to pass through this area in order to move. Rolls of barbed wire often cut the road from Beit Umar and no one can pass. They must go around, which is a three kilometer detour, instead of the half kilometer that is straight in front of them.

The Za’tara mayor also told PNN on Monday that any talk by the Israelis of “removing checkpoints” or “roadblocks” in the West Bank is for the sake of the media only. “There are more than ever now, and in strange places. And you can be assured that the measures will be particularly oppressive.”

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World’s Largest Key in Bethlehem

World’s Largest Key in Bethlehem

Palestinian News Network

Bethlehem / Munjed Jadou - The Aida Youth Activity Center is located in northern Bethlehem’s Aida Refugee Camp. Today it has launched a project to build a gigantic structure in the shape of key hole, in addition to the largest iron key which goes next to it. This is all in memorial of 60 years of Al Nakba, the Catastrophe. The key is 10 meters long and weighs two tons The key hole structure is about 12 meters high. The key hole structure is about 12 meters high. The key represents the symbol of Right of Return, United Nations resolution 194, for Palestinians over the years. This comes to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (The Catastrophe) in 1948. Mr. Munther Ameera, the Director of the Center, asserts that this campaign aims at raising awareness to the unsolved and forgotten problem of Palestinian refugees. It also aims at making the international world more active in pressuring the Israeli occupation to yield to the UN’s many resolutions, particularly UN resolution 194, which grants Palestinian refugees their Right of Return to their homes and lands from which they have been expelled. Local and international supporters of the Right of Return will gather on 8 May at the Key Monument at the gates of Aida Refugee Camp. This demonstration will protest the ongoing occupation and its manifestations such as the Wall which surrounds this refugee camp from two sides. In addition, Ameera hopes that by building this Key Monument it will be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest key in the world. Ameera says this idea was a collaboration with journalists from the Alzaitona Network. He thought of building the largest key in the world at the entrance of the camp in hopes of raising awareness in the international community to the forgotten issue of Palestinian refugees. "We need to pressure the world to make the solving of the refugees issue, who are still hoping to return to their lands and homes and to end their long misery as it is their legal and moral right granted by the UN and international law, a priority."

:: Article nr. 43891
www.uruknet.info?p=43891

Link: palestinethinktank.com/2008/05/09/239/

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Nafha: “Occupation forces kidnapped 250 Palestinians in April”

Media Office of the Nafha
Society for Defending
Detainees Rights and
Human Rights
published a report on
Saturday stating
that Israeli occupation
forces kidnapped
250 Palestinians since the
beginning of April.

The Society added that 90 of the kidnapped residents were from Nablus,
and the rest were from Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilia
and Salfit.

The Society said that soldiers kidnapped 40 children and two
women in April. The two women aged 20 and 28 are from
Hebron and Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

11 of the kidnapped children are from Nablus, 10 are from
Tulkarem, 6 are from Hebron, 3 from Salfit, 2 from Qalqilia,
one from Bethlehem and one from Jenin.

The Society added that soldiers also kidnapped a political analyst
identified as Ali Jaradat after breaking into his home in Ramallah,
and also kidnapped Hazim Dweik, the son of the detained head of
the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr. Aziz Dweik.

Soldiers also kidnapped several university students, especially
students of Al Najah University, Bir Zeit University and Al
Quds Open University.

The Society also slammed the ongoing violations carried by the
Israeli soldiers on roadblocks across the West Bank.

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Israeli military kidnaps five in Bethlehem

The Israeli military invaded the
southern West Bank city of
Bethlehem and the nearby town
of al-Khader on Tuesday morning.

Local sources reported that the
army kidnapped at least five
Palestinians, two of them from
Bethlehem and the remaining
were from the al-Khader Town in Bethlehem district.

The abducted Palestinians were reportedly taken after the
army invaded their homes and were then moved to an
unknown detention center.

On Monday, around 100 Palestinians mostly young
children gathered outside the church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem, to protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza
where 120 Palestinians were killed and over 300 injured.

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Update :'Seven Hours of Terror' in the Little Town of Bethlehem:

Eileen Fleming

"We have yet to begin to IMAGINE the
power and potential of the Internet."
-Charlie Rose, 2005.
On the morning of January 28, 2008 I received the
following email from a friend in Bethlehem:

I was going home from the [Bethlehem] Bible
College and there was Israeli soldiers and lots
of jeeps preventing me to go in the way of my
home, so one person asked me to stay [in his
home] there for a while, until this Israeli
attack finish ... so I am here now for almost
2 hours hearing shooting and bombs all over
AND I WAS TRYING TO CALL HOME AND
THERE WAS NO ANSWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the end my mom called me and told
me that many Israeli armed soldiers entered
our home and THEY PUT ALL MY FAMILY
IN ONE ROOM AND THEY TOOK THE
WHOLE HOUSE UNTIL THEY WILL
DESTROY A HOUSE NEXT TO [ours]

So at this moment one or more family will
have no home in this very cold weather or
shelter and my family and me don't know
when this thing going to finish…I wish I
had a picture to show you how scary it is.

I immediately phoned my friend but due
to all the background noise could not hear
him well, but his anguish was most palpable.
I then phoned his brother who was in the home
seized by the Israeli soldiers and was told:

"We are being held hostage in one room.
Five minutes ago three soldiers searched me.
There are many on the roof and they have been
shooting, but we have no idea who they are
looking for or how long this will go on. Pray
for us and tell everyone you know to pray
for Bethlehem."

At 11:30 AM EST I phoned
again and learned:

"We are still trapped in this room with no windows.
Four very loud explosions happened since last phone
call-vibrations knocked our walls, things broke.
There is still nearly constant gun fire. Maybe it
stops for a few minutes, but then returns. Pray."

At 1 PM EST I made another call and my friend
whispered, "It is still going on...we are
barricaded in this room and I have to go
to the bathroom and I can't get out...
I can't talk now."

At 3 PM EST I called Bethlehem again and
my friend said: "Seven hours of terror finally
over. The soldiers are finally gone and now I
can tell you that about 2:30 here I heard my
dogs barking in the kitchen and right outside
on our porch were two Israeli soldiers with a
German shepherd dog and I was very scared
and called my parents who came right over.
There were maybe three jeeps outside and 5-6
soldiers came into my house and as I was
phoning my brother not to come home they
came into my room and checked my entire
body and all over the room. They ordered my
family not to leave the room for any reason and
about every five minutes over seven hours all
we heard was bullets and four or five huge
explosions. Now that the soldiers are gone
I went to check our roof, that part where is
also a part of our house and the soldiers
had broken the windows to shoot out of.
There had been well over twenty jeeps
outside-they had filled the street, they
didn't come down the way from the Church
of the Nativity, but from the other way, the
way you didn't walk when you were here…
All we know is that the house that was destroyed
was somebody that was wanted by Israel,
we don't know why."

In an email received 1/29/08, my friend
reported that "one person was killed, three
families became homeless in this very cold
weather, a few cars were damaged and the
roads too…please keep praying for comfort
to the family of the guy who was killed."

During our last phone call on the 28th he
told me he would email some photos, but
they haven't arrived yet and every time I
have phoned him today, I receive a recorded
message from the operator saying the
phone is out of service.

"Since 1967, 18,000 houses Palestinian
homes have been demolished in the
Occupied Territories, including East
Jerusalem. … Altogether around 50,000
people have been left homeless (Human
Rights Watch, Razing Rafah, October 2004
… More than 628 Palestinian homes have
been demolished during the second
Intifada as collective punishment and
"deterrence" affecting families of people
known or suspected of involvement in
attacks on Israeli civilians. On average
12 innocent people lose their home for
every person "punished" for a security
offense – and in half of the cases the
occupants had nothing whatsoever to
do with the acts in question. To add to
the Kafkaesque nature of this policy,
the Israeli government insists its aim
is to "deter" potential terrorists,
although 79% of the suspected offenders
were either dead or in detention at the
time of the demolition
(B'tselem Summary 2004:1,3).…
The majority of house demolitions
are conducted for 'Administrative'
reasons and are generally because
the house was built without a permit.
However permits are almost impossible
to obtain by Palestinians living under
Occupation."
http://www.icahd.org/eng/faq.
asp?menu=9&submenu=1

My friends seven hours of terror in
Bethlehem were due to punitive house
demolitions which "is an administrative
procedure carried out without trial and
without proof in court of the guilt of the
person because of whom the action is
taken…During the current intifada, until
recently…Israel treated the action as an
imperative military action. Most of the
house demolitions took place at night
without any prior warning and without
giving the occupants a demolition order,
as required by Section 119 of the
Emergency Defense Regulations.
The occupants were given a few minutes
to remove their possessions to avoid
having them buried in the rubble…
Whatever the legal basis, punitive house
demolitions flagrantly breach international
law which allows destruction of property
only when necessary for a military
operation (article 53 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention). According to the
official commentary of the International
Committee of the Red Cross, "military
operation" is defined as "the movement,
maneuvers, and actions of any sort, carried
out by the armed forces with a view to
combat." Punitive house demolitions do
not meet this definition…International
law also prohibits collective punishment,
i.e. the punishment of persons for acts
committed by others (article 33 of the
Fourth Geneva Convention and Article
50 of the Hague Regulations). House
demolitions are a clear case of collective
punishment in that the primary victims
are relatives of the persons suspected of
committing an offense."
http://www.btselem.org/english/
Punitive_Demolitions/Legal_Basis.asp

In a letter of appeal from American Israeli,
Founder and Coordinator of Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions
/ICAHD and a 2007 nominee for the
Nobel Peace Prize, Jeff Halper wrote:

Given the tragic destruction and violence
of the past few months, it is extremely
important that we the Israeli, Palestinian
and international peace forces respond
with a resounding "NO!" to the continuing
Occupation and policies of repression.

The rebuilding of demolished Palestinian
homes, whether destroyed by court order
or under the guise of "security," is one
appropriate response. ICAHD's resistance
to Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes,
combined with our ability to bring hundreds
of Israelis and Palestinians together to
rebuild, is effective in exposing the workings
of the Occupation. It also keeps alive that
spark of common struggle for a just peace
that will allow for reconciliation someday.
House demolitions have become the
hallmark of the Occupation. Indeed,
since 1967 Israel has demolished over
12,000 [the current figure is now 18,000]
Palestinian homes, leaving some 70,000
without shelter and traumatized.

The systematic demolition of Palestinian
homes is an attack on an entire people,
an attempt to make the Palestinians
submit to a mini-state or worse, an
"autonomous" set of islands -- under Israeli
control. We need to struggle against the
Occupation so that both our peoples will
eventually enjoy the fruits of a just peace."
http://icahd.org/eng/support
.asp?menu=7&submenu=1

-###-

Eileen Fleming, Reporter and Editor
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author Keep Hope Alive and
Memoirs of a Nice Irish American
Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory, Producer
"30 Minutes With Vanunu." Permission is
granted for reprint in print, email,
blog, or web media if this credit is attached
and the title remains unchanged.
Only in Solidarity do "we have it in our
power to begin the world again."-Tom Paine

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IOF kills Palestinian teen, nabs Jihad commander

Palestinians carry the body of Qussai el-Effendi during his funeral, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. In violence Monday, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian during a clash that erupted while the soldiers were conducting an arrest raid, Palestinian hospital officials said. The military confirmed that soldiers were in Bethlehem looking for suspected militants.

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)-- IOF troops killed a Palestinian teenager in Bethlehem on Monday evening during an operation by special forces targeting the arrest of the Islamic Jihad wanted activist Mohammed Abda. Medical sources in the city said that Qusai Al-Afandi, 17, was hit with a bullet in his abdomen that killed him on the spot while five other youths were injured. They said that one of the wounded was a 13-year-old boy who was hit with a live bullet in his neck and a rubber bullet in his left hand. The young men were throwing stones at the heavily armed soldiers who responded by firing live and rubber-coated bullets at them. Eyewitnesses reported that the IOF soldiers besieged a building in the city and fired at it bullets and projectiles before nabbing Abda.

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BETHLEHEM under siege NOW?

Twenty minutes ago I received an email from friends who
were born and endure in the little town of Bethlehem
informing me that three hours ago over twenty Israeli
jeeps and hundreds of soldiers arrived on their street,
which is a three minute walk from the Church of the Nativity.


I phoned my friend in Bethlehem and he stated,
"We are being held hostage in one room.
Five minutes ago three soldiers searched me. There are
many on the roof and they have been shooting, but we
have no idea who they are looking for or how long this
will go on. Pray for us and tell everyone you know to
pray for Bethlehem."

source

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A palestinian smack in the face of THE MASTER OF THE WHITE HOUSE!

PATRIARCH ATTALLAH HANNA REFUSES
TO RECEIVE THE MASTER OF THE WHITE HOUSE
Bethlehem News

The Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate in Occupied Jerusalem,
Patriarch Attallah Hanna, has refused
to receive the American President
George Bush, in the Nativity Church
of Bethlehem during the President’s
recent visit.

His rebuttal to the American president
generated immense satisfaction
among the Palestinian people, especially
the Christians, who had been
unhappy and embarrassed at the warm
welcome and servility portrayed
in the reception of the American
president by other religious leaders.

A Palestinian Christian national stated
that “The refusal of the
Archbishop of Jerusalem to receive
George Bush has lifted our morale.”
He added, “It is shameful to receive
the maker of wars at the birthplace
of Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

Earlier this month, in a talk to
Palestinian refugees, at Buqa’a Camp
in Jordan, Hanna declared ” President
Bush and what he does has
no relationship whatsoever with
Christianity. It bears no relationship
to Christian ethics, morals, values,
or Christian behavior. Hence, we also
reject the policies of America, its
absolute and unequivocal support of
Israel, and its occupation of Iraq.”

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Bethlehem demonstration aired on Flashpoints show

This is the best show when it comes to radical politics and Palestine. A couple of day's ago, they aired interviews and sounds from the ground -- a total of some 45 minutes. Check it out.

http://kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=24099

If the link does not work, go to www.kpfa.org, then click on archives (upper left hand side of monitor), and choose January 2 Flashpoints show.

Fadi

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Bethlehem's struggles continue

By Christian Porth in the West Bank

Israel's barrier has effectively isolated Bethlehem from the rest of West Bank [GETTY] A normally empty Manger Square was filled beyond capacity on Christmas day as thousands of Palestinians, dignitaries and foreigners descended on the little town of Bethlehem to welcome Michel Sabah the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Patriarch's yearly visit was meant to kick off Christmas festivities but this year, as in others, the spirit of the festive season is uniquely intertwined with the fate of all Palestinians, who say the city has suffered from years of Israeli occupation. And like previous years, despite a boost in tourism, celebrations in Bethlehem have been marred by a poor economic and security situation. While Bethlehem is the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ atop a hill just 10km away from Jerusalem, the site of Christ's crucifixion, a 10-meter high concrete wall put up by Israel and several military checkpoints keep the two cities very much apart. Fairy tale Christmas It is such barriers and restrictions borne of Israeli occupation that has made Christmas bittersweet for Palestinians. Maxim Sansour, founding board member of Open Bethlehem, an international campaign to address the state of emergency facing Bethlehem, said the city's greatest problems largely go unaddressed every Christmas. He said: "Christmas comes and goes, but our problems remain." Issues of growing Israeli settlements which lie immediately on the border of Bethlehem and demolitions of Palestinian homes on the outskirts of the city have made life difficult for Palestinians. Sansour says Bethlehem will always continue to struggle as long as such Palestinian issues of statehood, economic viability and sustenance under occupation remain unaddressed. Sansour also believes that visitors and pilgrims who do come show support but at the same time many are also in Bethlehem as part of "the fairy-tale story of Christmas". Father Garret Edmonds, a Franciscan monk from California who works with pilgrim groups in Palestine and is spending his fifth Christmas in Bethlehem, said: "There are moments of hope but then everything returns to the status quo. It goes on and off like this all the time." Father Edmonds also highlighted the increasing erosion of the Church and the increasing number of Christians choosing to emigrate from in Palestine. "It's important to have a viable, living Church, but if things continue the way they are in 25 years there might not be a living church. Bethlehem could become one giant museum," he said. Life under occupation In 2006, Open Bethlehem released the results of a questionnaire which examined the reasons behind the high rate of Christian emigration from Bethlehem. Of 2000 Palestinians surveyed in Bethlehem, 76 per cent said Israeli occupation was the main reason for leaving. Sixteen per cent of the Christians in the city said they are in the process of emigrating, compared to eight per cent of the Muslims. Many Palestinians also said that foreigners and pilgrims coming to Bethlehem do not experience daily life under occupation. Palestinians who have Israeli permission to travel between Bethlehem and the West Bank say they are subjected to fingerprint and document scanning, full body searches, and long waits before they are let through. Some are not even allowed to visit friends and family simply because they live on the wrong side of the wall or in some cases the soldier manning a checkpoint might not feel like letting them through. Brother Jack Curran, Vice President of Development for Bethlehem University, said: "I have colleagues who haven't been to Jerusalem in years and I can come and go as freely as I want. I feel ashamed of the privilege I have and it's easy to take for granted, I always have to remember that." "But it is also a privilege that the Palestinians deserve." Brother Curran, a member of the Lasallian order, felt that Christmas in Bethlehem is not truly reflected because of what he says are the injustices being heaped upon the Palestinians daily. "The story can't be told without looking seriously at these things," he said. "Without foreigners," Curran explained, "it would also be a lot worse. We must act as the witnesses and truth tellers, but not just once a year." Sustain support Thousands flocked to Bethlehem in hopes of a better Christmas this year [AFP] Christmas generates a great deal of positive media attention for both Bethlehem and Palestine every year. It is a chance for the world to show the Palestinians some sympathy and solidarity but Sansour said that it never carries on. "We love good feelings and the Palestinian people deeply appreciate the show of support, but it must be a sustained kind of support." Bethlehem is a small town; according to the Palestinian Central bureau of Statistics its population in 2006 stood just shy of 30000, and has a very small and localized economy which is dominated by the tourist industry. According to Open Bethlehem, tourism accounts for 65 per cent of Bethlehem's economy. In November, 80,000 visitors arrived in the city. This was boosted by a further 20,000 in the days leading to Christmas. Sansour said that while tourism represents a significant portion of Bethlehem's economy many of the tourist operators are Israeli which means that most of the tourists who do come stay for only a short time and promptly return to Jerusalem. "They come here, take their Disneyland photos and drink some tea from a local shop and go back to Jerusalem," Sansour said. "Maybe they'll stop by and buy some wood carvings from a shop where the Israeli operators get a commission, but that's about it," he added. Christmas surge Most of Bethlehem's local businessmen wait all year just for the Christmas season to come in hopes of boosting their incomes and providing for their families. It's not surprising given that the poverty rate stands at 60 per cent while unemployment stands at 55 per cent, a slight increase from last year but not overly significant according to George Saadeh, Bethlehem's deputy mayor. Abed Ibrahim, who works at a sweets shop, said: "Christmas [is] the only time of the year that anyone makes any money." "It's good for now. But next year it will be bad again until the next Christmas. Nothing will change," he said Ibrahim added: "Fast dollars won't solve our business problems." Ameer Jaber, who operates a stall selling boiled corn and roasted peanuts, feels the Palestinians need the kind of media exposure they received for Christmas year-round and not just in Bethlehem, but all over Palestine. He said: "You foreigners come and help us, but then you leave when you have your pictures and reports, but we're still here and you'll have the same story next year unless we get your help."

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Israeli Occupation Casts Shadow Over Bethlehem

By Ben White

At this time of year, faced with occupation and threats from extremists, Palestinian Christians have little to celebrate.

Writing for The Times recently, Michael Gove lashed out at the seasonal focus on contemporary Bethlehem's plight under Israeli occupation. "Demonizing" Israel, apparently, has become as festive as "eggnog lattes."

Gove is at least partly correct. Christmas is an obvious opportunity for Bethlehem's residents and their supporters to raise awareness. Gove mentioned the latest work done by graffiti artist Banksy, but the Palestine Solidarity Campaign also recently held a concert in London, while the Amos Trust has a downloadable pack for use in churches around the country.

But if Gove's powers of observation do not fail him, sadly his powers of analysis do. Like many apologists for Israeli policies, he is happy to use the Christian Palestinians for propaganda designed to deflect attention from Israeli policies on to the threat of "Islamist radicals."

The dominating reality for Christian Palestinians this Christmas will be the 40-year Israeli occupation that continues to have a devastating impact on the Bethlehem region. The illegal separation wall, for example, cuts right into the north of the city (not simply "near", as Gove wrote) and in the area as a whole only 6% of the wall adheres to the Green Line. Christian and Muslim families have all lost land to the path of the wall - some villages face imprisonment in tiny enclaves. In July alone, the Israeli military confiscated 1,500 acres from the Christian majority town of Beit Jala, on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

Occupation in Bethlehem means home demolitions and military raids. There are around 40 obstructions to freedom of movement in the Bethlehem region, including the wall, manned checkpoints, roadblocks, and gates. The economy has been devastated, like the rest of the occupied territories, by Israel's strangulation policies.

Har Homa settlement recently made news when Israel announced plans to build more houses in territory it has unilaterally annexed as part of "Greater Jerusalem". Har Homa is also one of the main restrictions to Bethlehem's natural growth, one of 20 illegal Jewish colonies surrounding the city and its environs.

With no prospect of either individual or collective freedom, dignity or opportunity under Israeli apartheid, many of Bethlehem's Christian residents see no alternative but to leave. These are the appalling, and worsening, political and economic "push" factors behind the worryingly high level of Christian Palestinian emigration, as surveys have corroborated.

For years though, a coalition of the Israeli government, far-right thinktanks, and US Christian Zionists have sought to both create a smokescreen and foster division in Palestinian society by alleging that "Islamic fundamentalists" are waging an anti-Christian "jihad". While the claim of persecution is demonstrably false and it is doubtful, to say the least, if those behind such campaigns have the Palestinians' best interests at heart, there are still genuine sectarian tensions that need acknowledging.

For the sake of national unity - and confronting deliberate "divide and conquer" tactics - it is tempting for Palestinian leaders and solidarity groups to play down or ignore the incidents of inter-communal conflict. This also does not do the Christian Palestinians, or Palestinian society as a whole, any favors.

Muslim-Christian relations in Palestine are shaped by numerous overlapping, interconnecting and sometimes conflicting factors. There is the tribal-patriarchal dimension to the society, particularly in more conservative rural areas, that combined with family disputes can lead to clashes which are easily spun as religiously motivated.

The demographic balance has also been upset by substantial population displacements, from the creation of refugee camps in 1948 and 1967, to more recent rural-urban migrants in search of hard-to-find jobs. Social disintegration, moreover, has become an increasingly serious consequence of Israeli colonization and the fragmentation of Palestine. A scarcity of land, along with localized lawlessness, means that minorities are vulnerable to exploitation by the unscrupulous.

While Christian Palestinians continue their historically key role in the national liberation struggle, some members of the community (as well as more secular-minded Muslims) have felt alienated or intimidated by the rise of an Islamist politics of resistance. Hamas has often tried to counteract this sentiment, but strong ambivalence remains at a popular level. Worse still are signs that from the desperate hopelessness of besieged Gaza, a few Palestinians are turning to anti-Christian religious fanaticism.

Finally, sectarian relations have also been affected by the "war on terror." The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were launched by very publicly Christian leaders, and in the case of President Bush, with strong domestic support from the Christian Right. The same lobby organizes politically to urge unconditional support for Israel. Indigenous Middle East Christians, therefore, can become objects of suspicion, or more appallingly, easy targets for violent Islamist fringe groups.

Ignoring all these factors and maintaining that Muslim-Christian relations in Palestine are without problems is counterproductive. That's a far cry, however, from shoehorning a beleaguered community into a neoconservative narrative, and covering for Israel's colonizing occupation by feigning concern for the Christians who will celebrate Christmas in the shadow of the wall.

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