Christmas spirit crushed in besieged Bethlehem
(obligatory seasonal Bethlehem thread!)IF JOSEPH and Mary were making their way to Bethlehem today, the Christmas story would be a little different, says Father Ibrahim Shomali, a parish priest in the town. The couple would struggle to get into the city, let alone find a place to stay.
''If Jesus were to come this year, Bethlehem would be closed,'' says the priest of Bethlehem's Beit Jala parish. ''He would either have to be born at a checkpoint or at the separation wall. Mary and Joseph would have needed Israeli permission - or to have been tourists.
''This really is the big problem for Palestinians in Bethlehem: what will happen when they close us off completely?''
Bethlehem swells with pride every Christmas. Manger Square is transformed into a grotto of lights and stalls crowned by a towering Christmas tree. Strings of illuminated angels, stars and bells festoon the streets.
But just a few minutes' drive to the north, the festive atmosphere stops abruptly.
A strip of Israeli settlements built on 18 square kilometres of what was once northern Bethlehem threatens to cut the city off from its historic twin, Jerusalem.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/christmas-spirit-crushed-in-besieged-bethlehem-20111223-1p8i8.html#ixzz1hRgQ0iCH
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Happy holidays, merry christmas, happy hanukah, and happy anything else I haven't thought of!
= new reply since forum marked as read
Did you participate in the annual tradition of The Airing Of Grievances?
We don't need to speculate:
http://www.mouse.co.il/CM.articles_item,610,209,65303,.aspx
"That day there was a funeral in the neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem, and I went up to Jerusalem to photograph it for the Russian news agency. At the funeral there was a commotion and disturbances, so we expected a mess. I stood at a major intersection located above the where they have the tent demonstrations in the neighborhood, just below the Cinematheque, and there were bunch of kids who were throwing stones at passing vehicles. For every vehicle they checked if the driver was Jewish and [if so] threw stones at him. At one point, a string of cars passed and the children ran toward the vehicle and began to throw stones at it; the driver pulled the steering wheel and hit the children.
This picture undoubtedly is highly debatable. My job as a photographer is to document the scene - the events I shoot were happening with or without the presence of the camera. I started taking journalism because I wanted to see with my own eyes how everything looks, on the news every reporter puts his personal views . The press here in Israel have a very big problem when the photographer becomes part of the news - then it's not news, it's propaganda. The average reader should be able to read between the lines and understand the truth, and not the opinion of some writers and editors."
FYI - The picture doesn't show the completely shattered back window of the car, so it's highly deceptive. Naturally the photographer just won an award for it. 
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/photo-of-stone-throwers-getting-hit-by-car-in-east-jerusalem-wins-award-1.401251
...living in the territories under Palestinian authority these days.
They'd be regarded as Zionist settlers not only by Palestinians but the International Community and UN, which would accuse them of illegally trying to settle in Bethlehem on Palestinian property.
If Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus decided to live in Bethlehem, their home would be the target of multiple katyusha and kassam attacks. The family would probably be massacred just like the Fogels, and baby Jesus' throat would be slashed. Their proud murderers would be regarded as heroes by both Hamas and the PA. Streets and sports stadiums would be named after them.
The media would minimize the incident, attempting to portray any Israeli response as equally offensive. They'd probably report the story in such a way as to show Mary had it coming from her zealoted murderers since Jesus was born out of wedlock.
The UN would do nothing to condemn the act. I doubt they'd even condemn the hanging of the 3 wise men for sorcery right down the street from Jesus' family.
Not a very realistic portrayal of reality.
I'm saddened that my more realistic version of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem wouldn't make it into the Guardian or any mainstream media. I wonder if it would be considered as insensitive and hateful as the OP and therefore unworthy of making it into the paper.
