Activists decorate a tree in Manger Square with empty tear-gas grenades

[El Supremo]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30596539

[gopiscrap]

1. Excellent

[Ken Burch]

2. Wonderfully done. n/t.

[Mosby]

3. ME Christians are under attack from isis

From the OP:

These are Bethlehem's biggest two days of the year - the one occasion when, for Christians, it displaces Jerusalem. The Holy Land is the cradle of Christianity, a point Pope Francis made when he visited earlier this year.

The Pope's Christmas message to Christians - do not be afraid or ashamed of your faith - comes at a time when Christianity is under threat in the Middle East like never before.

Islamic State has pushed some of the world's oldest Christian communities out of their homes in northern Iraq. For some, the choice was convert to Islam, or die. So instead, tens of thousands fled to Kurdistan. There they remain, sheltering in churches and schools with few possessions.

Here in Manger Square there is song, and celebration, but as the Pope himself said, there will be tears and sighs alongside the hymns, as the faithful look towards 2015 with fear for the future of communities that have existed here for 2,000 years.

...

Without mentioning IS by name, he spoke about "the work of a newer and disturbing terrorist organisation, of previously unimaginable dimensions, which has perpetrated all kinds of abuses and inhuman acts".

But the Pope said the presence of Christians in the Middle East was precious and he urged them to work with their neighbours to reiterate that Islam is a religion of peace.

In Baghdad, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako said about 150,000 Christians had been displaced since IS launched an offensive in northern Iraq in June and told members of religious minorities that they would have to convert to Islam, pay a special tax or leave.

[King_David]

4. Gaza Christians long for days before Hamas cancelled Christmas

When the Latin patriarch came to Gaza's Holy Family church to celebrate Christmas mass last week, he instructed a full house of Catholic and Orthodox families to pray for reconciliation. As the archbishop, Fouad Twal, stood at the lectern in Gaza City, Fatah and Hamas leaders were meeting in Cairo attempting to mend differences that have divided the Palestinian factions for four years and rendered Gaza a besieged Islamist enclave.

Of the 1.5 million Palestinians now living in the Gaza Strip, fewer than 1,400 are Christian and those who can are leaving. The church hopes reconciliation will bring them back.

There hasn't been a Christmas tree in Gaza City's main square since Hamas pushed the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza in 2007 and Christmas is no longer a public holiday.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/23/gaza-christians-hamas-cancelled-christmas

[Mosby]

5. Christmas without Jesus

Two years ago, Sherry Khoury drove through the little town.

Decorations were being hung, streets were coming alive with sparkling, colored lights. There were Christmas trees and Santas, snowmen and tinsel lights, angels and twinkling stars. But something was missing. She visited again, looking close, then went home to tell her husband what she had seen, what she could not find.

Sherry’s husband, Steven Khoury, was born in Jerusalem and grew up in Bethlehem. Today he is the pastor of Calvary Church in east Jerusalem. His father, Dr.

Naim Khoury, is the founding pastor of First Baptist Church in Bethlehem. Both men are Israeli Arabs. Together their umbrella ministry is called Holy Land Missions.


Every year HLM ministries reaches millions of Arabs in the Palestinian Territories, Gaza and throughout the Middle East. Their message never changes: Jesus was born a Jewish baby in Bethlehem, died an observant Jew in Jerusalem and, fully human, rose from the dead as God’s own rescuer and redeemer for everyone who accepts his rescue, who receives his redemption.

Taking this stand is hazardous.

Because of it, the Khourys have seen their places of worship firebombed and defaced. Church members have been attacked.

Property has been stolen, stones thrown, shots fired. Steven’s uncle was murdered. And his father, Dr. Naim, has been shot at four times over the past 10 years.

So what did Steven do when his wife came home and shared her observation? “I couldn’t believe it,” he says.

“I had to go and see for myself.

Sure enough, she was right.

“Over the years, the heart of Christmas had disappeared from Bethlehem’s celebration. Jesus, the very reason for the season, was no place to be found. Well, almost no place. There was a baby Jesus figure in a shadowy manger scene at the base of a huge and brightly lit Christmas tree in Manger Square.”

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/O-Little-Town-Missing-in-Bethlehem-385655

[grossproffit]

6. Try doing that in an Islamic state. The results would be much different.

Israel puts up with more crap than I ever would. They'd have been arrested and perhaps executed for pulling a stunt like this in an Islamic country. Useful idiots.

[King_David]

7. Look how tolerant of the Christian population Hamas is in Gaza.