Author:
Publication: HonestReporting Communique
Date: December 25, 2003
In the days preceding Christmas,
media outlets used misleading information to accuse Israel of ruining the
holiday for celebrants in Christianity's birthplace, Bethlehem.Â
SECURITY FENCE: Editorial cartoonists
at the Toronto Star and Baltimore Sun portrayed the Three Wise Men locked
out of Bethlehem this year, due to Israel's anti-terror security fence:
http://www.honestreporting.com/images/wisemen.jpg
The Age (Australia) put the claim
in words: "Even the Wadi-al-Nar, or Valley of Fire, the only road linking
Bethlehem directly to the rest of the West Bank, is controlled by Israeli
checkpoints. It was along this steep winding road 2,000 years ago that
three Magi, or Persian wise men, climbed on the final stage of their long
quest from the east." (http://theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/24/1072239722644.html)
But in fact the security fence and
checkpoints are not preventing Christians' entry to the city. The real
reason that celebrations are down because the PA couldn't find the funds
to cover Christmas decoration costs in Bethlehem this year. (Meanwhile,
investigations continue to reveal the funneling of millions of dollars
into Yassir Arafat's personal accounts, and direct PA funding of terror
organizations.) (http://honestreporting.com/a/r/683.asp
http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2003/12/more_on_arafats.html
http://www.eufunding.org/EU_Fraud_Office_Investigates_Aid.htm)
And here's another reason for depression
in Bethlehem this Christmas, completely ignored in world news reports:
The PA made the unprecedented demand that media outlets pay a fee of thousands
of dollars to broadcast on Christmas from Manger Square!
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/374357.html)
Meanwhile, from the Israeli side,
every effort is being taken to facilitate and ease the arrival of pilgrims
to Bethlehem. As Lt. Col. Avivi Feigel, IDF district liaison commander
for the Bethlehem area explained: "All soldiers - from commanders down
- have received guidelines and are aware of the importance Christmas holds
not only for the Christians here but for the entire western world."
http://honestreporting.com/a/r/684.asp
Why might tourists be fearful in
Bethlehem? Since the IDF withdrew from the town last summer, Palestinian
terrorists have begun using Bethlehem as a safe haven. As one Islamic Jihad
leader recently told a reporter in Bethlehem, "We've gone into hibernation
here."
(http://honestreporting.com/a/r/685.asp)
The LA Times reports:
"The day before Christmas Eve, the
Bethlehem commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group with
ties to Arafat, sat in an idling sedan at the edge of Manger Square, slumped
low in his thick jacket. The trunk of his car was stocked with a tangle
of M-16 rifles. Abu Hussein was relatively comfortable. 'I'm sitting here
talking to you, and the people can see me," he said. "This wouldn't have
happened before, with the Israelis.'"
(http://honestreporting.com/a/r/686.asp)
Indeed, the PA is not doing what's
required of them to lessen the need for IDF restrictions on Bethlehem.
After two IDF soldiers were killed in an ambush next to Bethlehem last
month, local PA police refused to arrest the perpetrator, who was himself
a PA police officer. Only when the IDF threatened to send in tanks did
the PA comply in his arrest.
(http://honestreporting.com/a/r/685.asp)
And let's not forget the use of
Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in 2002 as a refuge for 128 wanted (Muslim)
Palestinian terrorists, who spent five weeks holed up inside the historical
church.
(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52445,00.html)
CHRISTIAN FLIGHT: Many articles
lamented the steep fall in the Christian population of Bethlehem, and attributed
it to Israeli pressures, or even to Israel's very existence. From Scotland
on Sunday: "Adding to the gloom is more evidence of a dwindling Christian
presence in the town. The exodus of Christians began with the establishment
of the State of Israel in 1948, and eventually Muslims became the dominant
religious group in Bethlehem."
(http://scotlandonsunday.com/international.cfm?id=1399382003)
But in fact, for years under Israeli
rule, Bethlehem was a peaceful tourist attraction for Christian pilgrims.
Now, under Palestinian rule, it a hotbed of radicalism and terror.
-- In 1995, Bethlehem was 62% Christian,
but today is less than 20% Christian. Before 1995, Bethlehem had a majority-Christian
municipal council, but when the Palestinian Authority took over the town,
Arafat replaced the municipal council with a predominately Muslim council.
Today Christians have virtually no political power in Bethlehem.
-- Christian Arabs fled Bethlehem
in droves after a radical Islamic wave began inciting against them. For
example, in a Friday sermon on October 13, 2000, broadcast live on official
Palestinian Authority television, Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya proclaimed: "Allah
the almighty has called upon us not to ally with the Jews or the Christians,
not to like them, not to become their partners, not to support them, and
not to sign agreements with them."
(http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP13800)
-- Physical violence followed: On
February 6, 2002, the Boston Globe reported "a rampage of Palestinian Muslims
against Christian shops and churches in Ramallah...Police made no attempt
to stop the mob, which besieged and damaged a widely respected youth center
associated with the Boy Scouts of America after torching the Christian
properties...'The truth is this is a problem between Christians and Muslims,'
said one Christian businessman."
-- National Review reports: "The
draft Palestinian constitution says, 'Islam is the official religion in
Palestine,' and makes the 'principles of the Islamic sharia' a 'main source
for legislation.' Textbooks, PA television, and government-sponsored preachers
now stress Islamist rather than nationalist themes...Under this pressure,
Christians throughout the Middle East are fleeing their homeland."
(http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/marshall200312220001.asp)
(For more on the treatment of Christian
Arabs under Muslim Palestinian control, see the report from The Prism Group:
http://www.theprismgroup.org/TreatmentChristianArabs.htm)
