Another Christmas under siege in the Holy Land

Window into Palestine- By Father Dr. Faisal Hijazin:

The heart of Bethlehem is not the Church of the Nativity, the Franciscan St. Catherine’s Catholic Church or Manger Square, nor the many other places of worship found in this holy city. It is not Rachel’s tomb, now surrounded by a curtain of iron built to sever it from Bethlehem. Rather, in truth, the heart of Bethlehem is the community of believers that, by its presence, has kept the birthplace of Jesus tended, remembered and venerated since the time that Our Savior appeared on earth, born of a virgin, to save us from our sins. During all these centuries, Bethlehem has remained a Christian community.

This Christmas, Christians around the world will be singing such Christmas Carols as “O Little Town of Bethlehem” without knowing that in truth, they could soon be singing of a town where you can no longer find the living presence of Christ, the community of those baptized into his body, the Church; “O Lost Town of Bethlehem” could be a more accurate sentiment when Christian awake to find that the Christian presence in this small holy city has, after 2,000 years, come to an end. The fact is that this is a community that has been suffocating under military occupation, and all the restriction of liberty – particularly separation from family living very short distances away due to the “Wall of Separation” -, that this subjection to arbitrary regulations and threat of imminent violence carries with it. The prolongation, decade after decade, of these circumstances, means that Christians are leaving their beloved city to seek places where they can raise their families where they can live, work and pray with the dignity of human beings. This is perhaps an accusation of our failure to willingly suffer all things in Christ. Though our faith has sustained us for many years, yet, failing to see change coming, many, and ever more, opt for places that offer brighter futures.

The hardships of the political situation have severely reduced the Christian population. Certainly, there are some voices in the international press who present this flight as a result of Islamic persecution. This is false. While of course the Christian community of Palestine has problems due to its minority status, as happens to minority populations virtually everywhere, still careful polling of emigrating Christians clearly demonstrates that the primary reason for leaving is the condition of living under the heavy thumb of the military occupation, without rights, of the Israeli government. (c.f. Palestinian Christians: Challenges and Hopes by Dr. Bernard Sabella, Professor of Sociology, Bethlehem University). This is a situation that, in one form or another, has gone on for 62 years.

I have been a priest in this region for 25 years and have visited Christians in Israeli prisons, participated in funerals of Christian who have fallen under Israeli bullets and bombs, sought to aid Christian families who have been cruelly divided by the Israeli policy of stripping residency rights for Palestinians, forcing their removal, and even lobbied for Christians to have their property returned after its being confiscated by Israel in order to expand its illegal settlements around Bethlehem. It has not always been easy to control my own anger, let alone counsel forgiveness to the suffering and bereaved. Some have been able to hear Christ’s words of comfort. Others think of flight. Israel makes no distinction whatsoever between Christians and Muslims. The glaring fact is that the Israelis want the Palestinian land, but do want the Palestinians, the people who have lived there for thousands of years. And, without restrictions on their power, they act accordingly. Read more