Victim of Apartheid Wall: Christmas in Isolated Bethlehem

DW | —

“Bethlehem – the traditional birthplace of Jesus is sacred for many believers. But it means big business for Palestinians who sell souvenirs there. Even with heightened tensions in the region, Christmas offers a bit of light in tough economic times.”

DW: “Christmas in Bethlehem | Journal”

What I wrote a few years ago is, alas, still true:

“Most Americans when polled are not able to say where exactly Bethlehem is or who lives there. Only 1 in 6 know that it is a Palestinian city of 30,000 in the West Bank with a mixed Christian (40%) and Muslim (60%) population. Almost no one in the US knows that the Israeli wall or separation barrier, which has ghettoized many Palestinians and expropriated from them property and farm land, is strangling Bethlehem. The barrier cuts Bethlehem off from Jerusalem and steals private property from its residents. It has created an economic crisis that has caused Palestinian Christians to emigrate from the city. The “Christians of Bethlehem overwhelmingly (78%) blame the exodus of Christians from the town on Israel’s blockade . . .”