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I just got back from Israel. There are a grand total of 150,000 Christians there, and most of them are either Arab or Armenian. But that’s no excuse for banning the cross. We don’t ban menorah’s here in the states, and relative to the total population, there are fewer Jews here than Christians in Israel.

The reason for banning religious symbols is appeasement of the Islamists. We were permitted to go up on the Temple Mount, but we were not permitted to take any religious symbols or artifacts, unless they were Islamic. One of our group had taken a Tallit (prayer shawl) to the Wailing Wall, and he was required to leave it with at the security checkpoint before going up to the Temple Mount.

We were told that there had been a Christian woman who was standing in the same position for a long time on the Temple Mount, and the Islamic authorities figured that she was praying. She was ejected.

The Muslims in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria are on a hair trigger. And the armed IDF soldiers were watching the Temple Mount closely. The second intifada started when Ariel Sharon led a group of Israeli Jews up onto the Temple Mount. Another could be started merely by a Jew going into an area, such as the city of Jericho, that is considered reserved only for Muslims.

Bethelem is controled by the Palestinan Authority. They have been driving the Christians out of Bethelem over the past few years. Their goal is to have no Christians in Bethelem. Don’t blame the Israeli government for something they have no power over. Blame the “tolerant” Moslems of the West Bank.