Palestinians gather to celebrate Christmas Eve in tourist-free Bethlehem

sfgate ^ | 12-24-03 | LARA SUKHTIAN

[SJackson]

A diminished crowd of a few thousand people gathered in Bethlehem's Manger Square on Wednesday for Christmas Eve festivities that have been overshadowed by three years of violence in this West Bank town.

Palestinians and a smattering of tourists -- most visitors have stayed away due to the Israeli-Palestinian fighting -- watched as the convoy of Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived in Bethlehem.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

The Palestinian Authority, saying it lacks the money, refused the town its usual $100,000 decoration budget, forcing local officials to scrounge up $10,000 on their own.

A nice Christmas present for Suha, exactly one months allowance.

GWB is wrong on the security fence, not only should it be built, it should be built east of Bethlehem, and Hevron.

[Alouette]

"It's very different. It's not quite as Christian as I thought," said Neil Cavers, 55, who came from Scotland to spend Christmas in Bethlehem.

The longer Arafat remains in charge, the less of Christianity will remain until the Church of the Nativity, used by Mohammedans as a latrine, becomes a mosque.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this pro-Israel ping list.

[DonQ]

Irony and backfire. Last year, when the Israelis were still present in Bethlehem, the local Christian churches - including The Nativity - announced that they were canceling all the elaborate tourist-attraction events. It is widely believed, with plenty of evidence, that the churches made this decision under threats from the PLO.

Yet this year, with the Israelis out and the Pallies in charge, there are so few Christian tourists that you could practice fly casting in the sanctuaries. The PA is trying to squeeze money out of the various television services that will try to broadcast Bethlehem services to make up for the total absence of tourist dollars.

Back about a decade ago, when the PA first had Bethlehem, Christmas tourists complained that the local Pallies interfered with the church services by using the occasion to stage their own Bastille Day type celebrations of a political nature, with fireworks, loud anti-Israel songs, and the like.

Funny how committing terrorism and bullying churches had backfired on the PA.

[SJackson]

Funny how committing terrorism and bullying churches had backfired on the PA.

In the short term, though I'm sure the EU will make up any shortfall to the PA, and who cares about the shopkeepers anyway. In the long term, the Churches become Mosques.

[yonif]

I read an Israeli report that said something like Hamas was sponsoring a Santa Claus that gave out gifts to Christians, as a sign of "good faith" from this terror org.

[SJackson]

Palestinian man Adel Sayeh wears a Santa Claus outfit and rings a bell as a man holds a small boy up to see, on a main road through the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2003. Sayeh, who also dresses up as a bear and a bunny, was contracted the second Christmas season in a row to ring a bell in front of a popular Bethlehem mobile phone company.

And in other Bethlehem news, and no, the IDF doesn’t use burning barricades, that’s the PA side of the bridge.

Roman Catholic nuns walk past a burning barricade and an Israeli army vehicle on their way to Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, December 24, 2003. Protest banners overshadowed festive lights in Bethlehem Wednesday as the town of Jesus's birth observed another bleak Christmas encircled by the Israeli army. Israel said it was easing its military blockade imposed in the West Bank against a three-year-old Palestinian uprising to make it easier for pilgrims to reach the ancient, rose-hued town and its Church of the Nativity for Christmas celebrations.

Roman Catholic nuns walk past a burning barricade and an Israeli army vehicle, on their way to Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, December 24, 2003. Palestinian officials said an Israeli raid in which nine people were killed in the Gaza Strip had put in doubt talks to prepare for a vital peace summit even as Israel's army rolled back Wednesday. sraeli tanks and bulldozers trundled out of Rafah after some the fiercest clashes for two months, in which nine Palestinians were killed, dozens wounded and scores left homeless. The army said it had been hunting for tunnels used to smuggle arms from Egypt.

A Palestinian Christian marcher waves a Palestinian flag, during a Christmas march in front of the Church of the Nativity, believed by some to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, on Christmas Eve, Wednesday Dec. 24, 2003.

Church of the Nativity : A Palestinian christian lights candles at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

A group of Palestinian school girls wearing the traditional Muslim scarf visit the Church of the Nativity, believed by Christians to be the site where Christ was born, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Thursday Dec. 18, 2003. Bethlehem is approaching what many Palestinians consider to be yet another gloomy Christmas, without tourists or funds for decorations, and a new separation barrier cutting off part of the town.

[happygrl]

Just as in the days when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that town and its people are under the yoke of a harsh governor.

THEN = Herod and the Romans.

NOW = Arafat and the EU

[SJackson]

Just as in the days when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that town and its people are under the yoke of a harsh governor.

Suha would disagree. True, the PA witheld the normal $100,000 for decorations and publicity this year, on the other hand that represent's one months allowance for Yasser's wife, and I've heard she got a double this December. Perhaps a trip from Paris to Monte Carlo is in order.

At $100,00 per month from a husband that looks like that, she should thank Sharon every day for keeping him in Ramallah.

[ladyinred]

It really bothers me more than I can say that the Palies have control of Manager square. This should never have been allowed, EVER!!!

[ladyinred]

Manager Square? I meant Manger Square, of course. I got a new fullsized keyboard, and I am just making mistakes all over the place! LOL I don't care if they have control of manager square! :-)

[SJackson]

It really bothers me more than I can say that the Palies have control of Manager square. This should never have been allowed, EVER!!!

Me too. Under PA control I suspect it will again become the site of an intrusive Mosque.

Bethlehem, Hevron, Jerico, whole bunch of places they shouldn't control.