Posted on 12/23/2010 11:05:46 PM PST by george76
This Christmas in Bethlehem, the cross has been banned from souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land...
Samir Qumsieh, journalist and director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, said: "I want to launch a campaign to urge people not to buy these products - he says - because the removal of the cross is an intimidation against Christians, it is like saying that Jesus was never crucified. "
Qumsieh points out that from 2002 to 2010 the Christian population of Bethlehem has dropped from over 18 thousand to 11 thousand people... Only 15,400 Christians (2% of the population) live in Jerusalem... They are 50% less than the 31 thousand registered residents in 1948, when Christians accounted for 20% of the population of the city...
if this exodus continues there will be no more Catholics in the Holy Land and that one day the Church of the Nativity could be turned into a museum. "If there are no more Christians in the Holy Land - he says – then there will no longer be Christians anywhere."
(Excerpt) Read more at asianews.it ...
In the days that the Bethlehem was not under the PA’s rule, Bethlehem was mostly Christian and prosperous. Under the PA and TROP, Christans live in terror and most have left..
a) reason enough for no Palestinian state - ever; and b) proof enough that Islam is not only intolerant of Jews but of Christians also and another reason for no Palestinian state - ever. Return Jerusalem and Bethlehem to Christian/Jewish stewardship!
All too often, PA was portrayed in the media as a struggling ‘Christian’ community. Strange the persecution.
I have no doubt that Christian Churches are upset.. The Christian population of Palestine and Israel has declined steadily over the past 60 years.
Its a shame about the crosses. I have several beautiful ones I bought in Bethlehem over 40 years ago and I still treasure them.
These demographic shifts are really hard ..
Years ago there was a vibrant Jewish population in Baghdad.. and even as recently as ten years ago there were some 50 Christian churches in Baghdad.
It breaks my heart that the middle east becomes more and more polarized.
Pray that it won’t always be so.
Merry Christmas.
Under the PA and TROP, Christans live in terror and most have left..
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Gnip
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