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Church of the Nativity needs a miracle By Tim Butcher in Bethlehem (Filed: 10/12/2005) If pilgrims worshipping in the Church of the Nativity look up at the roof, they will see a battlefield threatening the future of one of Christendom's most holy sites. Squabbling over crucial roof repairs between the three Christian communities who share custodianship of Jesus's birthplace is endangering the 1,500-year-old basilica. A Greek Orthodox priest in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Large holes in the 500-year-old lead roof have let rainwater flood inside for years. It streams down the walls and threatens to wash away Crusader-era...

Batarseh accuses PA for not keeping $50,000 promise; says Israeli checkpoints will spoil atmosphere. Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh on Thursday accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to provide financial assistance to his city as it prepares to celebrate Christmas. In an urgent letter to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Batraseh called for solving Bethlehem's financial crisis as soon as possible. He pointed out that the new municipality has not received any funds from the PA since the last elections in May. "There are many promises, but we haven't seen anything on the ground," Batarseh wrote. "Recently the Palestinian cabinet decided to...

Dear Sen. Clinton: Greetings to you from Bethlehem, the birthplace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the center of the world for billions of Christians in the 2,000 years since the Word became flesh, and the home of a dwindling population of Palestinian Christians who, despite the continued pressures of living under Israeli policies of occupation and segregation, still hold onto their lands and dignity. I was encouraged when I met your husband here in Bethlehem in 1999, during the preparations for the Bethlehem 2000 millennium celebrations. I was also encouraged when in 1998 you said that “it will be in...

Off the record, many Christians in Bethlehem who were interviewed last week expressed deep concern over increased attacks by Muslims on members of their community. "The Christians here are perceived as easy prey," says a prominent Christian businessman. "After the Palestinian Authority arrived here in 1995, many Muslim families from Hebron and other parts of the West Bank have moved to Beit Jala," said a local physician. "Some of them have illegally seized privately-owned lands." Fatah gunmen in Beit Jala who fired into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo in the first years of the intifada are also responsible for the...

Away from the manger - a Christian-Muslim divide Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Oct. 21, 2005 Tourists and pilgrims who visited Bethlehem over the past decade or so must have run into Farid Azizeh, a Christian businessman who, together with his wife, ran a small coffee shop on Manger Square. The couple was famous for the fresh orange juice and Turkish coffee they used to serve to their customers. On the eve of the millennium, many foreign journalists who converged on Bethlehem turned the place into a makeshift media center. Azizeh's coffee shop was among the few businesses in...

Tourists and pilgrims who visited Bethlehem over the past decade or so must have run into Farid Azizeh, a Christian businessman who, together with his wife, ran a small coffee shop on Manger Square. The couple was famous for the fresh orange juice and Turkish coffee they used to serve to their customers. On the eve of the millennium, many foreign journalists who converged on Bethlehem turned the place into a makeshift media center. Azizeh's coffee shop was among the few businesses in Bethlehem that had remained open after the intifada began in September 2000. "The situation will one day...

Despite an uspurge in terror, with four Jews killed in the past two weeks, Israel is planning on handing over Bethlehem to PA control. The IDF is opposed but must follow Sharon's orders to withdraw. Despite an upsurge in attacks carried out by Arab terrorists originating from Palestinian Authority, the government is going forward with plans to transfer security control of Bethlehem to the PA by the weekend. The decision to go ahead with the handover was made yesterday in the Prime Minister’s office. The IDF, citing the murder of four Israelis over the past two weeks, opposes the move,...

Bethlehem handover next week Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz instructs IDF to start preparations for transfer of security control over West Bank town to Palestinian Authority; Qalqiliya expected to be transferred to Palestinian control a week later By Hanan Greenberg TEL AVIV - Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has instructed the IDF Thursday to prepare for the transfer of security control over the West Bank town of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority as early as next week. During a meeting with senior security officials, Mofaz also said the army should be ready to hand over another West Bank town, Qalqiliya, in two...

AP Interview: Bethlehem Mayor Says He'll Safeguard Christian Character of Jesus' BirthplaceBy Karin Laub Associated Press Writer Published: May 24, 2005 BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - The new mayor of Jesus' traditional birthplace is a 70-year-old surgeon from a radical PLO faction, swept to power by voter frustration with the Palestinian Authority's ruling Fatah movement. But on his first day at work Tuesday, Mayor Victor Batarseh emphasized that he is a church-going Roman Catholic and will preserve Bethlehem as a Christian town, even though his ruling coalition is dominated by the Islamic militant Hamas. "Bethlehem will remain a symbol of...

Tensions are running high in Bethlehem after members of a local Christian family accused a Muslim man of kidnapping their 16-year-old daughter. The girl, who holds US citizenship, was rescued with the help of American diplomats. At least 35 Christians have been injured during clashes related to the incident with Palestinian Authority policemen in the past few days. One of the injured men was treated in a Jerusalem hospital. The Christians are demanding that the PA security forces arrest and bring to trial the alleged kidnapper. On Saturday night, PA policemen fired in the air to disperse a large crowd...

We've succeeded in saving Rahel's Tomb," says Kever Rahel Fund founder and director Miriam Adani. Adani was responding to the decision by the High Court of Justice last week to dismiss petitions by 18 local Palestinians, together with the Bethlehem and Beit Jala municipalities, against construction of a bypass road leading to the compound. The new route will annex Rahel's Tomb to Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and place it within a segment of the planned "envelope" barrier being constructed along the city's southern perimeter. Adani, who established the Kever Rahel fund in 1999, reveals that for her and her supporters, the...

The High Court of Justice on Thursday rejected a petition filed by the Bethlehem municipality against construction of a bypass road from Jerusalem to Rachel's Tomb and rejected the accusation that the road annexed the tomb, which is located in Palestinian territory. According to the ruling handed down by Justice Dorit Beinisch, "the solution devised by the [state] guarantees freedom of worship to those who come to pray without causing substantial damage to the petitioners' freedom of movement and right to ownership of property. Therefore, we did not find that the solution that was devised at the end of the...

After 2,000 years Christianity is in danger of extinction in the land of its birth FOR the first time in several years, a few rays of hope have begun to shine over Bethlehem. The recent elections for a Palestinian president passed off relatively peacefully and fairly, despite complaints about Israeli barricades and bureaucracy. Almost twice as many visitors as last year thronged Manger Square to celebrate midnight Mass at Christmas, and there were also more Orthodox Christians who came to celebrate at their Christmas on January 7. Could this mean that the terrible events of recent years — the Israeli...

I recently appeared as a speaker at the second annual Jerusalem Summit held at Israel's King David Hotel. In doing so, I deliberately flaunted the rules that govern Arab behavior toward Israel. Israel's neighbors, the dictatorships that compose the Arab League, forbid their subjects to visit or do business with Israel and its citizens. I am an American raised in Gaza and Egypt; needless to say, I expected my visit to raise some eyebrows. In fact, Israel is a traveler's delight. This tiny country welcomes tourists from around the globe. Israel combines the charms of East and West, and given...

Christmas has just passed, and most Americans are looking forward to the new year. Bush won the election fair and square-even Michael Moore and his thousands of election watchers had nothing to say on November 3rd. So who decides to open up their big fat pie hole right before Christmas? None other than the Reverend of extortion himself, the almight Jesse Hi-Jackson. Jackson said that Bush cut money for (free) housing, and the same thing happened in Jesus's time and that is why Joseph and Mary were homeless. Unless I am wrong, Reverend, but Joe and Mary were required by...

New York Times Omits Major Reason Christians are Leaving Bethlehem A New York Times report on the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem and other historically Christian towns in the West Bank (, Dec 23) omitted a major reason for this demographic change - official and unofficial Muslim discrimination against Arab Christians, amid a rising tide of Islamism in the Palestinian territories.The Times cited instead: Four years of violence, an economic free fall and the Israeli separation barrier have all contributed to the hardships facing Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem, one of the largest concentrations of Christians in the region. While...

The Season to be Jolly....in the Holy Land by Judy Lash Balint, Jerusalem: While the usual hand wringing from Diaspora Jews over how to deal with Christmas reaches us by Internet, Israelis don't generally pay the Christian holyday too much attention. Nevertheless, there are certain signs here that the season of joy is upon us. Colored lights adorn the main streets in the southern part of the city and on the main road into Bethlehem. No Christmas symbols on the lights, but they do go up the week before the holiday, and come down after the Orthodox Christmas in...

PSALM 110:3 ... in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee    Matthew 2:2 -  Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him. ISAIAS 9:6 For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.       MICAH 5: 2-4...

Nativity scenes were always a highlight of Virgilio Marciano's childhood in his birth country of Italy. After moving to Australia more than 35 years ago, he decided to create a focal point for the community during the festive season in his new home city. That dream has become a full-time job for Mr Marciano, 56, as he directs Walk Through Bethlehem, an event in its fifth year that seeks to show families what life might have been like when Jesus was born and what Christmas is all about. Bethlehem, Thornbury, has been populated by blacksmiths and bakers, spinners and shepherds,...

Scholars debate whether the Star of Bethlehem is a legend manufactured by the early church or a miracle which marked the advent of Christ. But if the Star was a real astronomical event, what could it have been? IT'S AN ASTRONOMICAL MYSTERY. A strange star is claimed to have appeared at the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. This site is an investigation of the story found in the Biblical Gospel of Matthew, a story often called the 'Star of Bethlehem.' It brings the words of Roman and Jewish historians alongside the visions of ancient prophets. It mixes "modern" mathematicians with...