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Catholic priests in the church marking the spot where Jesus was believed to have been born said that during the five-week siege, Palestinians tore up some Bibles for toilet paper and removed many valuable sacramental objects, according to a May 15, 2002, report by the Washington Times.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) - The shrinking Christian population of Bethlehem is struggling to conceal its fears for the future after the victory for Islamists of Hamas in the Palestinian general election. The blue skies of a perfect Sunday morning in the birthplace of Jesus Christ failed to lift the gloom among the congregation attending mass at the Church of the Nativity in the centre of the West Bank's "little town" which now has many representatives from the radical Islamist group in parliament as Christians. Franciscan father Amjad Sabbara was putting on a brave face as he greeted the congregation...

In what many consider to be one of the most notorious holy site desecrations in recent history, nearly 100 Palestinian terrorists in April, 2002, holed up inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. One of Christianity's most sacred sites, the church is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus. Israel surrounded the Church area but refused to storm the structure. Gunmen inside included wanted senior Hamas, Tzanim and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists reportedly involved in suicide bombings and shooting attacks. Over 200 nuns and priests were trapped in the church...

Dec. 28, 2005 - " ... during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'" - Matthew 2:1-2 They are requisite figures in every nativity scene: Three elegantly dressed exotic men, camels in tow, weighed down with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are always a few steps removed, seeming to defer to the farm animals surrounding the young mother and her newborn. Accuracy is not a hallmark...

ROMA, December 29, 2005 – Thirty thousand pilgrims from all over the world came to Bethlehem for Christmas, one third more than the previous year. The leader of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, a Muslim, attended the midnight Mass at the basilica of the Nativity. And in his homily, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, an Arab, hailed him as a man of peace, reserving his protest for “the wall raised up before us, forcing us to live as if in a prison, our lands confiscated, our young men carried away at night and thrown into the Israeli...

Store owner in West Bank city says 'We are harassed, but you wouldn't know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the Muslims' With Christmas services here drawing far fewer tourists than in the 1990s and the town's Christian population now at an all-time low, many world leaders and hundreds of major media outlets this week blamed Israel for Bethlehem's decline – often citing false information – while a simple talk with the town's residents reveals a drastically different picture. They say Muslim persecution has been keeping Christians away. "All this talk about Israel driving Christians out and causing...

World leaders, media blame Israel for fleeing Christians BETHLEHEM - With Christmas services here drawing far fewer tourists than in the 1990s and the town's Christian population now at an all-time low, many world leaders and hundreds of major media outlets this week blamed Israel for Bethlehem's decline - often citing false information - while a simple talk with the town's residents reveals a drastically different picture. They say Muslim persecution has been keeping Christians away. "All this talk about Israel driving Christians out and causing pain is nonsense," a Bethlehem Christian community leader told WND. "You want to know what is at...

CALLS for peace resonated in Bethlehem overnight as a lull in violence spurred the biggest influx of Christmas pilgrims for years to the town where Christians believe Jesus was born. Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in messages they were committed to peacemaking in 2006. In Rome, Pope Benedict offered a special prayer for peace in the Holy Land. In Bethlehem, an intermittent battleground in the five-year-old Palestinian uprising, Vatican envoy Michel Sabbah said there was a real opportunity to grasp, with both Israelis and Palestinians due to hold elections early next year. "A...

British TV channel broadcast this week claims Jesus' parents' historical trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem would have been rendered impossible today, due to IDF restrictions. Israel Foreign Ministry outraged Had Jesus' parents Joseph and Mary tried to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem nowadays, they would find it to be a near impossible task due to the IDF roadblocks and the West Bank security fence, a BBC reporter claimed in a televised broadcast this week. The news story, by BBC correspondent in Israel Matthew Price, has brought the already shaky relations between the U.K. television channel and Israel to a new...

Thousands Mark Christmas Eve in Bethlehem By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago Thousands of tourists and pilgrims gathered in Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday, bringing a long-missing sense of holiday cheer to Jesus' historic birthplace. The festivities capped the most peaceful year since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000. But Israel's imposing separation barrier at the entrance to town dampened the Christmas spirit and provided a stark reminder of the unresolved conflict. The gray concrete wall, which Israel erected to keep attackers out of its cities, divides Bethlehem and blocks access to neighboring...

"While You Were Sleeping" by Casting Crowns Oh little town of Bethlehem Looks like another silent night Above your deep and dreamless sleep A giant star lights up the sky And while you're lying in the dark There shines an everlasting lightFor the King has left His throne And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping For God became a man And stepped into your world today Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history As a city with no room for its King While you were sleeping While you...

Joy Born at Bethlehem A Sermon (No. 1026) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, December 24th, 1871, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."—Luke 2:10-12. WE HAVE NO superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly...

Media around the world are painting a grim picture of Bethlehem a few days before Christmas - and blaming it on Israel. HonestReporting.com cites sample articles from the New Statesman and the Baltimore Sun. According to the Sun, "A towering wall of gray concrete slabs, 30 feet high, cuts across what was once the main road into this town from Jerusalem. Just inside the barrier, past a new Israeli security terminal, a once-bustling neighborhood has become a ghost town. Shops are shuttered or empty, and the streets are deserted." Buried several paragraphs later is the fact that tourism to Bethlehem...

Gunmen seized the rooftop of Bethlehem's city hall near Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity late Tuesday morning, and pointed their weapons at Palestinian police below, witnesses said. Taameri said Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the gunmen by phone. Some of the armed men were members of the security forces and others belonged to the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot. The Al Aqsa gunmen demanded to be put on the government payroll, Taameri said.

ReutersUpdated: 7:28 a.m. ET Dec. 20, 2005 BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Palestinian gunmen briefly seized Bethlehem city hall, overlooking the Church of the Nativity, on Tuesday in a jarring interruption to Christmas preparations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.The incident, five days before Christmas, was another sign of growing lawlessness in Palestinian territories and the turmoil within Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction ahead of a January parliamentary election.About 20 gunmen from Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fanned out on rooftops and in the offices of city hall, firing several shots in the air and forcing workers out. They demanded money...

AP News Alert BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Gunmen take over Bethlehem city hall overlooking Manger Square and Church of the Nativity.

Israel will ease access to Bethlehem during the upcoming Christmas celebrations in a "calculated risk" intended to let Christian pilgrims worship the holiday freely in the West Bank town, security officials said Monday. IDF Lt. Col. Aviv Feigel said pilgrims will not need permission from the army to enter the town, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The military will try to speed the process by not checking every tourist bus, but conducting spot checks of random buses instead, he said. Arab Israelis and Christian Palestinians will be allowed to drive into Bethlehem, and Palestinian Christians will be allowed into Israel...

Bethlehem mayor calls on pilgrims to visit to help bring down security barrier By Israel Insider staff and partners December 15, 2005 The mayor of Jesus' traditional home town on Wednesday asked pilgrims to visit in large numbers during Christmas and help pressure Israel to dismantle the security barrier that rings the city and cuts it off from Jerusalem. Victor Batarseh, the mayor of Bethlehem, said twice as many visitors are expected this year, compared to last, but they will find the city "walled off." An 8-meter (25-foot) wall divides the north edge of the town, part of the security...

At Christmas time, I usually reflect on the elements of the Christmas story that I have heard all of my many years. I often search for some unusual approach to better understand a story that my mind and spirit cannot fully comprehend. I stand amazed and in great awe at what happened over two thousand years ago. What became of those shepherds who saw and heard the angelic multitude and knelt at the manger where the baby Messiah lay? Were their lives changed? What did they tell their grandchildren? The innkeeper? He surely witnessed the events in his stable. Did...

On Christmas Eve, December 24, thousands of Christians will gather at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to mark the occasion. Though the town gains prominence anew each Christmas season, the place of Bethlehem in Jewish history is often little remembered. The Church of the Nativity itself was built in the early Byzantine period (fourth century CE) by Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, and commemorates the birth of Jesus. But in Jewish history, the town itself has significance. When the Patriarch Jacob, his wives and family, returned to the Land of Israel after serving Laben, a tragedy occurred...