Ha'aretz and the Christmas Siege That Wasn't

Noam Ben-Zeev

Tamar Sternthal..
CAMERA Media Analysis..
01 January '11..

Ha'aretz's Noam Ben-Zeev, who two years ago heroically braved a uniquely "apartheid road" (on which Palestinians and Israelis together travel freely) to attend a music event in Nablus, does it again. This time it's Christmas in Bethlehem. In a feature Thursday ("Beethoven reborn," Dec. 29), he writes that Palestinians may not enter or exit Bethlehem:

This was the feeling during the Christian festival of light, the holiday of renewal and optimism: a sense of siege in a city that is cut off from its surroundings by walls and checkpoints, with no one entering or leaving. A simple question to passersby about how to get to the Church of the Nativity prompted some bitterness from one: "You prohibit us from leaving the city, I can't even travel to Jerusalem, and you Israelis roam around here freely and want to visit the churches!"

Except, as reported in an Associated Press article that appears on Ha'aretz's very own site, "Thousands of Palestinians from inside [the] West Bank also converged on the town" of Bethlehem for Christmas festivities, which also drew a record number of international tourists. And, as the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported:

Rennert - Wash. Post, AP blind to Christian persecution in Bethlehem

Leo Rennert
American Thinker
25 December '11

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/wash_post_ap_blind_to_christian_persecution_in_bethlehem.html

In its Dec. 25 edition, the Washington Post runs an Associated Press article that depicts Bethlehem in warm, festive terms with tourists and pilgrims packing hotels for Christmas celebrations in Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity - plus an accolade to the Palestinian Authority for its presumed respect of all religions ("Bethlehem packed with Christmas Eve visitors" page A19)

To put this year's celebration in a historical context, the article reports that Israel turned Bethlehem over to Palestinian civil control in 1995, and "since then, residents have been celebrating the holiday regardless of religion." Which religion pray tell was blacklisted in Bethlehem before 1995? The AP doesn't say.

It gets even more problematic in the next paragraph, which reads: "Today, only about one-third of Bethlehem's residents are Christian, reflecting a broader exodus of Christians from the Middle East in recent decades." This hardly does justice to Bethlehem's real history and the real travails of its Christian residents under Palestinian rule.

Is Israel once again the annual Christmas bash?

Love of the Land
25 December '11

Over at CAMERA's blog one can find following:

Holiday Cheer from Presbyterian Peacemakers on Christmas Eve

The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church USA is an organization created by the PC(USA)'s 2004 General Assembly to educate Presbyterians about the Arab-Israeli conflict. Under the cover of this mission, the IPMN traffics in anti-Zionist and in some instances, anti-Semitic, propaganda which it broadcasts not only to members of the PC(USA), but to the general public.

This propaganda can be regularly seen on IPMN's Facebook page. One example of this type of propaganda can be seen in the cartoon posted above. The cartoon, posted on IPMN's Facebook page on Christmas Eve, shows two Israeli soldiers harassing Santa Claus. One soldier rummages through Santa's bag of gifts, another searches Santa for weapons. Santa himself has his hands up against a concrete section of the security barrier. A church steeple can be seen off in the distance. [And as one commenter below observes, the soldier rummaging through Santa's toys has a hooked nose, giving the image an obviously anti-Semitic touch.]

The image itself was posted by an administrator from the Israel Palestine Mission Network, for which the Presbyterian Church (USA) provides fundraising assistance. Whoever posted the cartoon opined "At first, this cartoon seems a bit much, then it sinks in that unfortunately, it's spot on!"

The failure of the PC(USA) to hold the IPMN accountable for images like this has been an ongoing problem.

As at this time every year, pieces like this manage to avoid a much more obvious problem, by misdirecting the uninformed as to where the real problem lies.

This video from the JCPA may help on that account.


Uploaded by TheJerusalemCenter on Dec 22, 2011

As we approach the Christmas season Prof. Justus Reid Weiner discusses the situation regarding Christians living in Palestinian Authority controlled Bethlehem as opposed to those Christians living in Nazareth, Israel.

Justus Reid Weiner, Esq., teaches human rights and international law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has been a visiting professor at Boston University Law School and authored the monograph Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society, published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and available at: www.jcpa.org/christian-persecution.htm.


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Muslims Attack Christians and the Church Blames the Jews

Jonathan Tobin
Contentions/Commentary
21 January '10

Israel’s worsening relationship with the Vatican took another hit earlier this week with the release of a church report that in large measure blames the perilous situation of Christians in the Middle East on Israel and the Middle East conflict.

The report, issued two days after the pope’s visit to a Rome synagogue, which sought to better relations between Catholics and Jews, was prepared in advance of a planned church conference of Middle East Christians to take place later this year. It claims that the Iraq war and Israel’s presence in the West Bank have worsened conditions for minority Christians in the Muslim-dominated region. Written by Arab bishops, the document takes the point of view that Israel’s occupation fuels Islamic radicalism, which in turn makes it hard for Christians to live.

Even worse than that, the report states: “The solution to conflicts rests in the hands of the stronger country in its occupying and inflicting wars on another country.” Thus, it apparently takes the point of view that the solution to the conflict lies principally with Israel, not its Arab antagonists. It goes on to claim that “violence is in the hands of the strong and weak alike, the latter resorting to whatever violence is within reach in order to be free,” which seems to justify anti-Israel terrorism by groups such as Hamas, Fatah, and Hezbollah.

The fallacious nature of this document is more than apparent to anyone who has been paying attention to the actual situation on the ground for Christians in Arab lands. The pressure on Christians to leave their traditional homes has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with the spirit of Islamist jihadism, which views all non-Muslim minorities as threats to their hegemony.

(Read full post)
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Palestinian Kairos Document -- "The Tail Wagging the Dog"

DZV
CAMERA/Snapshots
27 December 09

As reported previously, a group of Palestinian Christians recently issued a document calling on churches in the United States to support the ongoing effort to isolate Israel from the community of nations by assisting in the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. Some church leaders in the U.S. have endorsed the so-called "Kairos Document." One of CAMERA's correspondents in the Middle East -- a particularly close observer of the Palestinian Christian community -- warns Christians in the U.S. not to be hoodwinked by the statement, which sullys "the reputation of local Christianity."

Here is the full text of what our correspondent (who has requested anonymity) had to say:

(Read full document)
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