Palestinian Police in Riot Gear

Church of the Nativity is almost empty

We then went to the parade route and saw a man start to leave with one of the parade horses.  The owner came running up from a bit down the street and started yelling at the man who was leading the horse off.  The man let go of the horse and started to leave.  The Police then asked him a couple questions while smiling and let him go.  I soon saw another man shaking his hand and congratulating him on the attempted theft of the horse.  This was further awareness that things were to be watched today and alertness on high at all times.

 

The Christmas Eve parade had about 40 entries, most of which were bagpipe corps.  Each group was led by a group of people with flags.  The Palestinian flag was prominent in each group. During the parade young children were constantly hawking gum and trinkets to the approx. 200 parade viewers who were there.  I was cautious, and sure enough caught one of the kids with his hand in my pocket.  I had moved all my valuables much earlier to a safer location. The police looked, laughed, and the kid ran on his way. 

 

An amazing sight during the parade was men in black positioned on top of the Bethlehem Peace Center.  Rather than causing feelings of relief that security was high, these people caused me to have raised concern.  They didn’t look like police to me.

 

 

Jerusalem with Jewish sites removed

 

Gunmen stand atop the Bethlehem Peace Center

December 30, 2006

 

Two weeks before Christmas I was in Bethlehem to purchase some items that were not available in Jerusalem.  I saw something I have never seen before in my life.  On the main street there was a big crowd pushing and shoving each other to get into the bank.  It looked like the scene with the run on the banks in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  I asked my regular driver, name withheld, what was going on.  He said that Hamas had just released some money to the bank so people could be paid.  The money is only a small percentage of what is due to the public workers and teachers and it was on a first come first serve basis as to whether a person would even get the small percentage allowed.  When the money ran out that would be it.  The last I saw on the way in was a person throwing punches to advance in the mob toward the door. I wish I had my camera as I have never seen anything like this before.  On my way out just two hours later, the bank was empty and no one was outside.  The money must have run out.

On Christmas Eve Lisa and I went to Bethlehem on the repeated invitation of G.(Name withheld for safety reasons)   G. is a Greek Orthodox believing Arab.  We work with him for the connections with the olive wood workers and he serves as our translator in Arabic.  He is so on fire for the L-rd and is vehemently anti-Muslim.  Living with the Muslim population that persecutes Christians in Bethlehem every day, he has nothing good to say for them although he is careful to not speak openly against the political parties.  He stated to Al Jazeera press, the Hamas influenced paper, that the violence between Fatah and Hamas is not influencing the tourism to Bethlehem.  He said everyone knows the fights in Gaza do not impact the safety of those in Bethlehem.  I believe this was said to protect himself. We all know that tourism in Bethlehem is down.  A student from Hong Kong changed his mind on going to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve due to the tensions caused by the fighting elsewhere.  It is only because of our close relationship with G. and knowing he would be there with us and looking out for us that we agreed to come.

In December 2006 and January 2007 over 70 people have been killed and over 250 wounded in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. 

Going into Bethlehem was easy as always, for us.  The IDF even had arranged for special busses for those coming in.  Israel did all it could to show support to Bethlehem and the Christians wishing to make pilgrimage for Christmas.  We went in on our own as the trip into Jerusalem to the central bus station to get the correct bus which would come back by our place on the way out to Bethlehem seemed a waste of time and money.  I hear stories that it is hard to get in and out of the west bank for people to get work, but I have always witnessed ease of access for everyone who has their papers in order.  Is there a slow down to check  for security?  Yes there is, but it is necessary and I see all people treated with respect who act in an orderly fashion.

The tension caused by so many people fighting for the same tourist dollar was felt immediately.  Our regular taxi driver was by the check point and we went up to him for a ride to Manger Square where we would meet G. The other drivers started to argue vehemently with our driver, Abu O. Even though we use Abu at all times, he is a Muslim, but knows who we are and what we believe and does not appear to be a threat.  We are even hoping that our discussions will show him the love of Jesus and the errors in the Koran.  He has never shut down a conversation and has chances to hear the gospel regularly from us as we meet with Christian shop owners.  (We try to visit just the Christian shops, to support those in the body of believers.  The Muslim guides, hired by the PA, will not take anyone to the shops of Christians.)  Abu O. put us in his cab and had a friend of his drive us to out location.  This change of drivers was not the norm and caused me to have my senses go on high alert.

We had to walk the last four blocks to Manger Square as the roads were blocked off for the parade.  While we did see police in riot gear, things were uneventful and we met G. and then went into the Church of the Nativity.  It was beautiful as always, but sad to see it so empty on Christmas Eve.  One incident occurred in the church that has never happened to me before. When I go into Bethlehem I do not wear a kippa, but do wear a hat.  While we were in the church a PA policeman came up to me and told me I had to remove my hat. Usually people get to wear hats as they wish as many religions consider it disrespectful to not have one’s head covered in a church.  I could tell by the policeman’s demeanor that he was checking to see if I had a kippa and was Jewish.  I took off my hat, aware he was looking at the top of my head. He said

OK and turned and left.  Now that I wear a beard for the teaching at Bible Times Center, where we all dress in costume of the First Century, I must look Jewish enough to have caused him to be checking.  Praise G-d that I do not consider a head covering an item that G-d requires.  After an extensive Bible study, I do believe it is proper to wear one, but I don’t wear one in PA controlled areas.  (As the Bible says: Be peaceful as doves, and wise as serpents.)

As the parade was winding down a woman asked Lisa a few questions.  She was a reporter and asked to interview Lisa after the parade.  It turned out she was a reporter for Al Jazeera. I quickly warned Lisa to be very aware of anything that was said.  The reporter’s questions proved my point that they were looking for a particular story and would twist any words they could.  She asked if being in Bethlehem for Christmas made us realize that Jesus was an Arab Palestinian. My answer: He was born of a Jewish woman Miriam.  She asked what we thought of the wonderful event of Christians and Muslims celebrating Christmas together.  I stated that just because the people were Arab doesn’t make them Muslim and to celebrate Christmas would require

Al Jazeera Logo

those celebrating to acknowledge that Jesus was the very son of G-d and died as atonement for our sins.  She then asked what we thought Jesus would think of His birthday being celebrated in occupied lands. Lisa said Jesus was born in occupied lands as the Romans occupied the lands at the time of His birth.  She then asked who is occupying the land now.  I stated that the whole question of occupation is one of contention and the right to all the land is something I had researched heavily and I was certain that who has the right to the land was not the point of this interview.  Praise G-d when we followed up later there was no quote from us or mention of us in any way.  Our answers were not what she was looking for.  It was obvious that they were looking for news clips of Christians who would show support to their push of the Arab, Palestinian Jesus.  This has now come out as the media push in the surrounding countries to try to take away the Christian support of Israel.

 

The parade ended. We thanked G. for the invitation and quickly left Bethlehem for our home.  I was happy to be leaving. While Christmas may have been celebrated in Bethlehem, the mood was not one of Christmas but one of crime, corruption, and attempts to turn Christmas into a political tool.  We saw posters that were very pro- Palestinian and a Mother of Pearl model of Jerusalem with all the Jewish sites removed.  For proof of the mindset of the Palestinians, I bought a 30 shekel map of Palestine which shows all of Israel as Palestine.  There is no desire for a two state solution.

 

And even Christmas is not above being used as a tool to advance their cause.

 

Standing Strong

A Messianic Jewish Congregation with an outreach to Believers in Israel