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United in Bethlehem Church
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Inside
the Church of the Nativity
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By
Maha Abdel Hady, IOL Palestine Correspondent
BETHLEHEM,
May 13 (IslamOnline) – During 39 days under Israeli siege and
shells, priests and monks of the Nativity Church and Muslim
Palestinians became one family facing one enemy.
“We
felt like one family with no difference between a Christian and a
Muslim, we felt each others’ pain and prayed for this disaster to
end,” said Priest Amgad Sabara, one of the people inside the church
during the siege in an interview with IslamOnline.
“We
prayed, each according to his religion, to one God, asking one thing,
which was an end to this siege,” he said.
We
experienced unimaginable suffering, as the Israelis not only targeted
human beings, but they also targeted religion and history, Sabara
said.
He
added that many religious monuments, including glass paintings, in the
church were damaged by Israeli bullets and deliberately set on fire.
We
ate plants that grow nearby the church, and every time we tried to get
some we had to go outside risking our lives, as some were killed
trying to get these plants when the Israelis immediately shot them,
said Eissa Abou She’ara, member of the Palestinian intelligence who
was in the church.
Describing
the situation in the church, Abou She’ara said that the first days
of the siege were very hard, as everybody was tense and waiting for
the Israeli soldiers to break into the church and kill everyone.
“The role of everybody was to resist till the end,” he added.
No
one could sleep for more than two hours, so that guard shifts
continued all the time, he said.
“Sharing
the pain and the sadness eliminated all political and religious
differences, as there was no difference between someone from HAMAS or
Fateh and a security guard, or between a Muslim resistance activist
and a Christian one,” he added.
The
experience of the siege personalized the feelings of belongingness and
spiritual as well as national unity among Christians and Muslims of
the same nation, said Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Fransiscan in charge of
the Bethlehem church. “This experience is a great painting of
resistance and national unity of people that fight for their freedom
and independence,” he added.
All
people under siege, including monks, priests, civilians, and fighters,
faced the danger of being killed by the Israeli criminal attitude,
which resulted in the killing of 8 martyrs and injuring more then 20,
he said.
Annan
Shehaza, journalist, told IslamOnline that the church is just like
every place in that town with destruction and smoke all over.
“Every
corner in the church is a separate story of history of 200 heroes
under 40-days siege waiting for their fate,” he added.
The
siege experience must be documented due to its importance as a part of
the history of the Palestinian resistance and national unity aiming at
the liberation and independence of this nation, Sabara said.
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