With
additional reporting by Ahmed El-Bediri, IOL Palestine correspondent
REOCCUPIED
BETHLEHEM, West Bank, December 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) -
The Israeli occupation army is hijacking the spirit of Christmas across
the occupied Palestinian territories even in Bethlehem, the birthplace
of Christ.
Speaking
to IslamOnline on Tuesday, December 24, John Black, a Canadian tourist,
said he came all the way from home to celebrate Christmas at the
birthplace of Christ but found himself all alone.
"Where
are the Christians' festivities? Where is the Christmas spirit?"
Black wondered.
"I
am very sad and grieved by this tough situation," said the Canadian
tourist.
"There
is no Christmas this year. I feel sad comparing this year with previous
ones," said Samir Khalil, a Palestinian Christian.
"There
is no Christmas tree or festivities," he stressed.
"The
town which hosted the birth of the messenger of peace is no more a city
of peace," Khalil said.
"The
town which used to welcome one million tourists has become empty of
tourists this year," he recalled.
There
was little Christmas cheer in this town just south of occupied
Jerusalem, with no sign of the thousands of tourists and pilgrims who
used to flock here for Christmas.
Bethlehem
depends on tourism as its main source of income. But ever since the
beginning of the Palestinian intifada against the Israeli occupation the
town incurred about 63 million dollars in economic loss.
Since
its reoccupation of Bethlehem on September 22, Israeli forces have been
clamping a house-to-house search during which they abducted scores of
Palestinians.
The
continued Israeli aggressions on the town since the outbreak of the
intifada claimed the lives of 127 Palestinians and left more than 2,495
others wounded.
Israeli
forces have also expelled 18 Palestinians from the town to Gaza, 13 to
Europe and 5 to Jordan.
In
a related development, Israeli tanks and troops pulled back from the
centre of Bethlehem Tuesday to allow Christmas services to go ahead in
the reoccupied hometown of Jesus Christ, but Israel banned Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat from his traditional attendance at midnight
mass, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
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Demonstrators hold
portraits of President Arafat in front of the Church of the
Nativity
|
The
coordinator of Israeli activities in the occupied territories, Amos
Gilad, told Israeli Army radio that Israel forces would stay away from
Manger Square, where the Basilica of the Nativity and the Church of
Saint Catherine are situated.
But
Israeli troops would stay in the West Bank town and curfew would only be
re-imposed if there was a specific security alert, he said.
While
there were no military on the central square itself, well-armed Israeli
border police were patrolling neighboring streets in jeeps, and three
Palestinians were abducted in overnight raids by the Israeli occupation
army.
Gilad
defended a ban slapped for the second year running on Arafat’s
attendance at midnight mass, where the Muslim leader has celebrated with
Christian constituents since his Palestinian Authority took control of
Bethlehem in 1995.
Israel
allowed buses to take Palestinian and Arab Israeli Christians to
Bethlehem for Christmas services during the week’s festivities.
Bethlehem
mayor Hanna Nasser told journalists this year his is “a sad city
unprepared for Christmas.”
He
asked Christians around the world not to think of his town of around
100,000 people only on Christmas Eve but all the time, adding that
Israel's real aim in taking over was to build a 2.8 kilometer (1.7.
mile) security fence around a disputed holy site in the north,
effectively cutting it off from the city.
And
governor Mohammed Al-Madani defended Arafat’s right to attend the
Christmas service, stressing that Jesus is also revered in Islam as a
prophet.
The
Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah traveled in procession to Bethlehem later
in the day accompanied by mounted Palestinian guards at a checkpoint on
the edge of the town.
Hundreds
of people gathered to greet him and escort him to the Church of the
Nativity along the route alleged taken by the Virgin Mary, with children
in Santa Claus hats and adults holding banners reading: “Curfew Equals
Detention Camp,” and: “End the occupation.”
Some
200 activists from the bi-communal peace movement Taayush demonstrated
in Bethlehem against the Israeli occupation and Jewish settlements,
while delivering toys to Palestinian children.
Palestinian
shopkeepers have reported a marked increase in demand for plastic guns,
though otherwise Christmas shopping has been slashed by the dire
economic plight of the occupied Palestinian territories after more than
two years of fighting.
