Bethlehem Mayor's Christmas Wish: Sanctions on Israel
by Maayana Miskin
Dec 17 '10, Tevet 10, 5771
Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh lashed out at Israel this week at a tree-lighting ceremony in honor of the Christmas holiday. He accused Israel of cutting Bethlehem off from “its twin city Jerusalem” and called for international sanctions.
“Trade sanctions, sports sanctions, educational sanctions, cultural sanctions. Sanctions are the only way,” he said. Batarseh added that it would be “a waste of time” to negotiate with Israel.
He also accused Israel of profiting off tourism to Bethlehem. While tourists visit Bethlehem during the day, most return to Jerusalem to spend the night.
He slammed Israel for building a security wall between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The wall was built after several years in which PA terrorists frequently infiltrated Jerusalem from the Bethlehem region to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks.
Batarseh's criticism followed one of Bethlehem's best years for tourism. A record 1.4 million tourists visited the city in 2010, and another 90,000 are expected to arrive during the Christmas holidays. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/138401
Israel has worked to boost tourism to Bethlehem by coordinating with the PA to ease travel. Among other things, the Tourism Ministry has arranged for free shuttle transport between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. In addition, Israeli and PA tourism officials have cooperated on promoting tourism to the city.
The increase in tourism has been a major boost to the Bethlehem economy. Tourist shops and restaurant owners report increased profits, hotels are filled to capacity, and new hotels are planned.
Ironically, while Christian tourism to Bethlehem and Jerusalem is on the rise, the Christian population of both cities continues to drop. The Christian population of Jerusalem has dropped from 20% to just 2% between 1946 and 2009, while in Bethlehem the Christian population has fallen to an estimated 15% from 60% over the course of 20 years. Experts have blamed the drop in the Christian population in large part on Muslim harassment, which is encouraged by the PA and PA laws based in Sharia Islamic law.
Study: Christians in Jerusalem Down to Just 2% from 20%
by David Lev
Dec 17 '10, Tevet 10, 5771
On the eve of Pope Benedict 16's upcoming visit to Israel, an Israeli research group says that the number of Christians living in Jerusalem has shrunk to 14,000, down from 31,000 at the end of the British Mandate – only 2 percent of the city's population, and far fewer than the 20 percent it constituted in 1946. As such, Jerusalem is following a pattern which has been taking place in other cities as well: once-large Christian communities see their numbers dwindle, as Christian Arabs emigrate or move and are replaced by Muslims.
The report, prepared by Dr. Amnon Ramon of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, says that most of the younger generation of Christians who were born in Jerusalem have left the city – many emigrating abroad, to the United States, Canada, and South America. "Actually, the vast majority of the non-Arab Christian population has already left the city," Dr. Ramon said, adding that many members of the Arab Christian communities have left as well, with many moving to Jordan. Out of the 14,000 Christians living in the city today, 2,600 are nuns, monks, and clergy studying in the city.
In addition to low numbers, the Christian communities in Jerusalem are divided into several groups, each operating for their own interests, often against each other. The Catholic community in the city is the largest among Christians, with 4,500 members, followed by the Greek Orthodox community, with 3,500 members.
In 1946, there were 97,000 Jews, 31,000 Muslims, and 30,000 Christians in the city. The number of Christians in the city dropped drastically between 1948 and 1967, and has remained static ever since then. Meanwhile, the Muslim population grew exponentially during that time, and now constitutes about 230,000 people.
Pope wants to boost housing
Dr. Ramon said that the Pope's visit will, among other things, attempt to underscore the problems facing the Christian community, which many in the Church fear is in danger of disappearing altogether. "The Pope's visit is an attempt to give a shot in the arm to the Christian community, which is shrinking. The Pope will announce a number of steps to help the communities, including a housing program for young families, and revamping the educational system, which educated many Muslim students as well."
Many Christians have complained of being targeted by Muslims, whom they believe are trying to either drive them out of cities that have traditionally had large Christian populations, or to "persuade" them to convert. In 1999, for example, radical Muslims in Nazareth rioted as they attempted to wrest land from a major Christian shrine to build a mosque. Christians in Bethlehem, too, have complained of being persecuted by Muslims, and being encouraged to leave. In 1946, Bethlehem was 80 percent Christian and Nazareth 60 percent; those numbers are now 20 percent and 30 percent respectively, with the percentage of Christians in the city shrinking every year.
The situation in Hamas-controlled Gaza is especially bad for Christians, and has been described as a campaign of religious "cleansing."
Muslims Continue Pushing Christians Out of Bethlehem
by Gil Ronen
Dec 17 '10, Tevet 10, 5771
The Muslim Fatah-controlled authority in Judea and Samaria is encouraging a "sharp demographic shift" in Bethlehem, where the Christian population went from a 60 percent majority in 1990 to a 40 percent minority in 2000, to about 15 percent of the city's total population today.
It is estimated that, for the past seven years, more than one thousand Christians have been emigrating from the Bethlehem area annually and that only 10,000 to 13,000 Christians remain in the city. International human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner, who teaches at Hebrew University, told the Jerusalem Institute for Global Jewish Affairs that, under the PA-Fatah regime, Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses by Muslims.
"There are many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion," he said. PA officials are directly responsible for many of the attacks, and some Muslims who have converted to Christianity have been murdered.
Pastor booted
As people with "dhimmi" status, Christians living in Palestinian-controlled territories are not treated as the equals of Muslims. He says: "They are subjected to debilitating legal, political, cultural, and religious restrictions. This has become a a critical problem for the Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza. Muslim groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a culture of hatred upon the age-old foundations of Islamic society. Moreover, the PA has adopted Islamic law into its draft constitution."
In 2006, Hassan El-Masalmeh, a member of the Bethlehem City Council and local Hamas leader, publicly advocated implementing a discriminatory tax on non-Muslim residents. In late 2007 an evangelical pastor was forced to leave Ramallah under threats from Fatah gunmen, and soon after, his congregation dispersed.
"Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians have left their ancestral homes and emigrated to North America, Central America, South America, Europe, and Australia. They flee to almost any country that will issue them a visa," Weiner said. "Neither the Palestinian Christian leaders nor the PA want to reveal accurate statistics. That would mean the extent of the emigration would become publicly known. They would then have to face questions about the reasons for this decline."
"It is currently estimated that the number of Christians living in Gaza totals only 1,500-3,000 amid 1.2 million Muslims. Probably less than fifty thousand Christians remain in all of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza together," he estimated. "Taybeh, a village located deep in the West Bank, is the only all-Christian village left in the PA. As a result of the perpetual violence, many residents of Taybeh have gone abroad and only 1,300 remain. The situation of these Christians has become grim."
Kidnapping of Christian Women
"Incidents of Muslim men ‘seducing' or kidnapping Christian girls have caused growing anxiety among the the Christian population. In May 2004, a sixteen-year-old Christian girl from Bethlehem, who was a U.S. citizen, went missing for five days after being kidnapped by a 23 year-old Muslim. " The girl's family contacted the American Consulate in Jerusalem, and it was only thanks to their intervention that she was rescued and left with her family for the United States. The episode received virtually no international media coverage.
In another case, a Muslim family appeared uninvited on the doorstep of a wealthy Christian family in Judea and Samaria and demanded that the Christian family's daughter, known for her beauty, marry their son. Their son was already dressed up for his wedding, accompanied by the sheikh and fifteen Muslim men. To protect his family the Christian girl's father opened fire on the Muslim entourage, killing three and wounding ten. The girl's family immediately abandoned their home and fled abroad."
Converts targeted
The PA was involved in the torture of two Muslim brothers from Samaria who adopted the Christian faith.
The first brother was arrested by the PA secret police and accused of collaborating with Israeli and American intelligence. After the interrogation the police placed a cardboard sign on his back upon which was written, ‘Najib the Christian.' Then he was told to ‘curse Jesus.'" He eventually made contact with Israelis who arranged for him to hide in a bomb shelter in a Jewish community and was finally granted asylum in Norway
His brother spent 21 months in a PA prison after being arrested on fabricated charges. He was held for seven months in underground solitary confinement. Weiner quotes his testimony before him thus: "I was beaten with sticks; they stripped me naked and made me sit on bottles, and on the legs of chairs that they turned upside down, and many, many other sadistic things that I am even ashamed to say. Many times they allowed lynch mobs like the Al-Aksa Brigades to come in and pull prisoners out of the cells. They were taken out and shot on the spot, their bodies then dragged through the streets for all to see."
Medieval torture
The young man was sentenced to be executed but was liberated from prison by the Israel Defense Forces. He lives in Israel but his wife and eight children remained behind and are under constant threat of harassment. He hopes to find asylum in Norway.
Another Christian convert, El-Achwal, was initially arrested on fabricated charges of stealing gold. He was kept in a tiny cell and regularly left without food or water for days on end. The torture he sustained during the interrogation required lengthy hospitalization. Weiner, who interviewed El-Achwal, said Ahmed "had suffered extensive and serious burns on his back, buttocks, and legs. The heated torture implement that was applied to his skin reminded me of similar medieval instruments." He was eventually freed but refused to renounce his Christian faith. One day he was beaten by a group of masked men affiliated with the PA security services, who also torched his car. His residence was firebombed and on January 21 2004, he was shot dead by masked gunmen who have never been arrested.
Despite all of this, Weiner says, American Episcopalians and Presbyterians frequently blame Israel for the Middle East conflict. Leaders of other North American churches including the Methodists, the United Church of Christ, and the Lutherans "have also gone to great lengths to offer up one-sided condemnations of Israeli policies."
Kerkleiders van Europa en de Verenigde Staten,
Bezint u voor u negatieve (voor)oordelen over Israel, over uw kerkvolk uitstort. Anderen hebben dit al eens eerder gedaan, vlak voor, tijdens en na de Kristallnacht in Duitsland in 1938 en wat is de prijs geweest die de wereld heeft moeten betalen voor wat mensen gezaaid hebben aan ergernissen en kwaad. Er is genade, maar niet voor dit soort uitspraken die u doet ten aanzien van de wortel waarop u geënt bent als wilde loot...... 'Antisemitisme' is het ergste soort roddel wat je over een natie uit kunt storten, met gevolgen die niet meer te overzien zijn voor iedereen !! Het Woord zegt het al, als je 'Israel vervloekt, ben je vervloekt'. De vijf jaren tussen 1940-1945 hebben deze stelling reeds bewezen. Door toedoen en kwaadwillendheid van mensen zijn er ontelbaren gesneuveld. Laat dit niet bij herhaling plaats vinden ! Er zijn geen winnaars in een dergelijke strijd !!
Uiteraard geldt dit niet alléén voor het Anti-Semitisme wat vandaag de kop opsteekt! Uberhaupt het uitsluiten van enige bevolkingsgroep op grond van oneerlijke motieven, geeft aanleiding tot superieure gevoelens over andere mensen die niet op z'n plaats is en leidt tot verstoringen in een totaal wereldbeeld.
Ik wens u een gezegende kersttijd en nieuw jaar toe,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE&feature=youtu.be