Bethlehem Shepherds 'Watching Their Flocks By Night' Are A Dying Breed In Israel

The Guardian:

If an "angel of the Lord" were to appear in the sky over Bethlehem today, there would be scarcely any shepherds keeping watch over their flocks to witness the scene.

Spending nights and days in the fields herding sheep has become an almost impossible task for the fast-diminishing community of shepherds in this biblical Palestinian town.

Jewish settlements, Israeli army checkpoints, closed military zones and the West Bank separation barrier have reduced the grazing area to such an extent that a growing number of Bethlehem shepherds have been forced to give up their traditional livelihoods. "I miss the freedom of the wilderness. Everything is different now. We can barely move," says Adel Alsir, a 35-year-old Palestinian who herds his flock less than 100 metres from a biblical site known as the shepherds' fields.

Read the whole story: The Guardian

Comments

[gakabani]

02:02 PM on 12/25/2010

For all those interested in peace, this is a great program (interview) by Riz Khan in Al-Jazeera.

Great example for peace among opposite sides.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2010/07/2010722629372570.html

[SiberianRat]

01:55 PM on 12/25/2010

Eh...they're just Palestinians...not like they matter. The European settlers need their space, and as we know well, brown people can get the heck out!

[realitytrumpsbull]

01:19 PM on 12/25/2010

I think if Israel is to have a future, it will have to include group efforts toward improving agriculture. And, since the land Israel sits on is kind of hot, dry, and desert-like and stuff, they're going to have to learn how to improve irrigation, which means improving access to water, which, if you can't pump it up out of the ground, you need to figure out how to clean up seawater to the point where you can use it for other things. Luckily, this is the 21st century, and people worldwide have learned how to boil water and build canals and viaducts and run water pumps and sprinkler systems and so forth and so on. Now, the only obstacle is getting people to work together, instead of shooting at each other or shaking their fists and trying to assert political territory, and other time-tested forms of stupidity.

[Joseph Aoun]

02:56 PM on 12/24/2010

The Palestinian Israeli conflict has existed for almost 63 years and is nowhere near a resolution. Unless we all get together, look at the facts on the ground, and make concessions, there will never be agreement. Jordan was part of Palestine; it was a major portion of the British Mandate, and should be included in the solution. In fact, Jordan is Palestine! The majority of its population is Palestinian, but they do not have proportionate representation in electing the government. With “one man, one vote” the Palestinians would control the government, the country would be renamed Palestine, and it would be a haven for all those refugees now languishing in those miserable camps.
The solution is two states: Israel, which already exists, and the State of Palestine on the east side of the river. Samaria, Judea, and Gaza will be governed jointly by Israel and Palestine, and the native population (excluding refugees who settled there after the declaration of the State of Israel) will have dual identification cards, just as is the case now with the Samaritans, who are free to travel and work in both Israel and the Palestinian territories. The reign of King Abdullah II and his Palestinian wife, Queen Rania, would continue to exist, much as the monarchy in Great Britain does today. Your suffering will end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcL31YqZaQQ

[gakabani]

03:31 PM on 12/24/2010

I think you must put into perspective not nations but peoples. Regardless of who was or who's is, Israel has not abide by allowing Palestinians become Israeli citizens. The occupation of land regardless of nation status does not abolish the right of the people to be independent or for self-determination. A consensus process is political effort by all parts but there are rights that must be not be placed on the table, these are the right for self-determination and the right of return.

A nice article by the way on this issue is given by Richard Falk, great reading.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/10/20101021113420124418.html

[Progressneeded]

03:32 PM on 12/24/2010

Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine. Is this Jordan is Palestine the new mantra of the Hasbara?

[gakabani]

03:56 PM on 12/24/2010

The issue is not nations but people. You cannot just move people like cattle. Make Palestinians Israeli citizens.

[skialethia]

10:26 AM on 12/25/2010

To answer your question: Yes it's their new mantra. The more delusional the better; it just makes them all the less credible.

[skialethia]

12:02 PM on 12/24/2010

What's really sad is that many Palestinians are dependent on agriculture to make a living. These illegal settlements are not only destroying the land of their future state for obvious reasons as you can see in "gingershots" link but, settlers often dump sewage on Palestinian farmland below, and notice how they always steal the higher ground which is great for grazing and olive groves. They've also destroyed many Palestinian olive groves to build those ILLEGAL settlements. An entire way of life for Palestinians has been devastated by these settlers. This is a grave and serious injustice that rarely makes it to the mainstream media here. These people are being forced off their land not only by demolitions but by having their livelihoods obliterated in this way.

This is beyond inhumane.

[mommamia526]

01:17 PM on 12/24/2010

As populations expand, the world over, agriculture diminishes. Where I lived as a child, there were goats, cattle, meadows. Today there are all high rises. Similarly in the U.S. People are forced out of agriculture everywhere. It is NOT a phenomenon that affects only Palestinians. People adjust to changing circumstances, learn new trades. Go to school, and continue their education through life. If Palestinians want to continue agricultural life there should be support, financially, and they should move where there is land, but not in Israel if they are not Israeli citizens.

[Dexter35]

01:42 PM on 12/24/2010

"Go learn new trades" says the Westerner with the orientalist view of peoples' of the East.

[Fireslayer]

01:39 PM on 12/25/2010

So you support ethnic cleansing and the theft of these people's land by the largely European colonists? You are in the wrong century for that.

[gingershot]

11:30 AM on 12/24/2010

Here's a NYTimes article and photo of the sprawling Har Homa illegal Israeli settlement that I've been arguing with WBMD about - this is the monster that is referenced in this article about the Palestinian Shepherd -

The US has called on Israel specifically to halt development of this illegal settlement - if you can believe that

This is a great article from Nov 2010 and stuffs the opposition - that it was written by the reliably Pro-Israel Isabel Kerschner is just a sign of how bad this particular illegal settlement of the East Jerusalem areas this particular bad boy really is

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/world/middleeast/09mideast.html?_r=1

WBMD claims 32 of acres of this massive sprawling complex was 'legally bought' hahaha

[skialethia]

11:50 AM on 12/24/2010

OMG! It's disgusting! Thank you for this. It's no wonder the Palestinian shepherds' livelihood is being suffocated by this settlement. Very sad.

WBMD's claims are indeed laughable.

Fave for this excellent post!

[mommamia526]

08:33 AM on 12/25/2010

OMG! It is disgusting that Palestinians can not do and will not do what all others in this world are doing to survive! It is also more than disgusting that under UNWRA Palestinians are kept in perpetual chains and dhimmitude, because they are not allowed to move up and out of deplorable status, lack of rights, are not allowed to vote, etc. It is more than disgusting that rich Arab oil countries are not helping Palestinians, and I am not only thinking of financial aid, which they should provide. No, I am just thinking of the simple things they will not allow, such as, again, allowing Palestinians basic civil and voting rights, right to property ownership, etc. And, with all that disappearing acreage, they are advocating creating overpopulations. Do the math. Even less land for the sheep, the cattle and the Palestinian sheepherders. And, Arabs used to be so very great at math. What happened? Another thing I am thoroughly disgusted about is that the socalled defenders of the Palestinians are really intent on keeping them as pawns in their personal oratory games. Nothing else to do, apparently.

[Garvagh]

02:01 PM on 12/24/2010

Bravo!

[Mahmoodcohen]

12:29 AM on 12/24/2010

Another low form of disparagement against Israel blogged on HP!

[skialethia]

02:08 AM on 12/24/2010

You're never satisfied are you? This site couldn't be more pro-Israel if it tried! Proof is that they allow you to post all kind of offensive stuff against Palestinians. Try going to some other sites on the Israeli/Palestinian issue and post the stuff you're posting here...you'll be run out on a rail!

[Mahmoodcohen]

08:30 AM on 12/24/2010

Thanks.Judge Judy!

[cliffhammond]

02:43 AM on 12/24/2010

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=344641

[Mahmoodcohen]

08:46 AM on 12/24/2010

Cliff..just speak it in English here!

[gakabani]

11:50 PM on 12/23/2010

Two words for the HuffPost, for insulting our intelligence and doing it with the only objective to denigrate the Palestinian people.

F(*&^ U!

[skialethia]

02:04 AM on 12/24/2010

Gakabani, for the life of me, I don't know why I never fanned you before, but you are OH SO VERY FANNED! You're absolutely right! This is shameless pandering and it is very insulting.

[Garvagh]

02:03 PM on 12/24/2010

gakabani - - What aspect of this story insults your intelligence?

[gakabani]

02:20 PM on 12/24/2010

If you look historically at the anthropology of the Bedouins and shepherds, you will realize that the article only exploits their situation as an event rather than analyzing their plight and the reason they are under such pressure. This is truly insulting.
No one can deny what the indigenous American Indians went through during the "colonization"of west. It takes a few searches in google to find out their fate. I think the Bedouins are having the same problem, the lack of respect for their traditions and culture is at the center of the issue. Sooner or later they will disappear thanks to Israel's policies of segregation and marginalization. That is insulting to anyone that has a bit of knowledge of history of minorities.

[gakabani]

11:48 PM on 12/23/2010

This is typical BS that the HUFFPost.
Disinformation and denigration of the Palestinians is the mantra of this website.
Maybe AIPAC is paying well the HuffPsot and it minions.
Since when Bethlehem is in Israel? The mention of Palestinian or Palestinians must be forbidden in this website. Oh, I forgot AIPAC owns the HuffPost.

The title of the article should have been
"Bethlehem Shepherds 'Watching Their Flocks By Night' Are A Dying Breed In PALESTINE" due to the constant oppression and denigration and confiscation of land by Israel.

Kudos HuffPost you won an AIPAC accolade for further denigrating the Palestinian people.

[gakabani]

12:57 AM on 12/24/2010

Only an uneducated person can claim that. But hey your response indicates that you belive the earth is flat.

[skialethia]

02:11 AM on 12/24/2010

Only if you're a settler on the West Bank with an illegal lease about to expire.

[skialethia]

02:10 AM on 12/24/2010

Bravo! I couldn't have put it better myself!

[Mahmoodcohen]

08:33 AM on 12/24/2010

You couldn't have..I agree with something you posted!

[riverhouse]

10:13 PM on 12/23/2010

Bethlehem is not in Israel. It's in Palestinian territory. The headline shows you the Huff Post bias - or their ignorance.

[Mahmoodcohen]

12:30 AM on 12/24/2010

BOTH!

[skialethia]

02:13 AM on 12/24/2010

Give Mahmoodcohen a prize...FINALLY he gets it right!

[ivan kovac]

08:51 PM on 12/23/2010

Teenage shepherd shot and injured by Israeli troops in Gaza

http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=19298

[skialethia]

02:17 AM on 12/24/2010

They also burned a shepherd's sheep:

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/police-question-palestinian-claim-settlers-burned-his-herd-of-sheep-1.331714

Israelis feel threatened by shepherds, farmers, sheep, olive groves and farmland.

[jo smith456]

08:01 PM on 12/23/2010

Shepherds have been driven out by foreign occupiers... no surprise there..

[WBMD]

05:56 AM on 12/24/2010

"Foreign occupiers"?? Of Judea and Samaria? Where the "occupiers" first came into being 3000 years ago, and have lived ever since?

[Mahmoodcohen]

08:38 AM on 12/24/2010

WBMD...they made up the name .."Palestinians" when the Arab League invented the PLO in the mid 1960's....and now want to tll us that they have been there for thousands of years! The Great Lie !

[nicholasb]

10:19 AM on 12/24/2010

I realize it's Fairy Tale Season, but where exactly is "Judea and Samaria" and under what secular and internationally recognized law is such an entity ever referred to? Repeating fairty tales...never makes them true. Just goes on perpetuating the damage they enable.

[Garvagh]

07:25 PM on 12/23/2010

Bethlehem, of course, is in Israeli-occupied Palestine.

[WBMD]

05:56 AM on 12/24/2010

Of course NOT. It is in Area A of the administered territories, under PA governance, pending a peace treaty.

[Mahmoodcohen]

08:42 AM on 12/24/2010

Fanned and faved!

[nicholasb]

10:21 AM on 12/24/2010

Of couse not according to who? According to Israel and its supporters?

You must be feeling very lonely and desperate this Christmas Eve. The last one before the republic of Palestine is officially proclaimed in 2011 and duly recognized....by many more states than those that bother with Israel.

[MarcEdward]

06:31 PM on 12/23/2010

Doesn't seem like an efficient way to raise sheep.
Haven't they heard of factory farms?

[eileenflemingWAWA]

05:53 PM on 12/23/2010

Here is the Mayor of Bethlehem's 2010 Christmas message:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Qiqx-1Y-8&feature=email

On the other side of The Wall from Rachel's Tomb is Claire's Tomb:
[photo @ http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1917&Itemid=240 ]

In 2006 Claire told me, "Six years ago when the Israeli army blocked the main street in Bethlehem we hoped it would be temporary. We could not imagine anyone could block another human being and isolate them like they have done to us. A week before last Christmas my children went to school and when they returned they were faced with the concrete wall in front of them. They cried and cried and wanted to know how could such a thing be done to them? We are living in a tomb, we are buried alive. My children suffer and their mother and father can do nothing.

"In another ten years there will be no more Christians in Bethlehem if things do not change soon. Everyone is leaving, we need work, and we need to feed our children. Jesus was born here but we are dying.

"Do Americans understand what happens to children when they are buried alive? We need a solution fast so that our children can live like American children! We want human rights! When Hillary Clinton visited Jerusalem and said the wall was not against the Palestinian people, she killed us too! Christians who do not care kill us too!"

[Garvagh]

07:27 PM on 12/23/2010

eileen - - Yes, the Christian leaders in Israel/Palestine say the Israeli occupation has been a disaster for their communities.

[WBMD]

10:48 AM on 12/24/2010

"We could not imagine anyone could block another human being and isolate them like they have done to us."
"They cried and cried and wanted to know how could such a thing be done to them?"

Claire could have explained to them by telling them of others who cried:
"The Passover Massacre (also known as the Netanya Bombing or the Park Hotel Passover attack) was a suicide bombing carried out during a Passover seder. Thirty Israeli civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured. It was the deadliest attack against Israelis during the Second Intifada."

And explaining that was the reason that the Wall was erected.

When Claire's children cry for those people, then come back, and we can talk.