The Christmas story as it is told in the West, in scripture and tradition, contains timeless elements that have shaped our culture in significant ways. As we tell it, year in and year out, the story conveys to those who listen powerful themes evoking deep feelings.
It is, at its core, a tale of a helpless child, born as an outcast, whose role became transformative in human history. Unrecognized, at first, the importance of this birth was initially only understood by the lowly of the earth, "the shepherds of the field". Later, "kings from the East" came to pay homage, bringing gifts. Their appearance raised the ire of the local rulers forcing the baby's parents to flee in order to save the life of their newborn child.
I want to take a moment to reflect on the elements and themes of this story, seeing contemporary realities through its prism.
Two thousand years ago, Palestine was subject to a harsh occupation, much as it is today. In some ways, though, the conditions back then allowed the residents of occupied Palestine greater mobility than the current inhabitants of that land. As we are told, Joseph had to take his expectant wife from Nazareth, where they were living, to Bethlehem in order to fulfill a requirement, imposed by the authorities, to register in their ancestral village as part of a nationwide census. Today, of course, all this would be impossible. In the first place no Palestinian originally from Bethlehem could ever have moved to Nazareth. The occupation and closure of the West Bank makes that sort of movement impossible. Furthermore, Israeli law now prohibits an Arab from Nazareth from marrying a Bethlehemite and bringing their spouse across the Green Line to reside in Israel.
Additionally, while thousands of Palestinians in Bethlehem, both Muslim and Christian, can see Jerusalem from their homes, they can not go to the Holy City to pray. And Arab Christians from Jerusalem, likewise, can not easily go the Christmas services in Bethlehem to pray alongside their European and American co-religionists who dominate at the seasonal event.
Bethlehem of old was overcrowded and under siege. Today, as well, the city itself is being strangled, hemmed in by settlements that have confiscated the town's ancestral lands to make way for a 30 foot barrier wall and massive Jewish-only housing cutting the Arab residents off from nearby Jerusalem. The constriction of growth and the lack of economic opportunity have forced Bethlehemites to flee in search of jobs and freedom, with tens of thousands of them and their descendants now living in the U.S. and the Americas. They can return to visit with difficulty, but are not permitted by the occupation authorities to take up permanent residency in the town of their origins.
While the kings of old, we are told, were able to travel from afar bearing gifts to honor the newborn child, one can only imagine the difficulties they would encounter today dealing with Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Bridge. Having endured their interrogations, myself, I can hear the kings answering hours of questions, such as "Where are you from?" "Who are your parents, grandparents?" "Why are you here?" Who are you visiting?" "What are these gifts for?" And on and on. In the end, it is doubtful whether those hapless "kings from the East" would have gained entry. That Joseph and Mary and Jesus were able to flee to Egypt to escape Herod's vengeful wrath was possible back then. Today, that option is unlikely. The barrier/wall that encapsulates the West Bank and the closure of Gaza would make such a trip impossible.
Finally, as I reflect on the birth of Jesus, I can not help but think of the nearly 400 babies who will be born, this very day, to Palestinian parents in the West Bank and Gaza. I think as well of the number of those who will perish at birth because of inadequate medical services (some babies have been put at fatal risk at checkpoints, because Israeli soldiers would not permit their delivering mothers to pass). And I think of Mary, 2000 years ago, and am grateful that, despite all she endured, there were no checkpoints blocking her way to Bethlehem.
Our traditions tell us that Mary's joy at the birth of her son was tempered by foresight. She knew her child would grow and endure great suffering. Likewise, the joy that Palestinian parents experience when greeting new life these days must, no doubt, be accompanied by concern. Not only must they question how they will provide for their new child, but they must face down their fears of bringing up a son or daughter under occupation, with its dangers and hardships. From the pressures and humiliations encountered daily by Palestinians in the West Bank, to the grinding poverty and despair facing those trapped in Gaza, life under hostile foreign rule can drain joy out of even the most blessed events.
There is a traditional Christmas carol that asks the question "What child is this?" - the answer, of course, being "Jesus, the son of Mary". But given the universal message conveyed by the Christmas story we also understand that the child is for us, a reminder of our responsibility to care for the helpless and the unrecognized. And so when we think of the vulnerable children born today not only in Palestine, but those born anywhere where life is at risk, we are not to ask "What child is this?" - because we know that they are ours - to acknowledge and protect, like the shepherds and kings, enabling all of these children to grow and to help change our world.
Dr. James J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us, and Why it Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, October 2010) and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community.
Follow James Zogby on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AAIUSA
David Briggs: Muslim-Majority Nations More Likely to Deny Religious Freedom
"We need only one thing, to be protected by the world against the crimes of Israel," was their central message. ...
...."As for the church, Christianity in the region has been destroyed not by Muslims but by Israel. Israel destroyed the church of Palestine and the church of Jerusalem beginning in 1948. It, not Muslims, has sent Christians in the region into a diaspora.”
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16503
You wrote, "Two thousand years ago, Palestine was subject to a harsh occupation, much as it is today."
Interesting indeed. They can not both be true. If Joseph and Mary and the Jews were living under the occupation 2000 years ago, then you are saying that the Jews own the land of Israel. (You seem to believe in the Bible, don't you?) But then you go on to say that the Israelis are Arabs and Christians are living under the Israeli occupation. So which is it???
This article may help you:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1392940/jewish/Protesting-Israeli-Occupation-of-Bethlehem.htm
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1392940/jewish/Protesting-Israeli-Occupation-of-Bethlehem.htm
There is more than enough history to go around...we have no shortage of that in the region.
“Although the myth of an exile from the Jewish homeland (Palestine) does exist in popular Israeli culture, it is negligible in serious Jewish historical discussions,” Bartal wrote in the newspaper Haaretz. “Important groups in the Jewish national movement expressed reservations regarding this myth or denied it completely. …"
-Israel Bartal. Dean of Humanities at Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Current-day Jordan comprised approximately 75% of the British Mandate of Palestine, which was to be divided between the Jews and the Palestinians. Of the remaining 25%, Israel has de facto control of 78%, leaving the Palestinians 22%, or about 5% of the original mandate. This is woefully inequitable, since the Hashemite are vastly outnumbered by the actual Palestinians. To have any chance of success, and to bring a lasting peace to the whole area, the land east of the Jordan River should be brought into the equation, because, not only is it logical, but it would provide a sustainable area to house and support the millions of Palestinians who would settle in their country of Palestine. This left the original British Palestine Mandate, which was to be split between the Jews and the Palestinians, as an unsettled hodge-podge of three denominations, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza.
Please listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcL31YqZaQQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal%E2%80%93Weizmann_Agreement
"Unauthorized statements have been made to the effect that the purpose in view is to create a wholly Jewish Palestine. Phrases have been used such as that Palestine is to become "as Jewish as England is English." His Majesty's Government regard any such expectation as impracticable and have no such aim in view. Nor have they at any time contemplated, as appears to be feared by the Arab delegation, the disappearance or the subordination of the Arabic population, language, or culture in Palestine.....
....Nor does the special position assigned to the Zionist Organization in Article IV of the Draft Mandate for Palestine imply any such functions. That special position relates to the measures to be taken in Palestine affecting the Jewish population, and contemplates that the organization may assist in the general development of the country, but does not entitle it to share in any degree in its government."
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1922.asp
ART. 25.
In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory shall be entitled, with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as he may consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to make such provision for the administration of the territories as he may consider suitable to those conditions, provided that no action shall be taken which is inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 18.
- The Palestine Mandate
"The British administration in Jerusalem only ever covered the area west of the Jordan, while the area east of the Jordan was administered by the British representative in Ma'an, Captain Alex Kirkbride[5] until the arrival in November 1920 of Abdullah. The Mandate for Palestine, while specifying actions in support of Jewish immigration and political status, stated that in the territory to the east of the Jordan River, Britain could 'postpone or withhold' those articles of the Mandate concerning a Jewish National Home"
- Wikipedia
The Palestinians and the Israelis and the Jordanians will lose.
Palestinians lose their claim to have as their country the whole of the mandated area of Palestine, but they do finally get a country of their own.
Israelis lose full control of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (it will be jointly controlled by Israel and Palestine) but attain what they want most of all: a Jewish state living in peace with its neighbors.
Jordanians nominally lose the country in which they are already a minority, but they would become citizens of a stronger, more stable country.
Mr. Zogby deplores the fate of West Bank newborns, who “will perish at birth because of inadequate medical services”.
Let us see how infant mortality in the West Bank compares with that in other Middle Eastern countries (starting with the neighboring ones!):
West Bank: 15.41 deaths per 1,000 live births;
Syria: 16.14 deaths;
Lebanon: 16.40;
Saudi Arabia: 16.73;
Jordan: 17.03;
Egypt: 26.20;
Libya: 20.87;
Tunisia: 21.75;
Turkey: 24.84;
Iran: 43.45;
Sudan 72.39;
World average: 44.13.
[Source: www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html?countryName=West%20Bank&countryCode=we®ionCode=me&rank=122#we accessed 12/28/2010]
Conclusion: an infant born to a Palestinian Arab mother in the West Bank has a chance of living MUCH better than the world average and better than almost anywhere else in the Middle East!
A new report, "Life on the Edge", released today, states that an estimated 40,000 Palestinians living in Area C - the 60% of the West Bank under Israeli control - are unable to make urgent repairs to their sewage systems, schools, homes or hospitals under Israel's strict permit system.
Palestinians in the West Bank are widely thought to enjoy a higher standard of living but tragically many families, particularly in Bedouin and herder communities, actually suffer significantly higher levels of malnutrition and poverty."
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/suffering-of-palestinian-children-is-something-both-sides-can-agree-on-1.314309
Life expectancy:
West Bank: 74.78 years;
Syria: 74.46 years;
Lebanon: 74.79;
Saudi Arabia: 73.87;
Jordan: 79.92;
Egypt: 72.40;
Libya: 77.47;
Tunisia: 75.99;
Turkey: 72.23;
Iran: 69.77;
Sudan 54.21;
World average: 66.12.
Conclusion: on average, West Bank Palestinian Arabs live MUCH longer than the world average. They live longer than Syrians, Egyptians and Turks, not to mention Iranians. In fact, they live longer than many EU citizens, such as Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Estonians and Latvians. Also longer than Chinese and Russians, for example.
I'm sure, however, that you're not interested in statistics, are you? You're only interested in blaming Israel for everything and anything. So sorry for bothering you with the facts.
Jesus appears as a Jew in the Christian Bible Story. He also appears as a Jew in the Tanach. The story says he was born of a Jewish woman, had a bris, was Bar Mitvah, and a Rabbi, who taught Torah. I have not heard that Palestinian Muslim were in the habit of teaching Torah, had a Bris, are Bar Mitzvah and become Rabbis. But I know very little, of course.
That a kabal has been made over the fact that Christmas Trees should be allowed in Public squares in Jewish cities, is one thing, but in connection with R. Jesus? That logic escapes me, totally. I do not recall having read, anywhere, that R. Jesus had a Christmas Tree in December, and sang to it...Oh, Christmas Tree!
So, what is this concerted effort about? Christianity? I hardly think so, because Muslim have been shown to harass and drive Christians out of their neighborhoods, and not only in Iraq, as they did recently. There is usually little noise by Muslim about such events, if any.
Could the reason possibly a commercial one? Christmas time is a good time for business profits. With the added benefit of smearing an enemy. A possibility?
"We need only one thing, to be protected by the world against the crimes of Israel," was their central message. ...
...."As for the church, Christianity in the region has been destroyed not by Muslims but by Israel. Israel destroyed the church of Palestine and the church of Jerusalem beginning in 1948. It, not Muslims, has sent Christians in the region into a diaspora.”
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16503””
On December 19, 2010, Human Rights Watch issued a comprehensive report on Israel's practices in the occupied West Bank.
EXCERPT: (Quoting Carroll Bogert, deputy executive director of Human Rights Watch.)
“Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, while nearby Jewish settlers enjoy all of these state-provided benefits. While Israeli settlements flourish, Palestinians under Israeli control live in a time warp – not just separate, not just unequal, but sometimes even pushed off their lands and out of their homes”
By ROBERT L. BERNSTEIN
Published: October 19, 2009 NY Times:
AS the founder of Human Rights Watch, its active chairman for 20 years and now founding chairman emeritus, I must do something that I never anticipated: I must publicly join the group’s critics. Human Rights Watch had as its original mission to pry open closed societies, advocate basic freedoms and support dissenters. But recently it has been issuing reports on the Israeli-Arab conflict that are helping those who wish to turn Israel into a pariah state.
ts credibility will be seriously undermined and its important role in the world significantly diminished.
Robert L. Bernstein, the former president and chief executive of Random House, was the chairman of Human Rights Watch from 1978 to 1998.
Human Rights Watch Applies Same Standards to Israel, Hamas
by Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch
"The research methodology employed in these wars is the same we use around the world: in-depth private interviews with multiple witnesses. We corroborate their accounts with field visits, ballistics evidence, medical records and other means. Unfortunately, since late 2008, the Israel Defense Forces have refused to meet with us or answer any of our detailed written questions.
The problem of witness intimidation is not new, and we take it into account."
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/26/human-rights-watch-applies-same-standards-israel-hamas
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/23-12-2010/116337-israel_christmas-0/
"judge not least ye be judged, for the messure ye judge shall be messured upon you"
-Jesus
I wasn't aware of any conflict between Christians and Jews in Nazareth. Maybe I was wrong.
1- there's a Rabbi calling for civil war in Israel if the government tries to remove ANY settlers from the West Bank. Front page in the Jerusalem Post. Civil war in Israel?
2- Avigdor Lieberman is going absolutely bonkers - today he's calling the Turks liars, saying there will never be peace with Palestine and openly defying Netanyahu. They're going to have to put him in a straitjacket soon. Who's running that zoo anyway? - to the world it sure doesn't look like Netanyahu is.
3- there's a racist frenzy going on like it was the Deep South back before the Civil Rights era
"Rabbi threatens civil war at rally
Thousands gather in J'lem but mainstream settler movement stays away; Wolpe vows to use ‘a stick against a stick’ in future settlement evacuations.
There will be a civil war and the creation of a new, autonomous entity, the Authority of Judea and Samaria, should the government evacuate even the smallest West Bank settlement, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe warned at a Jerusalem rally on Thursday night.
“If you [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] want a civil war, there will be one,” said Wolpe, whose Eretz Yisrael Shelanu movement organized the event."
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=200844
So if there is a Two State Solution there will likely be Civil War in Israel - the Settlers against the IDF, and if there is a Binational State then all the Settlers will probably try to attack the Palestinians like they do today as well. The thing is - if there is a Binational State then the legal system can take care of these Settlers and put them in jail if they cause problems. Just like any other place - the violent criminals just get locked up.
Israel has created a terrible and nearly insoluble problem for herself by creating this whole class of citizens that she brainwashed and then sent out to illegally colonize Palestine for Israel - and now Israel is trapped because she can't get them out without a Civil War. This leaves Israel with a very poor negotiating hand and Israel is basically trapped - which is exactly what we are seeing with her paralysis in the peace talks.
I think it's a fitting end or resolution that the IDF will end up fighting or imprisoning a lot of these Settlers no matter which solution takes place - Binational or Two State. The Palestinians have fought them long enough by themselves.
Avigdor Lieberman is the top pick for, the next PM of, Eretz Yisrael!
Why is that?
That does not change my faith.
I can still believe everything my conscience tells me is true.
It is all of the hatred that keeps us from going to Bethlehem.
The people of Bethlehem need to learn the message of Bethlehem.
Good will is hardly seen. Everyone is still judging and condemning each other.
None of us paid for anyones sin so we are not in a position to judge anyone.
We should be showing grace and mercy to each other being filled with forgiveness for each other because that is the Spirit of God.
What hatred are you talking about?
Sham countries (Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria) witnessed a well documented beautiful relation between Christians and Moslems for 14 centuries. The origin started under Caliph Omar the first Moslem ruler of Jerusalem who ruled it without a single drop of blood shed. He signed a convention with the leaders of the Church guarantying the protection of Christians their Churches and even symbols; in fact protection of crosses is mentioned in this written well preserved convention. This is how old churches crossed 14 centuries unharmed. Christians in Sham countries on their side were very faithful to this alliance. They were on the side of Moslems against crusaders! Even in modern history the story of the Christian Syrian Officer Jules Jamal is much known. During the war declared by 3 countries on Egypt be blow himself up against one of the attacking ships!
Now how about the Church in Iraq and the accusation against Moslems? I cannot say anything any accusation without proof might be terrible lye! However I wish this church had some video recording devices like the hotel in Dubai…..Maybe some killing spreaders would have been caught!