Where Are The Wise Men To Decry The Situation In Bethlehem

We cannot collude with an interpretation of Islamic political identity whose effects for Christians have sometimes been lethally oppressive.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams


There is a group called Amos which advertises itself as

a voice for the silenced
hope for the forgotten
justice for the oppressed

They are currently all out of this gift item--which portrays Israel's security fence as an impediment to Christians:

A nativity set with a difference - this year the wise men won't get to the stable.
The Campaigners Christmas gift:- poignant, ironic and made in Bethlehem.

I suppose you could call it ironic--considering what Palestinians have done to the Christian community, and how the Israeli government on the other hand has done to protect the sites of other religions.

Amos offers a Bethlehem Pack that includes the following from Zoughbi Zoughbi,
Director of Wi'am Conflict Resolution Centre, Bethlehem:

...The inspiration comes from knowing that despite being born into those dark days,
amid the harsh Roman occupation, and despite the fear that must have gone with
the family as they escaped to another country, Jesus did return and was able to
spread his ministry of peace and love.

We are living in a similar situation 2000 years later, behind the Apartheid Wall and
under the harsh occupation by the Israelis, and many Palestinians are escaping to
other countries. But we are persevering and will celebrate Christmas with the
message of hope and deliverance...

and later

Israel worships the new Golden Cow of security, meanwhile the ethnic cleansing of a
people is going on, and so in Bethlehem we will end up a museum.

The ignorance underlying this is clarified in a article by Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick:

What Will the Wise Men Bring to Bethlehem?
Hopefully it won’t be politically correct blindness to the terrible effects of radical Islam on Palestinians.

By Keith Roderick

On Thursday, December 21, four British prelates will arrive in Bethlehem on a pilgrimage of solidarity with the dwindling Christian population in that most holy city. Unlike the Magi, who came bearing gifts in search of the Christ child, these visitors will likely be bearing a political message: The Israeli security wall must go. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor told Christianity Today in Britain that Bethlehem is “blocked in” and that the pilgrimage developed in response to Israeli security measures there. There will almost certainly be little or no recognition of the role that Islamic extremists have played in undermining the indigenous Christian community in the Holy Land.

Accompanying the Catholic archbishop of Westminster will be the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Dr. Rowan Williams; primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian; and the Free Churches moderator, the Reverend David Coffey. They will first meet in Jerusalem with the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Riah H. Abu El-Assal, who has called Israeli security measures part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing designed “to break the backs of the Palestinian people.” The agenda includes a meeting with Dr. Victor Batarseh, Catholic mayor of Bethlehem, who publicly blames the construction of the 30-foot security wall and the check points for the demise of the Christian population of Bethlehem. Batarseh, formerly of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has now settled into an uncomfortable alliance with Hamas. He believes that Hamas can be moderated if it is brought into the political system.

Midway through this century, Christians comprised about 80 percent of the population of Bethlehem. Christians now make up less than 15 percent of the town. This is a trend that mirrors the Christian flight throughout the Palestinian Authority. However, this exodus began long before Israeli checkpoints and the security wall. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the Christian population fled during the time when Jordan occupied the West Bank. The Christian population under the Palestinian Authority has suffered from a negative growth-rate and now number less than 50,000, or about 2.4 percent of the population.

In fact, the Christian population throughout the Middle East has been in rapid decline...

...Wise men coming from the West should bring gifts of wisdom, courage, and concrete commitments of support for their brothers and sisters in Christ. Christians in the Holy Land badly need these gifts. What they don’t need is a basket full of politically correct platitudes.

Unfortunately, platitudes is all you will get from Amos--a perfect example of why peace groups are often associated with superficiality. The situation is not black and white, but you'll never get an understanding of what is going on by listening to this group.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Bethlehem.