BETHLEHEM NOW
O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by…
In 1866 the 31 year old Revd Phillips Brooks, Rector of Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, was burned out. Five gruelling years of ministering during the devastating American Civil war had overwhelmed him. He took a much needed sabbatical and went to the Holy Land. On Christmas Eve he travelled from the busyness of Jerusalem to Bethlehem. There he was overwhelmed with the profound irony of the King of Glory entering the world in a small, insignificant town. The experience was so overpowering that Brooks said it would forever be “singing in my soul.” On his return, he wrote the famous carol for his Sunday School. Bethlehem 1898
Coming up to date
Bethlehem is no longer so small. It was still small in 1945; its population was 8,820, 85% Christian. The war of 1948 brought a flood of refugees through the Israeli policy of destroying Palestinian villages. In 2017 the population was 28,591, with a majority of Muslims; the mayor is still a Christian. Apart from Manger Square, the area around the Church of the Nativity, it is like any other West Bank town.
A key institution is Bethlehem University, established in 1973 and supported by the Vatican and the de la Salle brothers. It was the first university on the West Bank with over 3,300 students. The six faculties are Arts and Humanities; Business Administration; Education; Nursing and Health Sciences; Applied Sciences, Technology and Engineering; and Hotel Management and Tourism. (www.bethlehem.edu)
I last visited Bethlehem in January 2017. I took the local bus from the East Jerusalem bus station. The day was cold, with some snow still lying on the ground as we approached Bethlehem. To my surprise the bus did not go to the bus station but dropped us off in the street. This was because Israel had built its Separation Wall right through Bethlehem, cutting off the bus station, as in the orange line on the map.
As Wikipedia drily puts it: ‘The Israeli construction of the West Bank barrier has affected Bethlehem politically, socially, and economically. The barrier is located along the northern side of the town’s built-up area, with the Aida refugee camp on one side, and the Jerusalem municipality on the other. Most entrances and exits from the Bethlehem agglomeration to the rest of the West Bank are currently subjected to Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks. The level of access varies based on Israeli security directives.’
My visit
My visit in 2017 was quite depressing. That was only partly due to the weather which was cold and rainy. There was a general sense of depression, unlike in the streets of East Jerusalem which were more vibrant. I went to the Evangelical Lutheran Centre, a good place to relax, but I was the only person there apart from the receptionist, a charming young Palestinian Lutheran girl. I asked her about the SeparationWall. She said: “All has been taken, they took many lands. They wanted to take the Cremisan vineyards for the Wall, but the churches together fought for it… If I want to go to Jerusalem, I need to apply for a visa seven days in advance. We are in prison here.”
Genocide
Further along Pope Paul VI Street is the charming St Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church. I chatted to the caretaker and felt the sadness of a dwindling community. And of course of the tragic history of the Armenian and Syrian genocide 1915-1917.
On 24th April 1915 about 250 Armenians notables were taken from Constantinople to Ankara by Ottoman Turks and most of them killed. This led to a widespread killing throughout the Ottoman Empire, of which Palestine was a part. All male Armenians were shot. Women, children and the elderly were sent on death marches into the Syrian desert and were not given food or water. Entire village populations were burnt to death, or sent to sea in boats which were then capsized and the people drowned. Assyrian Christians and Ottoman Greeks were similarly targeted. In 1914 the Armenian population was probably about 1,700,000. In 1917 it was 284,157. During the Turkish-Armenian war of 1920 a further 60,000 to 98,000 Armenian civilians were killed.
In Gaza today almost two million people have insufficient shelter and food, so that people who have operations often do not recover because they are too malnourished. Is this genocide, parallel to Armenian women and children being marched out into the desert to die?
When Hitler was asked if he was concerned about the stain which the extermination of Jews would have on his reputation, he replied, “Who remembers the Armenians?”
The Cave
Eventually I walked into Manger Square, into the 6th century Church of the Nativity and down the steps leading to the cave itself. Despite the fact that tourists were few, I sat at the back rather than jostle with all the people getting their flash photos. Despite the bustle, it was an easy spot to pray in. Then a half hour walk back to the bus.
The Gaza War – statistics
Of course, the last fifteen months have altered everything. Following the terror attack of 7/10/23, casualties at 8/12/24 were:
- 1,139 Israelis killed and at least 8, 730 injured;
- 44,708 Palestinians killed, including 17,492 children, over 106,050 injured, 11.000 missing;
- 807 Palestinians killed in the West Bank, including 169 children, and 6,250 injured. (Al-Jazeera)
The effects on Bethlehem
‘Hotels and guesthouses have been empty for over a year, souvenir shops are boarded up, while others barely scrape by as shoppers can’t afford anything but essentials. Manger Square is desolate once more – no Christmas tree or crib.
‘Residents are traumatised by the constant fear, their daily life restricted by a web of checkpoints and roving roadblocks. The only journeys they tentatively make are to and from school, the shops and work – if they are fortunate enough to still have employment. By night their fear only intensifies as military jets thunder overhead.
‘Parents have run out of words to comfort their children as their loved ones perish in neighbouring Gaza, barely fifty miles away. Nearly every family has lost someone.’
‘Without tourism – Bethlehem’s lifeblood – supporting 80% of the population – unemployment has surged. (Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem were forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed). Prices have skyrocketed by 50% above pre-war levels and there are intermittent shortages of flour, sugar and medication.
One Christian grandfather said, “Many children are waking the night with nightmares. Some children don’t even want to play.”
(from the Friends in the Holy Land newsletter)
On the other hand, it is vital not to lose hold on hope. The Amos Trust (amostrust.org) reported on what its partners in the West Bank are doing; continuing to teach children ‘beautiful resistance’ in the Alda refugee camp (one mile north of Bethlehem), rebuilding demolished homes, helping families remain on their land, creating a community centre in the shadow of the Separation Wall, and quietly providing food aid for those who have had no income for the past year.
No tree
This year, in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, the municipality of Bethlehem has organised an artwork called “Nativity under the Rubble” in Manger Square where a decorated Christmas tree usually stands.
The event was inaugurated by Rula Maayah, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism, and Hana Hananiyeh, the Mayor of Bethlehem,
Nativity in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bethlehem
In the News
Olive Trees
On Monday 2/12/24 Israeli occupation forces uprooted dozens of Palestinian olive trees in Al-Minya village, east of Bethlehem. Zayed Kawazba, the head of the Al-Minya Village Council, stated that the soldiers invaded Palestinian lands before invading olive orchards. They uprooted approximately 150 olive trees in the Al-Baq’a area, west of the village, along the main road connecting Bethlehem to its eastern countryside. (International Middle East Media Centre, IMEMC).
Abductions On 29/10/24 Israeli occupation soldiers abducted eight citizens from Bethlehem.
In Bethlehem city, the army also abducted three men, ages 34, 19 and 34, after invading and ransacking their homes.
In addition, the soldiers invaded Al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, stormed and ransacked many homes, before abducting two men aged 26 and 31.
The soldiers also abducted three men aged 34, 18 and 18 from Deheishe camp, south of Bethlehem, after invading and violently searching their homes. (International Middle East Media Centre, IMEMC)
Diaspora Father Issa Thaljieh, head priest at the Church of the Nativity, said: ”Swarms of people have abandoned Bethlehem since the start of the war on October 7 – as they have during previous escalations. They go to America, other Arab countries, Europe. I have family in the US, Australia and Jordan. They cannot live in this difficult situation. It is not only the war; it is all the time. It is 75 years of occupation.” (The Jerusalem Post)
A Jewish/Zionist Comment, 1968.
Yosef Weitz (1890-1970) was the architect of the transfer of Palestinians en masse after the 1948 war and the ‘Father of Forests’ which were planted to hide the sites of the depopulated villages. But after the dramatic victory of Israel in the 1968 war, he wrote in his diary “I’m worried about the results of this war … the feeling that this West Bank will not be a blessing…Decisive facts on the ground should not be made on the West Bank, otherwise the state will be branded as an imperialist conqueror. I am grief-stricken that a huge economic, spiritual and social burden will befall us and even more so on the coming generations.”
Yosef Weitz 1945
WHAT CAN I DO?
1 STAY INFORMED!
a) Take the free weekly prayer email from sabeel-kairos.org.uk
b) Subscribe to the Israeli Haaretz (£15 a month), haaretz.com
c) subscribe to charities working in the area (there are many), e.g.:
embrace the middle east (embraceme.org)
Friends of the Holy Land (friendsoftheholyland.org.uk)
2 DONATE
Make a regular monthly donation to one of these charities.
3 WRITE
Write to your MP about any issue your feel strongly about, and to the Israel embassy. There may be no immediate response, but MPs see one letter as of greater weight than 100 emails.
4 ATTEND
Attend Palestinian events or services. There is usually brilliant music, dance etc.
5 PARTICIPATE
Participate in public protests
A VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE.
Finally, if you would like to make a virtual pilgrimage to Jerusalem from the comfort of your home, try my book ‘A Week of Prayer in Jerusalem’. It takes you day by day through the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January 2017, with a pretty comprehensive tour of the Christian sites there – and a few Jewish ones. It includes stories from my six previous visits, and from my two fellow pilgrims Jo Simister and Lesley Dawson.
It’s £14.99 and you can buy it direct from revandybooks.org, from bibleinbrief.org, or from Amazon. If you get it from me, there is no p&p.
Wishing you a Happy Christmas,
without forgetting our brothers and sisters in Bethlehem.
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