wfn.org | CHRISTMAS PLANS BURIED IN BETHLEHEM

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Topic: CHRISTMAS PLANS BURIED IN BETHLEHEM

Contacts:

Fr. Raed Awad Abussahlin
The Latin (Catholic) Patriarchate of Jerusalem
(972-2) 628-2323
Email: latinpat@actcom.co.il

or
Christiane Dabdoub Nasser
Church Relations
Bethlehem 2000 Project PO Box 2000
Bethlehem, West Bank
Tel. (972 2) 274-2224
Fax (972 2) 274-2227
Email: cnasser@bethlehem2000.org
http://www.bethlehem2000.org/

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK, November 14, 2000---Bethlehem will not celebrate
Christmas as planned this year.

There will be no Christmas Festival. The children will not have their gifts.
Worshippers will be mourning and the pilgrims will be absent.

Advent concerts as well as the Thirteen Holy Nights programme have been
cancelled.

Guest choirs from many parts of the world, including Russia, Ukraine, Benin
and the U.S., will not be able to come for Christmas Eve's "Choirs of the
World on Manger Square."

The Christmas Market has been cancelled and New Year's Eve will be marked
with a moment of silence.

Nevertheless, like every year on December 24, the Latin Patriarch of
Jerusalem will make his solemn entry into Bethlehem and the Nativity Church
accompanied by church dignitaries and officials, and Midnight Mass will take
place  as usual.

But last year's buzz and excitement will be something of the past. If
children, teenagers and men and women from all walks of life are able to
crowd into Manger Square this year, they will not be cheering.

The parade of uniformed scouts carrying flags will silently lead the
Patriarchal procession through the streets of a beautifully restored but
mourning city.

Plans developed over the last two years for the people of Bethlehem and for
all Palestinians have been buried under the rubble of Israeli rockets.

The importance of Christmas is doubly significant in Bethlehem. This city
celebrates with the rest of the world but with a conscious pride that Jesus
was born here and the message of love he brought out of Bethlehem.

Bethlehem also maintains a tradition of hospitality to pilgrims, which dates
to the fourth century but which will be interrupted this year.

Christmas 1995 was very special. That was the first year that Palestinians
celebrated in Bethlehem under the Palestinian flag. During millennium
celebrations, the Bethlehem 2000 Project, established by the Palestinian
National Authority in 1998, planned special events spanning a 16-month period
from Christmas 1999 to Easter 2001.

The highlight of this programme was to have been the Christmas Festival this
year. Those who have been following events in Bethlehem, focus of world
attention during the millenial jubilee celebrations, know the success of last
year's Christmas Festival and of the thousands of who came to attend.

Last year the town was decked out with special decorations and celebrants
adorned their homes and prepared gifts for their loved ones. Music was in
the air and orchestras and choirs of international renown performed during
the four Sundays of Advent and on Christmas Eve.

As two thousand white doves flew into the sky, the crowds jamming Manger
Square cheered in the New Year with a prayer of hope for the future.

But that was last year. This year we will be celebrating Christmas on a
different wave length.

Efforts of the last two years are eclipsed by Israel's continued attacks on
Palestinians, children and civilian men and women alike, as well as the local
infrastructure and  institutions.

In addition to the restoration of the entire city of Bethlehem's
infrastructure, rebuilding of the old city, rehabilitation of historical
sites, tourism development - Bethlehem 2000 created a whole cultural
programme, with a special focus on Christmas.  One goal was to raise the
cultural life of Bethlehem and restore the dignity the town had lost during
thirty years of occupation.

The driving principle of our project has been to transform Bethlehem into a
vibrant cultural city and a centre of dialogue on major issues, including the
issue of peace.

This year, however, we will celebrate Christmas under the threat of Israeli
missiles and in the shadow of the loss of loved ones.

So far more than 210 Palestinians have died and some 6000 have been wounded
by Israeli shelling and live ammunition. With the escalation of the last few
days more will die and still more will be wounded before Christmas.

Families from Beit Sahour, whose homes have been destroyed by missiles, find
themselves living in tents erected in the Shepherd's Field.

Bethlehem's legendary attributes have been overshadowed by the hard reality
of its history. Presently, its day to day existence is witnessing the worst.
The church steeples look silently to the skies.  There will be no fireworks
and certainly no doves flying into the night this Christmas.

The Bethlehem Christmas Festival is still promoted to the world as an annual
event. The people still hope that despite the prevailing grave conditions,
there will still be some room for the people of Bethlehem, the land of peace
and the birthplace of Jesus Christ, to celebrate Christmas in peace and away
from gunfire.  And they hope to be able to resume their tradition of
hospitality to the world community.

-End-