wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Mary and Joseph at a checkpoint

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World Council of Churches - Feature
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 08/12/2004

HOW WOULD MARY AND JOSEPH HAVE FARED AT A CHECKPOINT?

By Larry Fatah (*)

Photos available, see below

Christmas time evokes many images associated with the season, both religious
and secular. Christmas trees and Santa Claus compete for time with nativity
scenes throughout the world. And of course Bethlehem, a tiny town in the West
Bank, becomes the focus of international attention every year because of the
blessed event commemorated in the Christmas celebration..

Tourists fortunate enough to make the trip descend on Bethlehem to celebrate
Christmas in the place where it all began over 2,000 years ago. But the
simple fact that the possibility exists for international visitors to go to
Bethlehem and not for most Palestinians is one of the most bitter ironies
associated with this time of year. This point was made clear through a
demonstration staged by the Civil Committee in the Palestinian village of
Sawahreh last year. The demonstration emanated from a simple question: would
Mary and Joseph have been able to get to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus had
they been traveling today?

Mary and Joseph were two Jews living under Roman occupation. Their travel to
Bethlehem was necessitated because of a census ordered by Caesar Augustus.
Palestinians are living under Israeli occupation today, and their travel is
restricted and sometimes completely prevented. Two days before Christmas
2003, two Palestinians dressed as Mary and Joseph attempted to cross an
Israeli military checkpoint from Sawahreh and go on into Bethlehem. Mary was
actually a 20-year-old student from Beit Hanina, a Palestinian town annexed
to Jerusalem. Even though she sat atop a donkey, the fact that it was not
2,000 years ago was betrayed by her jeans and stylish boots protruding
through the bottom of her traditional dress. Joseph was actually a villager
in his 30s from East Sawahreh.

As the two approached the checkpoint, the idyllic Christmas-card scene was
broken by the soldiers asking "Mary and Joseph" for IDs , by another soldier
training a machine gun on us, and a third filming the whole proceeding,
possibly for security purposes. The two soldiers manning the checkpoint took
the whole event in their stride, asking the two actors in Arabic "You're
re-creating the Mary and Joseph scene?" One asked the two where they were
from. As one observer in the crowd quipped "Nazareth!", the two gave their
true residences. This gave the answer to the basic question : our Mary and
Joseph could not cross. The best the soldiers could offer was a little walk
around the metal barrier by the checkpoint as some in the crowd sang "O
Little Town of Bethlehem" . 

Why couldn't Mary and Joseph cross in the 21st century? Our Mary has an
Israeli passport and therefore cannot legally enter Bethlehem, which is part
of the West Bank. Citizens of the State of Israel are not allowed to enter
the West Bank for "security" reasons. Our Joseph has a West Bank ID and, as
such, could legally go from one West Bank town to another in this area, but
he didn't have it with him at the time. Therefore he couldn't cross either.
The fact of the matter is that many West Bankers are delayed and sometimes
barred from going from one part of the West Bank to another. Furthermore, our
Mary and Joseph really couldn't live together and therefore be married. He
couldn't live in her town because it is part of Jerusalem, and most West
Bankers are not allowed in Jerusalem. She could give up her Jerusalem status
and go live in the West Bank with him, but that would be economic suicide.
Jerusalemites who do that lose their Jerusalem status and are barred from
entering th
 e!
 city or Israel.

The current situation regarding the restrictions on freedom of movement for
Palestinians in the West Bank, according to November 2004 figures released by
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), is bleak. There are a total of 719 obstacles or checkpoints that
either hinder or completely block movement from one part of the West Bank to
another or into Jerusalem and Israel. In addition, there are also the
so-called "flying checkpoints", that are placed temporarily in roads by teams
of soldiers or police. It should be noted that the majority of these
checkpoints do not block or restrict the movements of Palestinians from the
West Bank and into Israel, but from one part of the West Bank to another.

Part of the work of the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment
Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is to monitor these checkpoints to
ensure that the human rights of the Palestinians attempting to cross are not
violated. The presence of the "ecumenical accompaniers" also serves to lower
the level of tension at these sometimes tense encounters. Accompaniers file
reports and take photographs dealing with their observations at the
checkpoints. They will stand in solidarity with Palestinians attempting to
cross, but will also interact with the soldiers on a human level in an
attempt to advocate for the process of crossing to be expedited and free of
violence. Accompaniers will sometimes work in cooperation with Machsom Watch,
an Israeli group formed in January 2001. It is made up of 400 women, many of
them grandmothers, all over Israel who go to monitor activities at the
"Machsom" - the Hebrew word for checkpoint.

Checkpoints affect all Palestinians on a daily basis. The nonviolent
demonstration with "Mary and Joseph" was a pleasant way of directing
attention to a rather unpleasant situation. How different nativity scenes
would look if the manger were replaced by the seat of a jeep and the
shepherds by gun-toting soldiers. Hopefully the three wise men would have
remembered their IDs.

[939 words]

(*) Larry Fata, a Catholic teacher and journalist from the USA, is managing
editor and communication officer of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in
Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). 

High-resolution versions of photos to accompany this feature are available on
our website: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/photo-galleries/other/maryjoseph.html 

For more information on the EAPPI: 
http://www.eappi.org

Media contact in Palestine/Israel: +972 (0)2-628-9402 +972 (0)54-799-8724 

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to the
author. 

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) was
launched in August 2002. Ecumenical accompaniers monitor and report
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, support acts
of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians
and Israeli peace activists, offer protection through non-violent presence,
engage in public policy advocacy, and stand in solidarity with the churches
and all those struggling against the occupation. The programme is
co-ordinated by the World Council of Churches.

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