"And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling
cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them
in the inn." So it was in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. Roman foot
soldiers occupied it then, Israeli tanks are occupying it now.
If Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem today, the occupiers' curfew would
not even allow them to leave the inn, except for a few hours to go shopping.
The curfew was imposed November 22 as collective punishment for Bethlehem's
Palestinian residents, after a suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus had
killed eleven Israelis. No one may go to work or school. Often it is
even difficult to get a sick person to a physician or a hospital. The
garbage is piling up in the streets. Reporters observed that the odor
of tear gas lingers in the air long after motorized Israeli patrols
rumble through the streets. Some Christians dared to violate the curfew
to attend Advent services.
After Jesus was born, King Herod wanted to kill the infant. When he
was not found, he ordered all baby boys two years old or under to be
killed, "in Bethlehem, and in all that region." There was
bloodshed then; and there is bloodshed now. Since late September 2000
when the Palestinian resistance to the occupation began, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's soldiers have killed 162 women and 531 children under
the age of 18, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Judea's
callous overlords in Rome stood idly by when Herod had the innocents
massacred. Today, Israel's American protectors and paymasters refuse
to use their military and financial might to end the bloodshed in the
Holy Land. Sharon told President Bush not to start any peace initiative
until he has been reelected.
To add to the gloom, President Bush appointed an anti-Palestinian hawk,
Elliott Abrams, to be the new director of Middle East Affairs in the
White House. He is one of those who lied to Congress under oath about
the funding of the Contras in Nicaragua.
When Jesus was born, shepherds and gift-bearing foreigners visited Bethlehem.
Today, tourists have to dodge Israeli soldiers in armored personnel
carriers if they dare to attend mass at the Church of the Nativity.
Even the leader of the Palestinians, Yasir Arafat, a Muslim, may not
be allowed to attend midnight mass in Bethlehem, thus demonstrating
his solidarity with Christian Palestinians.
When Mary and Joseph heard of Herod's murderous designs upon their child,
they fled to Egypt. Today, as both Palestinians and Israelis are being
killed and Israel's leaders show no willingness to end their stranglehold
on the Palestinian population, some 2,000 of the 50,000 Christians in
the occupied territories are reported to have emigrated. 400,000 Christian
Palestinians already live in the United States. Tired of the bleak outlook
for peace, some 50,000 Jews also left Israel in the past two years.
The leaders of America's Christian Coalition have decided to forsake
their fellow Christians in the Holy Land. They believe that, for Jesus
to return to earth, their support for Sharon's Israel must be unconditional.
Although Jesus never demanded that, he did say in his path-breaking
Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called the children of God." The leaders of the Christian coalition,
such as Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rev. Pat Robertson, apparently never
saw that passage in Matthew 5, verse 9.
As American Christians sing that song of adoration for the birthplace
of Jesus, one wonders if they will also be thinking of the suffering
Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Bethlehem, and of the dark forces that
control their destiny.
"Yet in thy dark street shineth the everlasting light; the hopes
and fears of all the years are met in thee to night."