Joy to the World, but in Bethlehem Grief
Kenneth Woodward on “The Plight of Bethlehem” in today’s WSJ:
A mere nine kilometers separates Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, from Jerusalem, where he was crucified, died and was buried. Pilgrims can easily visit both the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in half a day–as long as they are not Palestinian Christians. Israel’s security wall, its restrictive exit permit system, roadblocks and military checkpoints now make it impossible for most Holy Land Christians to visit the shrines that, for all Christians, make the Holy Land holy.
Like East Jerusalem, Bethlehem is part of the West Bank, not the State of Israel. Temporary exit visas to go from one to the other to worship–or see a doctor or even visit relatives–are hard to come by, of brief duration even when granted, and always subject to the whims of Israeli soldiers.
The squeeze is economic as well as religious. Few producers in Bethlehem can get their goods to markets in Jerusalem. Fewer buyers can get to Bethlehem to sustain its markets. Tourism, a huge segment of the city’s economy, is up since 2004, but it is still far from robust.
When last I was in Bethlehem, in 2000, an average of more than 91,000 tourists visited the city monthly. This year, the average is half that number. When buses do arrive, tourists are routinely whisked in and out without time to shop. As a consequence, nearly 100 hotels and restaurants have closed since my last visit. More than 250 workshops that made olive wood crèches, mother-of-pearl crosses and other religious souvenirs have disappeared too. And so, of course, have many of the stores that sold them. In sum, where Bethlehem once enjoyed one of the lowest urban unemployment rates in the Holy Land, it now has one of the highest–by some estimates as much as 60%.
The letters about Woodward’s article provide a much-needed corrective:
Dec. 29
Come to Bethlehem and See Who Persecutes the Christians
December 29, 2007; Page A9
In dismissing the necessity of Israel’s security barrier to protect its citizens against attacks by Palestinian Muslim extremists, Kenneth L. Woodward ignores the pressures and ongoing intimidation facing Palestinian Christians by these same extremists (“The Plight of Bethlehem,” op-ed, Dec. 24).
While Christians in Bethlehem do suffer daily hardships, their situation is not the result of Israel’s desire for land. Rather, it is the fact that during the second Palestinian Intifada, Bethlehem served as a hotbed for Muslim extremists’ hateful anti-Israel philosophy and a breeding ground for terrorism. To defend its citizens, Israel built a security barrier that has saved many lives by preventing suicide bombers from reaching their intended targets inside Israel.
Mr. Woodward claims that due to these necessary security measures, the Israelis have made it “impossible” for Christians to visit Christian holy sites in Bethlehem. Yet tourism was up by 50% this Christmas and the hotels reported a 100% occupancy rate, both indicating Israel’s willingness to find ways to restore a sense of normalcy to the city. Additionally, Israel eased travel restrictions for Christians living in Gaza, allowing hundreds of pilgrims to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem.
Additionally, Mr. Woodward fails to mention the intimidation and persecution Palestinian Christians endure from Palestinian Muslims. Incidents of Muslims stealing land from Christians, defacing their property and physically harassing them are well documented and have driven many Christians from the city. Indeed, since the Israeli pullout after the Oslo Accords, the situation for them has worsened, and the Christian population of Bethlehem, which had been about 80%, has been reduced to 15%.
Glen S. Lewy
National Chair
Anti-Defamation League
New York
I was surprised to learn that Israel alone is responsible for Christian Palestinians’ suffering when two American courts accepted the threat of “religious persecution” as grounds for granting asylum to Palestinian Christians. U.S. courts recognize that Palestinian Christians are persecuted by their fellow Palestinians, but for some reason Mr. Woodward does not.
None of this is to deny that Christian Palestinians like their Muslim neighbors suffer economic depravations. But we have a duty also to not close our eyes to the fact that Palestinian Christians are doubly victimized: They are the economic victims of the Israeli-Palestinian war, which they did not begin and in which (by and large) they do not participate, and they are the victims of their Muslim neighbors’ intolerance. We should help them on both counts — not just the one.
Inna Tysoe
Sacramento, Calif.
Demographic statistics show that after Jordan captured the West Bank during Israel’s war of independence in 1948, Bethlehem’s Christian population began falling in response to Muslim persecution. After the 1967 six-day war, when Israel recaptured Bethlehem, its Christian population started rising as it had before 1948. But after Bethlehem came under the rule of the Palestinian Authority following the Oslo accords, Bethlehem’s Christian population went into a nosedive from which it has yet to recover.
The facts speak louder than Mr. Woodward.
Gideon Kanner
Los Angeles
Kenneth Woodward’s diatribe over Bethlehem was all the more remarkable because he admitted he had not visited the city in seven years. Perhaps for that reason he is ignorant of the fact that half of all the suicide bombers attacking Jerusalem came from Bethlehem. A bomb factory was even discovered near manger square. Israel had to institute security responses.
Instead of blaming Israel, Woodward could have examined the role of the Palestinian Authority. Its policies have accelerated the decline of the Christian community of Bethlehem — not just through supporting attacks on Israel, but also through an active replacement of Christians. There are numerous recorded incidents in which Christians have been forced to flee their houses, and Christian representation in the city’s institutions has declined dramatically since the Palestinian Authority took over. Ironically, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with a growing Christian population.
Doron Lubinsky
Atlanta