Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Politics and Religion
This Christmas in Bethlehem, Palestine

This Christmas in Bethlehem, Palestine

Last updated on: December 22, 2020 at 10:35 pm by Kathryn Shihadah

This Christmas in Bethlehem, Palestine 2020-12-22T22:35:19-05:00 Kathryn Shihadah

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Question: O little town of Bethlehem, how are you doing this Christmas?

Answer: You’d better sit down for this.

I have the privilege of being the wife of a Palestinian. I’ve been to Palestine and Israel a number of times, and have friends and relatives living there. Here’s an actual, factual report on the situation in the town where our Savior was born.

It might not be quite what you’d picture. No deep and dreamless sleep, no stillness at all.

bethlehem christmas

Mitri Raheb

This is my friend, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem, Palestine. He is the author of 16 books (which I recommend), making him the most widely published Palestinian theologian to date.

(If you’re surprised to hear that there are Christians in Palestine – not just Muslims – stick around for many more surprises!)

When I met Mitri, he was the pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. He now travels around the world, spreading the message of justice and peace. I have worked with an organization called Bright Stars of Bethlehem that supports Mitri’s efforts.

He has a 3-minute video message for Christians this Christmas from his home in Bethlehem. I encourage you to have a look.

…Ok, in case you didn’t watch the video (what, is 3 minutes too much for you to spare??), here’s a summary:

Mitri reminds us of the shepherds’ words after the angelic visit: “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:15). The Arabic translation of this verse says, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see the facts on the ground.” Mitri encourages us all to see with our own eyes the facts on the ground in Bethlehem (and all of Palestine).

What’s that you say? There’s a pandemic on and you can’t schedule an international trip right now?

No sweat. I have another friend. His name is Saed Bannoura. Saed is also a Christian Palestinian.

Saed Bannoura

Read all about it

Saed runs a website that covers the local news in Palestine (stories you won’t see on CNN). It’s called IMEMC (International Middle East Media Center). I rely on his reporting every day, as my full-time gig is writing about Israel and Palestine (here, here, and here mostly).

You can read Saed’s story here.

…Ok, on the outside chance that you didn’t read it (come on, people, step it up!), here’s a summary: Saed grew up in a town just minutes from Bethlehem. In 1991, at the age of 18, he was targeted and shot five times at close range by an Israeli death squad.

His crime? Being a Palestinian, peacefully protesting and writing truthfully about the occupation of his homeland.

Saed nearly died, but he was spared. He is permanently paralyzed from the waist down, and struggles with multiple other health issues.

Christmas time in Bethlehem

If you were to check out stories on Saed’s website from the past couple of weeks, you’d read that in the Bethlehem area alone, Israelis have destroyed young olive trees near Bethlehem (Israelis have destroyed an estimated 800,000 olive trees since the occupation began in 1967, devastating countless Palestinian families’ livelihoods. Often the Israeli military helps with the destruction).

You’d see that in the Bethlehem district, Israelis also have attacked Palestinian farmers, and that the Israeli military has in recent days abducted and shot Palestinians (this is an everyday occurrence).

Israeli soldiers also demolished Palestinian homes (Israel demolishes Palestinian homes routinely, although it is against international law; in spite of the pandemic, 2020 has seen over 800 Palestinians made homeless, half of them children. Israel has also demolished Covid treatment centers.)

This is Bethlehem at Christmas – and all year round.

What’s going on outside Bethlehem?

Here are a few more stories from last weekend: near Hebron, an Israeli rammed a Palestinian with his car; Israelis assaulted Palestinians in several towns; Israeli forces shot and detained Palestinians in several towns. A young Palestinian man was killed earlier in the week by Israeli forces – and Tuesday his parents were informed that their house would be demolished.

bethlehem christmas

“child-of-about-8-years-age-beaten-by-an-israeli-soldier-in-jerusalem-source-al-ayyam-reuters-kawther” by Cau Napoli is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights keeps a tally of Israeli abuses throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. They reported that, just since Thanksgiving, Israeli forces have violated international law 764 times, including using excessive force that wounded 60 Palestinians, and arresting 332 Palestinians.

In addition, during the last month, about 9,000 Israeli homes were approved for construction on land stolen from Palestinians; many Palestinians were overcome with tear gas during peaceful protests and during school; one Christian church was burned in an arson attack, and another was disrupted during worship – both incidents perpetrated by Israelis.

An entire Palestinian village was demolished – for the 181st time. (I have visited that village. Someday I’ll tell you about it.)

These are just some of the reports from recent weeks in the Palestinian territories, under Israeli occupation.

(It is – I kid you not – relatively rare to find news of Palestinian violence against Israelis, although one Israeli was found dead over the weekend. If you had the impression before today that Palestinians were savages, you are not alone in that misconception.)

Other than the birth of Jesus, is there any good news in all of this? That depends on us.

Most Christians (and most Americans) are unfamiliar with the situation in the Holy Land. But when we begin to learn, we can begin to pray and advocate for justice.

From time to time in 2021, I’ll be sharing stories about Palestine at Grace Colored Glasses. (Subscribe to my newsletter here.)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all good health!

FEATURED IMAGE: screenshot from the tree-lighting ceremony in Bethlehem on Dec. 6, 2020

Previous Post

December 18, 2020

What if I don't actually "need" my stimulus check?

Next Post

December 27, 2020 Christianity and Covid: "freedom" shouldn't be deadly

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion becoming progressive christmas exvangelical Gaza family injustice interfaith islam Palestine and Israel parable politics Ramadan rohr sexual orientation ten commandments Uncategorized upside-down bible women

Select a Month October 2026 July 2026 May 2026 April 2026 September 2025 August 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz