bethelehem. again.

Palestine is my land, and I won’t let you take it – and while you put the world to sleep, I try to wake it.
-Rashid, 11th grade




I find myself saying to Christians who seek a devotional pilgrimage to the Holy Land: Yes! Go! Walk where Jesus walked! For you will not only walk where he walked but you will see what he saw. You will see land taken through illegal laws and the tread of soldier’s boots. You will see the attempt to destroy community and family through the taking of farms and the destruction of village life. But you will also see nonviolent resistance: in demonstrations against the separation wall, in families of Palestinians and Jews who have lost children to the conflict coming together and refusing to be enemies, and in farmers who refuse to abandon their land, even as the walls go up, the restrictions on movement tighten, and the everyday harassment and violence against them intensifies. -excerpt from "Rededicating the Temple: A Hanukah Homily," Mondoweiss, posted on 11 Dec 09

update on settlements in west bank

more on the story i wrote about last night- jewish settlers in the west bank and those who support the settlement movement are currently protesting outside israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's house. netanyahu is caught in the awkward place of attempting to curb his own citizens' fierce determination to expand the settlements in the west bank and thus comply with international law, or not.

i'm fairly convinced that were this anywhere else in the world, or between any other people groups, the entire situation would have been squashed long ago and both sides would be in some way forced to comply with international law. just my two cents.


for further reading:  here's an article on what it's like to live as a palestinian in the occupied territories near jewish settlements (even if you just skim it, do it!), here's an article on a palestinian family expelled from their home in east jerusalem to make room for settlers, and here's one on the broader (though incredibly convoluted) issues of borders and settlements.

bethlehem: thoughts on the occupation at christmastime

it's crazy to think it's christmas already. i think feeling "in the christmas spirit" for most of the month of december is something fairly unique to little kids, but this year i'm not sure what to make of all of this. we sing carols like, 'o little town of bethlehem' and talk about the birth of Jesus in an inn there, but we don't stop for a second to think about what's going on in bethlehem today. we sing about quaint little bethlehem- fields full of sheep, dark streets on silent nights underneath starry skies- thousands of years ago.

el-walajah, suburb of bethlehem, suburb of jerusalem: palestinian houses continually demolished.

the occupied west bank (which contains bethlehem) and settlements: jewish zionist settlers ignore prime minister netanyahu's plea that the (illegal) settlers stop (illegally) settling in palestinian territory.

al-ma'asara, village/ suburb of bethlehem: palestinians and internationals stand in solidarity every week in protest of the occupation and the (illegal) jewish settlers in the neighboring village of efrat.

around the entire west bank (or, in judeo christian language, 'biblical judea and samaria): an 8 meter (~30 ft) high wall made of concrete imported from the US, topped with barbed wire stands between the occupied palestinian territories and israel. 75% of the wall was built on palestinian land as per the established 1967 palestinian-israeli borders. it literally cuts villages in half. it circles around aquifers and fertile land, designating them as part of israel. it is over 400 miles long. bethlehem is walled in.

true, the quaintness of biblical bethlehem sounds much better in a carol than housing demolitions or concrete walls, but i certainly don't think this should keep us from knowing and caring and loving and doing something about this.

no war, no wall

photo by anna westlund

oh, little town of bethlehem

Oh, little town of Bethlehem...




No ear may hear His coming,
    But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
    The dear Christ enters in.