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Bethlehem Christmas festivities ‘subdued’ amid ongoing violence
In other words, in Cheslow’s skewed coverage, when Palestinians attack Israelis, when Palestinians attack a prominent Arab Christian clergyman, or when Palestinian extremists threaten Christian celebrations in Bethlehem, the primary culprit is Israel.
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The mood in Bethlehem has been dampened by a three month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that shows no signs of relenting.
Palestinian stone throwers run to take cover after Israeli security forces fired tear gas canisters during clashes following a demonstration next to the Israeli controversial separation wall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Dec. 18, 2015.
However, Eugene Quane, 41, told Anadolu Agency that he and his family decided they would make the trip from France to Bethlehem, where they stayed with a Palestinian family.
Christmas Day in the West Bank town of Bethlehem saw hundreds of Christians and tourists from around the world gather to celebrate mass at the Nativity Church, where Christians believe Jesus was born. The ministry invests significantly throughout the year in the conservation and upgrading of Christian sites in order to ensure that every Christian can visit the sites that are sacred for him.
But celebrations outside the Nativity Church on Manger Square – traditionally the birthplace of Jesus Christ – are expected to be far more restrained than they have in recent years.
The patriarch’s motorcade, accompanied by Israeli police on horseback for the segment that is under Israeli security control, is set to move slowly from Jerusalem to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, just to the south.
And a Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli forces at a refugee camp in the West Bank, health officials said.
But all of these hate filled actions didn’t prevent terrorist Mahhmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, now into his 10th year of a four year term as president of the terrorist Palestinian Authority, from injecting politics and lies into a religious Christmas eve service.
The region is seeing the worst outbreak of violence in a decade, since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
“Are they anxious that ISIS will come and get us?” snapped one Christian grocer, referring to the Islamic State group. But the Bethlehem of today is anything but a quiet and peaceful little village.
At his Christmas Eve mass, Pope Francis urged the faithful to reject the materialism that pervades the gift-giving season, and to embrace “simple, balanced” values, while violence subdued festivities in the Holy Land. He wished “all inhabitants of the Holy Land” a happy and healthy new year. Other Christmas events were canceled or reduced in scope.
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At the same time, this Christmas, we recognise how we all want to be happy in life.