Bethlehem (AsiaNews) –Due to Israeli anti-terrorism measures, a huge number of Christians hailing from Nazareth, Jerusalem and from other parts of Palestine and Israel are prohibited from entering Bethlehem. "It is a sad Christmas being celebrated in the city where Jesus was born," said Dr. Bernard Sabella, executive secretary to the Middle East Ecumenical Council of Churches in service of Palestinian refugees.
Sabella told AsiaNews of the dark cloud hovering over Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. "Shopkeepers in the square are suffering greatly due to the grave economic situation. One of them said to me: 'I open my shop at 9:00 in the morning and close the doors at noon, or 12:30 at the latest. There are no visitors, no pilgrims. Hotels are empty. No one comes to Galilee.' "
The system of road closures and checkpoints leave little opportunity for inhabitants of Bethlehem. They are drawing on savings and, once gone, citizens must seek help from charities. Dr. Sabella says that the problem has another sad repercussion. "Even the people of Bethlehem are not free to move about, visit holy sites in Jerusalem and visit their own friends and relatives."
The only way of getting to Bethlehem is enter by side routes. But this is illegal and if caught, explained Sabella, "you risk paying heavy fines, going to jail and undergoing inhuman and humiliating treatment."
Meanwhile children in Bethlehem continue acting like all other children in the world: they laugh and play, are carefree and full of life. Their parents, however, are worried. Many young Palestinian Christians choose to emigrate. Some merely want to abandon Bethlehem's isolation, while others emigrate to other countries.
"Since the beginning of the second Intifada (Sept. 2000)," Sabella tells AsiaNews, "over 2500 Christian Palestinians have left Bethlehem, emigrating to Canada, USA, Australia and other foreign countries. If you ask them why, they answer 'for my childrens' future'."