Open Bethlehem

O Little Town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by:
yet in the the dark streets shineth
the everlasting Light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.

I must have sung that Christmas carol many times over the years. Each time I picture in my mind lots of white, flat topped houses, much loved by my Sunday School teachers when we came to making biblical models. Bethlehem, a sunny place, a happy place.

The truth of course is much different. Today Bethlehem is a city under siege. All around is the Israeli 'security fence', a structure that dwarfs the old Berlin Wall, and which has been condemned internationally.

Over the past few months I have become increasingly concerned by the plight of my brothers and sisters in Palestine, and Bethlehem in particular. I am concerned that my country uses its military bases to load U.S. aircraft with weapons for Israel, an occupying force. I am concerned that some Christians seem fit to support Israel in their attempt to bring about the 'end time.' How arrogant of them to believe they can manipulate God!

However, being concerned and angry is not enough. It is not going to improve the situation for the Palestinian people or the town of Bethlehem. What will help is to bring to the attention of my fellow Christians the truth of what is happening. For that reason I was particularly heartened by the visit to Bethlehem by UK Christian leaders and the publication of their comments afterwards.

The following is an abstract from the Open Bethlehem website

23 December 2006

Leaving Bethlehem this morning after a three-day pilgrimage, the UK ’s church leaders pledged themselves to continue to be a “voice for the voiceless” on behalf of the beleaguered people of the town.

The Rt Revd David Coffey, president of the Churches Together in England , was speaking on behalf of the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster , and the Armenian Patriarch of Great Britain, after they received symbolic Bethlehem passports.

The passports are an initiative of Open Bethlehem, a campaign which began in 2005 to draw the world’s attention to the plight of the town, which is in economic meltdown following the construction of a 30-foot-high wall by the Israeli army. The Israeli measures imposed since 2000 have led to a catastrophic decline in the number of pilgrimages to the town, on which its economy depends.

According to a 2004 UN report unemployment and poverty have caused more than 400 Christian families to leave Bethlehem in search of livelihoods abroad.

Shortly after walking through the checkpoint on Thursday, a visibly shocked Archbishop of Canterbury said the wall symbolized “all that is wrong in the human heart”.

“Your visit reassures us that we are not forgotten,” Leila Sansour, Open Bethlehem’s chief executive, told the four pilgrims.

She said the passports signaled “our hope that you will continue to be ambassadors for Bethlehem after you return home”. She asked that “whenever you travel you will speak about Bethlehem and remember us, a people who long to travel in dignity and freedom.”

There has so far been only one passport given: Pope Benedict XVI received the Bethlehem passport in December 2005 from the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

“We are fortunate to have such distinguished ambassadors to speak for us,” Sansour said.

The passport asks the bearer to “remain a true friend to Bethlehem through its imprisonment” and that he or she will “strive to keep the ideals of Bethlehem alive as long as the wall stands.”

Mr Coffey in turn presented Leila Sansour with a Christmas card signed by hundreds of people in Durham , in north-east England . The card shows Mary and Joseph approaching Bethlehem but finding the town imprisoned behind a wall.

“We support your struggle for peace with justice”, were the words on the inside of the card.

The Open Bethlehem delegation included a representative of the Governor of Bethlehem, as well as the coordinator of a network of Christian organizations in Bethlehem and a representative of the World Council of Churches.

The church leaders spent yesterday visiting Christian and humanitarian projects in Bethlehem, including Bethlehem University (where 70 per cent of the students are Muslim), the Holy Family hospital and the Arab Rehabilitation Society, a hospital for the disabled.

At the university, the church leaders received from the students a piece of a demolished house belonging to the family of one of the students, as well as a candle and a handpainted tile.

Rather than hand over the stone from the demolished house to his advisers, Dr Williams kept hold of it throughout his visit to the university.

The students spoke of life under occupation, the sense of imprisonment, and their anxieties about their future.

-- end quote --

If you share my concerns may I suggest you visit the Open Bethlehem Site
Another good source is to be found at The Amos Trust

If you find these links helpful, then pass them on. And let us pray that next Christmas in Bethlehem will not only be a demonstration of God's love in sending his son, but also of our care for God's people in Bethlehem.

Dave