O "Imprisoned" Little Town of Bethlehem

I don't post here often and I think this falls under the rules. If not, my apologies.



Oh (imprisoned) Little Town of Bethlehem
By Mike Odetalla

www.hanini.org





Christmas is fast approaching and with it the joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus will be enjoyed as more than one billion Christians around the globe gather with family and friends in prayer, joy and reflection. Children will be eagerly waiting for the morning of that blessed day with anticipation that only a child can enjoy. Christmas trees dressed, if you will, with decorations new and old, for that grand day. Festively wrapped gifts will tease children to guess their contents; children will not sleep much the night before – with all those gifts begging attention. The story of the birth of the baby Jesus will be told and retold thousands of times; scenes of the Nativity and symbols of the humble birth recreated in many forms on lawns, mantles, and endless displays. Christmas pageants and concerts will commemorate the blessed event in a time-honoured fashion around the world.


As a Muslim, I too participated in the beautiful festivities of Christmas. During my elementary school years in the United States, I sang carols with the school choir, performed in concerts and joined the annual visit to Dearborn's historic Greenfield Village that depicts American life in centuries gone by and houses a museum, historical buildings and homes that once belonged to famous Americans. One of my favorite carols, since that early childhood, has always been "Silent Night, " for it carries a pertinent message; one that sums up the atmosphere at the time of Christ's birth and reflects the true spirit of Christmas today.


While I happily participated in these activities, it always seemed that my teachers, and the world, did all they could to deny the Palestinian connection to this blessed holiday. I am Palestinian; I was born in Jerusalem, a few miles from Bethlehem, the Palestinian village of Jesus' birth. Singing to people with no knowledge of Palestine, Palestinians, and our link to Bethlehem and to Jesus always seemed very strange; it still seems strange. For our audiences, it was always about Israel. Time and time again, I heard people say how nice it would be to visit the Israeli town of Bethlehem, ignoring the fact that Bethlehem is a Palestinian town and Palestinian Christians and Muslims live there, tormented and imprisoned under the brutal military occupation of Israel.


I soon began to realize that we were singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to people who had absolutely no idea of what really was happening there. We were singing to people who were completely ignorant of the thousands of desperate refugees who live in Bethlehem's refugee camps. To our audience, Bethlehem was an idyllic scene, the one often found on postcards and Christmas greetings. I knew the brutal truth: that Bethlehem is home to some of the poorest people on earth. Palestinians whose home are the refugee camps of Bethlehem, live in abject poverty and misery, as they have done for generations, after being expelled from their homes with the creation of the state of Israel in the ethnic cleansing that took place in 1948. How very fitting that the Virgin Mary, seeking refuge from the mighty Roman army, and a safe place to give birth, came to this town.


Today, two thousand years later, Bethlehem, like much of Palestine, continues to be home to thousands of refugees. Ringed by settlements for Jews only, walled off and separated, Bethlehem today is virtually cut off from the rest of Palestine, its lands, water and other resources expropriated by the Israelis in a relentless effort to make life ever more unbearable for the Palestinian natives and refugees who call the village home.


Today, we hear of pregnant Palestinian women who must endure the hell of the Israeli occupation, its inhumane and degrading checkpoints, in order to reach the safe haven of a hospital to give birth to their children. While the Virgin Mary found refuge in a humble stable, many of her contemporary young mothers-to-be are forced to stand endless hours at checkpoints manned by Israel's teenage soldiers who not only lack compassion but simply could not care less about the plight of a woman in labor. Many women have given birth in taxis or in streets choked with dust in summer and swimming with mud in winter as they wait at checkpoints for hours to receive permission from the young soldier who arbitrarily decides whether they 'look pregnant or only fat.' Too many children and mothers have died from lack of medical care and failure to be allowed to pass in a timely manner.


The always "thoughtful" and "humane" Israeli army has even issued birthing kits to the young soldiers who control the many checkpoints that choke the life of Palestine and its people. These kits are to be used to help women who "choose" to give birth at these checkpoints: no woman would opt to give birth under such conditions. Still, an ever growing number of Palestinian infants carry the name "Hajez" (from the Arabic word for checkpoint) as a bitter reminder of their birthplace. If that weren’t bad enough, now the Palestinian mothers have to contend with the 30 foot high concrete walls that acts as a noose around the Palestinian cities and villages, choking the very life out of them.


I fail to grasp what benefit such inhumanity bestows upon the Jewish state: the bitter truth is that 2,000 years after Mary gave birth to Jesus under Roman occupation, Palestinian mothers in Bethlehem and elsewhere in occupied Palestine still seek safe refuge to deliver their infants. The birth of a human being is a momentous and joyous occasion for the parents; even for those who suffer the torturous nightmare, pain and anxiety of checkpoint deliveries. But the tragedy of seeing this joyous event end in the unbearable agony of the death of a newborn or its mother is unconscionable.


So, as you hear "O Little Town of Bethlehem" this Christmas season, please pause for a moment to remember those for whom this Palestinian town is home. The Christian children of Palestine, together with their Muslim brothers and sisters, will observe Christmas and remember its beautiful story this year, but they will have little to celebrate behind the 30 foot high concrete walls that imprison them and their families. Fear and hunger will keep them awake through the night, not the anticipation of gifts and feasts as in the Christmas of other lands. While the rest of the world celebrates this glorious holiday of birth and rebirth, Bethlehem's children, like all Palestinian children, will pray for some brief respite from the fright of the killings, shootings, abuse and destruction that is the reality of life in Palestine.



Mike Odetalla..."A seed in the eternal fruit of Palestine"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x21970

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