War-Weary Christians Seek Escape from Holy Land

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=572&ncid=572&e=4&u=/nm/20031217/lf_nm/mideast_christians_dc_1

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" Ihab Mousselem's ties to the Holy Land are as old as Christmas itself.

But this year, when church bells summon worshipers to Yuletide mass at Bethlehem's Manger Square, he will be far from the ancient stone streets where his family has lived for generations.

Mousselem, 39, is emigrating to Europe this week, joining a growing exodus of Palestinian Christians squeezed by Israel's crippling military blockade of the West Bank and the rise of Muslim fundamentalism.

Christians, already a tiny minority in the Palestinian territories, say their situation has become so bleak that their once-thriving communities are in danger of one day disappearing from the land where Christianity began."

I recall reading years ago that it was really over water. It seemed so odd I read this whole story. It really looked like what most of it was about. Arabs have the land where it is and guess who wants it? I read this 20 years ago and I have often wondered about it. My guess is, if this was true, and the Arabs are being walled off we do know where the water is. Water is big in that part of the world.