Bethlehem sermon calls for peace in the Middle East DEC 24,08 by Patrick Moser
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) – The Catholic leader in the Holy Land Thursday prayed for Mideast peace, telling the faithful at the traditional birthplace of Jesus the silent night of Christmas overpowers the voice of guns.Peace to Bethlehem and all the inhabitants of the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal said in his sermon at midnight mass in Bethlehem, just a few meters from the grotto that marks the spot where Christians believe their Prince of Peace was born in a stable.On this night, the silence of the grotto will be even louder than the voice of the cannons and submachine guns, he told pilgrims from around the world who celebrated Christmas in this Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.His words rang out as violence escalated in the Gaza Strip where fighters of the Hamas movement that rules the besieged Palestinian enclave fired a barrage of rockets at Israel which responded with a deadly air raid.The silence of the grotto gives life to those whose voice has been suffocated by tears and who have sought refuge in silence and impotence, he told the crowd that packed the church, which included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.The cry of the widows and the children is mixed with the noise of cannons and submachine guns, said Twal who delivered his sermon in his native Arabic and then again in French.
Peace, Twal said, is the solution for all conflicts and differences. War does not produce peace, prisons do not guarantee stability.The highest of walls do not assure security, he told the faithful, many of whom had driven through a gate at the eight-metre (26-feet) high concrete wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem and forms part of the projected 700-kilometer West Bank separation barrier Israel says is needed for security.It was heartbreaking to see that wall, it's a blot on Israel, said Jessica Kelly, 22.She and her boyfriend Sean Wright, 30, both said they felt torn between the joy of Christmas and the sadness at the reality of the wall.The two students from Sydney were among thousands of Christians who flocked to Bethlehem.
Throughout the day, pilgrims prayed in the Church of the Nativity and the adjoining St Catherine's Church where midnight mass was celebrated.Others milled in Manger Square just outside, where Boy Scout marching bands kicked off celebrations playing hymns on bagpipes and drums.It is really very special to be in Bethlehem on the day we celebrate Christmas, it is a very emotional moment, said Eduardo Robles Gil, a Mexican priest who was on a pilgrimage with his family.Souvenir stores were doing brisk business selling nativity scenes carved in olive wood, rosaries and religious trinkets.Elsa Marie Kierkegaard, a Dane who converted to Catholicism five years ago, was taken aback by what she felt was crass commercialism.It's like one big market, she said looking at the food stands, garlands of lights, synthetic pine trees and inflatable Santas.But the visitors, returning in the largest numbers yet since the 2000 start of the second Palestinian uprising, brought a strong dose of Christmas cheer. Bethlehem welcomed over one million tourists this year, twice as many as in 2007 and the highest number since 1999, Palestinian officials said. The tourist boom is a welcome respite for the Palestinian territory, whose economic growth has been severely hurt by hundreds of Israeli checkpoints and the separation barrier that restrict movement of goods and people. In Gaza City, Roman Catholic priest Manuel Musalem celebrated midnight mass six hours early in what he called a protest against the violence and the Israeli blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory. We pray for peace and that the blockade and the siege end in the Gaza Strip, and we ask the world to help Palestinians, he said in his sermon to about 200 faithful.
Christians celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem DEC 24,08 By DALIA NAMMARI, Associated Press Writer
BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Christians celebrated Bethlehem's merriest Christmas in eight years Wednesday, with hotels booked solid, Manger Square bustling with families and Israeli and Palestinian forces cooperating to make things run smoothly.The festivities in the West Bank town contrasted sharply with Hamas-run Gaza. While revelers in Bethlehem launched pink fireworks from a rooftop, militants fired more than 80 rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and villages, sending people scrambling for bomb shelters.The latest attacks, and an Israeli air strike on rocket-firers that killed one person and wounded two, appeared to have buried an unwieldy six-month cease-fire that expired last week.But 45 miles away, outside the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, good-natured crowds of pilgrims and townspeople gathered for the midnight Catholic mass that is the holiday's highlight.Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal said in an address during the late-night service that true security comes from God.War does not produce peace, prisons do not guarantee stability. The highest of walls do not assure security, said Twal, the Catholic Church's top cleric in the Holy Land. Peace is a gift of God, and only God can give that peace.Pope Benedict XVI also celebrated Midnight Mass at the Vatican. In his Christmas address, the pontiff spoke of peace in Bethlehem, the land in which Jesus lived, and which he loved so deeply. And let us pray that peace will be established there, that hatred and violence will cease.Earlier, a dozen pilgrims from India, Canada, Britain, the U.S. and other countries sang impromptu renditions of Christmas carols. David Bogenrief, 57, of Sioux City, Iowa, played the trumpet.
Jesus was the prince of peace, and he can bring that peace to you. We pray for you, Bogenrief told a gaggle of children who gathered to listen.In Manger Square, vendors hawked roasted peanuts and Santa hats. Many in the square were Muslims out to enjoy their town's annual moment at the center of world attention.Bethlehem is like the soul of the universe, and it's like an explosion of love here, said Stefano Croce, 46, a fashion photographer from Rome, Italy.Bethlehem has suffered from the Israeli-Palestinian fighting of recent years, and is now surrounded on three sides by concrete slabs and fences — part of a barrier Israel has built against Palestinian suicide attackers, some of whom came from Bethlehem. The Palestinians see the barrier as a land grab and say it has strangled the town's economy.Emigration has cut the town's Christian population to an estimated 35 to 50 percent of its 40,000 people, compared with 90 percent in the 1950s.Israel has held peace talks over the past year with the moderate West Bank government of President Mahmoud Abbas, and the spirit of cooperation has allowed Palestinian forces a limited measure of independence in places like Bethlehem, under Israel's overall security control.
Eyad Sirhan, the Israeli military officer responsible for coordination in Bethlehem, said this week that he can talk to his Palestinian counterpart any time, 24 hours a day, about everything from police patrols to garbage collection. Every detail of the holiday preparations was meticulously discussed by the sides, Sirhan said.Safer times mean the Palestinians have counted more than 1 million visitors to Bethlehem so far this year, a rise of more than 20,000 from 2007.The situation is dramatically different in Gaza, controlled by the Islamic militant group Hamas which seized the territory by force in June last year. An Israeli blockade prevents Gazans from leaving the territory and causes shortages of fuel and basic supplies.The missiles fired from Gaza are inaccurate and Israelis are well drilled in taking cover, so no one was injured Wednesday, though dozens were treated for shock. One target was Ashkelon, a Mediterranean city of 120,000. We demand the government take action, Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin told Israel's Channel 1 TV. People are hiding in bomb shelters and our children are taking cover under desks at school. This cannot continue.Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, running for prime minister in February elections, said in a speech Wednesday: There is a point where every country and every leadership says — and this is what we say tonight as well — enough is enough.
Security officials said a big military campaign against Gaza militants had already been approved but was being delayed by bad winter weather. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of Israel's military plans. Meanwhile, the military said, it has decided to hook up an improved warning system against missiles — an indication of mounting concern that Gaza militants have dramatically expanded their range. To protest Israel's blockade, the head of Gaza's tiny Roman Catholic community — 300 in a population of 1.4 million — canceled Christmas midnight Mass. Father Manuel Musallem said the parish would instead hold an evening mass. Associated Press Writers Anna Johnson in Bethlehem and Associated Press Writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City contributed to this report.
Hamas rockets pound Israel as truce hopes fade by Sakher Abu El Oun Sakher Abu El Oun – Wed Dec 24, 4:57 pm ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Hamas fighters fired off a barrage of rockets on Wednesday against Israel, which retaliated with a deadly air raid in an escalation of Gaza violence that is dimming prospects of a new truce.Israel warned it would strike back if it continued to be hit from the impoverished Palestinian enclave, which has been under an increasingly tight Israeli blockade since the Islamists violently seized power in June 2007.Hamas is responsible for these rocket attacks, and it will pay a big price, said Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Israeli television Wednesday night.We will not allow this situation to last.Hamas gunmen launched more than 70 projectiles, the largest barrage since before an Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect in and around Gaza in June but expired five days ago.UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm about the violence and issued an urgent appeal for calm.But Hamas -- which said Wednesday's rocket fire was in retaliation for the killing of three militants the day before -- vowed to step up attacks if Israel responded with strikes against Gaza.(Israel) should know that any decision to attack the Gaza Strip will open the gates of hell and we will make you regret your stupidity with tears of blood, the group's armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said.Israel's stupidity will push us to expand (operations) and put in our line of fire thousands of new Zionists to defend the Palestinian people.Israel in turn warned it would hit back, although analysts said it was likely to be wary of major action ahead of a February election.
President Shimon Peres, on a visit to the town of Sderot which has borne the brunt of rocket attacks, said Israel's response must be measured, responsible and efficient.Israel's security cabinet met for five hours to discuss possible action, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert imposed a black-out.Late on Wednesday, Hamas fighter Yahi al-Shaaher, 23, was killed and four other Palestinians wounded when an Israeli helicopter fired three missiles near the southern town of Rafah, medics and witnesses said.An Israeli army spokesman said the raid targeted rocket-firing terrorists.Wednesday's rocket barrage did not cause injuries but sowed panic among Israelis living near Gaza. An alert system has been set up to warn towns and villages near the border of any imminent strike.Two of the rockets were longer-range Grads, which struck 13 kilometres (eight miles) north of Gaza, hitting a house and an amusement park in the city of Ashkelon, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
Grads are not fired often by Gaza militants, who usually launch home-made projectiles dubbed Qassams, which have a shorter range and are less accurate.A UN statement said Ban was gravely concerned about the situation and that he condemned the rocket attacks, while also calling for an urgent easing of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip. Since Friday's expiry of the Egyptian-mediated truce, Israel has threatened to launch a major offensive on Gaza and Hamas warned it would retaliate by resuming suicide attacks inside the Jewish state. Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group as it is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state, kept Gaza sealed on Wednesday. Aid groups have warned of a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the tiny enclave, virtually cut off from the outside world since Hamas violently ousted its rivals from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction. They have repeatedly appealed to Israel to ease its blockade and allow shipments into Gaza, where most of the 1.5 million population depends on foreign aid. Mahmud Zahar, a hardline Hamas leader, said on Tuesday that the group was ready to renew the truce if Israel lifted its blockade and stopped raids.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was due to travel to Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the ceasefire. Both Israel and Hamas face delicate balancing acts in dealing with the escalation. Ahead of the election, the Israeli leadership is maintaining a tough line in public, but is wary of launching a large-scale offensive for fear it does not score a decisive victory against Hamas, analysts say. And Hamas, despite its bellicose public statements, does not want an all-out Israeli assault that could threaten its position, they say.
The Two-State Solution Now a Three-Way Stalemate By TONY KARON Tony Karon – Wed Dec 24, 2:30 pm ET
VP-Elect Bidens Brings Holiday Cheer To Wilmington CBS 3 Philadelphia President Bush had hoped to leave office with Israelis and Palestinians having agreed on a two-state peace solution. Instead, he'll leave behind a situation more akin to a three-state standoff primed to explode in a new bout of violence. And the embattled Palestinian leader upon whom the Bush administration has been depending in its peace efforts looks likely to see his role diminish even further.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who made a valedictory visit to the White House on Friday, has seen his political authority steadily enfeebled since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections almost three years ago, and then seized military control over Gaza 18 months later. Today, it is with Hamas that Israel has to deal - via Egyptian intermediaries - when it seeks to stop Palestinian rocket fire onto its territory. Abbas may enjoy the good offices of a lame-duck U.S. President, but he has been reduced once again to a powerless spectator as Israel and Hamas tussle over whether the tahdiyah truce, declared dead after six months by the militant group last week, will be revived.And there may be worse to come for Abbas. Although Hamas has continued to recognize Abbas as the legitimate President of the Palestinian Authority, that may be about to change. Abbas' presidential term expires on January 9. Although his own Fatah party makes a case that the term could legitimately be extended by another year, Hamas is having none of it. In the second week of 2009, it will no longer recognize Abbas as President, thereby formalizing the political divorce between the two Palestinian entities. Abbas has long since withdrawn recognition of the duly-elected Hamas government in the West Bank, which is controlled by his security forces in concert with the Israelis; now Hamas will formalize its de facto denial of Abbas' authority in Gaza.
As long as that duality persists, Israel will be able to argue that it has no Palestinian interlocutor capable of enforcing a peace agreement, even if it were in a mood to negotiate one - and it is unlikely to be if, as polls predict, February's Israeli election is won by hawkish Likud leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And both Fatah and Hamas believe that they will gain more politically at the expense of the other if there is no progress toward peace. (See images of Gaza border tension)Meanwhile, the dynamic between Israel and Hamas remains one of low-key violence that could erupt into a full-blown confrontation at any moment. Hamas last week announced that it would not renew the truce brokered by Egypt last summer, arguing that Israel had failed to restore the normal flow of commercial traffic into Gaza that the movement had been expecting. Israel claims it had reached no such understanding, and cites ongoing rocket fire from Gaza onto towns in southern Israel, which has dramatically escalated since an Israeli raid on November 5. Diplomatic efforts continue, however, and Hamas on Monday announced a 24-hour truce, at Egypt's request, to allow for further negotiations. Israeli politicians, in the thick of an election campaign, are under pressure to respond forcefully to the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza. But the Israeli military is reluctant to launch a full-blown invasion of Gaza because of the cost in civilian and military casualties, and because Israel lacks a plausible exit strategy and wants to avoid resuming responsibility for the territory. Hamas also wants to prevent a full-blown Israeli invasion, which would eliminate its capacity to govern even if it remained the premier resistance organization. But while both sides have an interest in containing their low-key war, the problem is that the rockets fired from Gaza are hardly precision-guided. The moment a missile hits a school or a bus, Israel's leaders will be compelled to launch a more robust military response. That, of course, may be what President Abbas - and others in the Arab world hostile to Hamas - are counting on, as the only plausible scenario for restoring Fatah's control over Gaza. Abbas has threatened to call new presidential and parliamentary elections if Hamas won't recognize him as president after January 9, but that's an empty threat. Hamas controls Gaza, and it rejects holding new parliamentary elections there ahead of schedule. And Abbas is hardly assured of winning a solid mandate even in the West Bank, where the Fatah party's retains control but is beset by an image of corruption. Calling an election on the West Bank would risk seeing a turnout so low as to make a mockery of the poll. With such dubious prospects for an election, the most likely scenario for changing the balance of power in Gaza remains Israeli military intervention.
The Palestinian Authority is expecting the Israeli Defense Force to go into Gaza and defeat Hamas, and then restore the control of Abu Mazen [Abbas], an Israeli security official tells TIME. But the Israeli security establishment is skeptical of Abbas' ability to maintain control in Gaza, and continues to see risk outweighing reward from an invasion - although that calculation could change very quickly if a rocket fired from Gaza inflicted mass casualties in Israel. Last week, the U.N. Security Council characterized as irreversible the Israeli-Palestinian talks that have been held at the behest of the Bush Administration over the past year. But they have simply been conversations that have resulted in no actual movement forward on the ground. The grim reality confronting all three sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the Obama Administration, in the New Year, is that the situation remains deadlocked, and that the stalemate will more likely be broken by a new round of violence than it is by any peace talks. With reporting by Aaron J. Klein/Jerusalem and Jamil Hamad/Bethlehem,View this article on Time.com
Pope to visit Holy Land in May by Patrick Moser Patrick Moser – Tue Dec 23, 7:44 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Holy Land in May on his first trip to the region as pontiff, Jerusalem's Latin patriach said on Monday.With joy we would like to announce to you the desire of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Holy Land as a pilgrim next May, Fuad Twal, the Catholic leader in the Holy Land, told reporters.It was the first official confirmation of Benedict's widely mooted trip to the region -- his first since being elected pope in 2005.The supreme pontiff wishes to pray with us and for us, and to acquire a first-hand knowledge of the hard conditions of our region, Twal said in his Christmas message.We are confident in the Lord that this pontifical pilgrimage and pastoral visit will be a blessing for all of us as well as a substantial contribution to better understanding among the various nations of the region, lifting the barriers and helping solve the problems, removing distress and consolidating good relations among people, religions and denominations, Twal said.He did not give specific dates. We are studying the programme with the local authorities, he said. Last week the Italian newspaper Il Foglio said the pope would travel to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories from May 8 to 15.
According to Il Foglio, the pope will celebrate mass in Jerusalem and again in Nazareth and Bethlehem where he will meet Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.No meeting is planned with representatives of the radical Islamist group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, the report said.Earlier in December, Israeli President Shimon Peres said he met a Vatican delegation to discuss preparations for a possible visit by Benedict to Israel next year.During a visit to Italy in September 2007, Peres invited the pope to Israel. The pope responded that he would be happy to accept the invitation, but no date was set.Already uneasy relations between the Vatican and Israel have been further strained by the prospect that Nazi-era Pope Pius XII will be declared a saint, despite widespread criticism of his inaction during the Holocaust.The controversy, which has lingered for decades, resurfaced in October as the pontiff defended the memory of his wartime predecessor and said he hope his beatification -- the first step towards sainthood -- would go forward quickly.But, citing Jewish sensitivities, the Vatican later indicated that Benedict was holding off the beatification process.Peres has stressed that the row should not affect plans for the proposed papal trip.Benedict's visit will come at a time when Church leaders bemoan a shrinking Roman Catholic population in the Holy Land over recent years.Churches suffer from the ongoing emigration of the Christians due to the lack of peace and the deterioration of the political situation, Twal said.
He also railed against the greed, injustice, violence and persecution that he said beset the Holy City, as well as the building of settlements that strangle it.All this makes us anxious for the future of the Christian community in the Homeland of Christ, Twal said. Pope Paul VI was the first pontiff to visit Israel, in 1964, and Pope John Paul II visited in 2000.
Olmert in Turkey for indirect Israel-Syria peace talks Mon Dec 22, 7:51 pm ET
ANKARA (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Monday to discuss the indirect talks that Turkey is mediating between the Jewish state and Syria.On his short visit to the Turkish capital, Olmert was expected to thank Turkey for its efforts to work out an eventual peace between the two neighbouring nations, which have been in a state of war since 1948, according to a diplomatic source.In a related development Erdogan told Hamas on Monday he would ask Olmert to lift the blockade of Gaza, a spokesman for the Islamist movement said.Ismail Haniya, the prime minister in the Hamas government of Gaza, had a telephone conversation with Erdogan who told him of his intention to ask Olmert to end aggressions and the siege of Gaza, spokesman Taher al-Nunu said.
Israeli and Syrian negotiators have met four times since May with Turkish diplomats in Istanbul, but so far without any evident results.However, the indirect talks are a sign that Turkey, a Muslim but secular state, wants to play a significant role in resolving the conflicts in the Middle East.Erdogan's chief adviser, Ahmed Davutoglu, an academic who holds the rank of ambassador, has visited Israel and Syria several times, as well as the Palestinian territories and the capitals of Arab states, to put out feelers if conditions are ripe for negotiating an accord.Olmert, who is resigning under the cloud of a corruption probe, said on Thursday that a peace accord with Syria was within the realm of possibility.He will remain in office until a new government is formed following Israel's legislative elections set for February 10.But the leading challenger to succeed him, opposition hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu, has dismissed Olmert's peace efforts, saying Friday any concessions he might make do not and will not obligate a government that I shall head.In exchange for peace, the Syrians want the return of all of the Golan Heights which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981, a move never recognised by the international community.Israel for its part is calling on Damascus to sever its ties with the current regime in Iran and stop its support for militants, namely the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movements.Olmert also met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and held a working dinner with Erdogan. No press conference had been announced.
Lebanon leaders put off reconciliation talks to New Year Mon Dec 22, 11:27 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon's feuding leaders on Monday postponed until the New Year talks about the arsenal of Shiite militant group Hezbollah -- the single most contentious issue in the country's fractious politics.On January 22, faction chiefs will hold a fourth round of talks on the issue which plunged Lebanon into devastating conflict with Israel in summer 2006, a statement from President Michel Sleiman's office said.It added the third round focused on the issue of the national defence strategy... and plans to form a committee of experts to find the conclusions and common denominators between the various proposals that were submitted.Three of the dialogue participants -- former president Amin Gemeyel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Syrian-backed Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun -- submitted defense proposals at the meeting.Hezbollah put forward its own plan, one participant who requested anonymity told AFP.Mohamed Raad said during the meeting that Hezbollah also has a defence strategy it will submit on paper, the participant said.Hezbollah has faced sustained allegations of rearming illegally from Syria in breach of a 2006 UN Security Council resolution that brought the conflict to a close.Monday's session follows two rounds of talks in September and November and is being attended by 14 leaders representing each of the main parliamentary blocs.Lebanon endured a damaging 18-month political crisis that brought the country close to civil war earlier this year before a Qatari-brokered deal between the rival groups.
Hamas agrees to 24-hour truce in Gaza Mon Dec 22, 7:27 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions in Gaza agreed on Monday to hold rocket and mortar fire against Israel for 24 hours at the request of Egyptian mediators, a leader of the Islamist group said.The militants in the Gaza Strip have accepted a calm for a 24-hour period following Egyptian mediation in excahnge for the delivery of aid from Egypt, Ayman Taha told AFP.
Israel tells UN it will respond to Gaza rocket fire Mon Dec 22, 3:12 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel notified UN chief Ban Ki-moon that it will respond to continuing rocket fire from Gaza following the expiry of a truce with Hamas, a foreign ministry official said Monday.Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev sent the letter to Ban on Sunday as part of a diplomatic campaign to garner international support for any offensive against the territory, the senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity.(Israel) will not hesitate to react militarily if necessary to rockets fired by militants from the Gaza Strip, Shalev said in her letter, according to public radio.Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the governing Kadima party, is due to soon meet with foreign ambassadors to Israel and to speak with her counterparts abroad, the official said.Violence around the impoverished Gaza Strip has steadily escalated since Friday, when Hamas said it would not renew a six-month truce with Israel.Since then, the army has carried out several air strikes, killing one militant, and Palestinians have launched several dozen rockets into the Jewish state, wounding a handful of people.On Sunday, Israeli officials threatened to launch a major offensive against the territory, which has been ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since June 2007.
