Record pilgrims in Bethlehem for Christmas
by Musa al-Shaer – Sat Dec 25, 8:53 am ET
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Bethlehem hosted a record number of pilgrims this Christmas, Palestinian officials said Saturday as tens of thousands flocked to celebrate in the birthplace of Jesus.With thousands still heading to the West Bank city on Christmas Day, officials said the numbers may have even surpassed the 90,000 predicted by the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Holy Day.This is the first year that Bethlehem has hosted so many people, Bethlehem city official George Saade told AFP. However, he said they did not yet have exact figures.The Israeli military, which controls the main checkpoint leading into the city, also said it did not yet have the numbers.In the wake of the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, the spectre of unrest and violence kept tourists away, leaving the little town deserted on Christmas for several years.However, 2010 was the third straight year Bethlehem has seen record numbers of pilgrims and tourists returning. Officials said all of Bethlehem's 24 hotels were fully booked.The Christmas season caps a year of unprecedented tourism for Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories, where visitor revenues are sorely needed.Herve, a French tourist in town with his wife and three children, said the experience was a magical and mysterious moment.
It's been a dream for a long time to be here for Christmas,he told AFP.It's a night of communion with the whole world and it's a very nice Christmas gift for my family.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Arab Israelis were also expected in Bethlehem, along with several hundred from the tiny Christian community in Gaza who were able to secure rare Israeli entry permits for the holiday.The visitors who packed Manger Square on Friday enjoyed the festive atmosphere, taking pictures and fighting off the crisp night air with steaming boiled corn-on-the-cob and cups of sweet Arabic coffee from dozens of vendors.Others managed to attend midnight mass in St. Catherine's Church, next to the Church of the Nativity, where the Middle East's senior Catholic cleric called for peace and reconciliation in the region.During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal told an audience that included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, Twal also offered a vision of a better, more peaceful future.Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions.
Ecuador recognizes independent Palestinian state
– Sat Dec 25, 8:39 am ET
QUITO, Ecuador – The Ecuadorean government is the latest in Latin American to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.The Foreign Ministry says in a statement that President Rafael Correa officially recognized Palestine on Friday as free and independent, with its borders since 1967.It says he sent a message to that effect to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Ecuador joins Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela in supporting an independent Palestine with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war.
Pope appeals for Israeli-Palestinian co-existence
– Sat Dec 25, 6:33 am ET
VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI issued an appeal for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in his traditional Christmas Day address at the Vatican on Saturday.May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful coexistence,he told the crowds gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Crowds pack Bethlehem to hear message of peace
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 24, 6:41 pm ET
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Middle East's senior Catholic cleric called for peace and reconciliation in a traditional Christmas Eve midnight mass before thousands in the birthplace of Jesus Christ.During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal told an audience that included Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Pilgrims from around the world gathered in St. Catherine's Church on Bethlehem's Manger Square to hear the traditional address in the city where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, Twal offered a vision of a better, more peaceful future.
Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions.He also drew attention to the plight of Iraqi Christians, after a bloody October attack on a Baghdad church.We recall the tragedy that struck the Christian community in Iraq. Such fanatic actions are universally condemned by Christians and Muslims, he said.The incident, which killed 44 worshippers and two priests, cast a shadow over Iraq's dwindling Christian population, a frequent target of bloody attacks.Twal called for dialogue in the Middle East to overcome fundamentalism, and urged the faithful to reach out to their enemies in reconciliation.In a world torn apart by violence and fundamentalism, which legitimises the worst actions, including killings in churches, the Child of Bethlehem reminds us that the first commandment is Love.He teaches us forgiveness and reconciliation, even with our enemies.After Twal's homily, a choir dressed in traditional Palestinian outfits, including black dresses with red embroidery for the women, sang hymns and the faithful took communion.In the hours leading up to the mass, excited pilgrims inside St Catherine's, some of the lucky few to secure a coveted entrance pass, listened to the chanting of Franciscan monks.
Abbas and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad sat near the front of the church, along with diplomats from several European countries.Church bells rang and the choir sang Christmas carols as a delegation of Korean nuns dressed in traditional Korean outfits listened.Herve, a French tourist in town with his wife and three children, said the experience was a magical and mysterious moment.It's been a dream for a long time to be here for Christmas, he told AFP.It's a night of communion with the whole world and it's a very nice Christmas gift for my family.In Manger Square, those who couldn't secure a ticket for the mass enjoyed the festive atmosphere, taking pictures and fighting off the crisp night air with steaming boiled corn-on-the-cob and cups of sweet Arabic coffee from dozens of vendors. A record number of tourists and pilgrims have flocked into the occupied West Bank town in the past two years after nearly a decade dominated by fears of violence that left Bethlehem virtually deserted at Christmas.Before nightfall, a long line of pilgrims waited to enter the grotto inside the Church of the Nativity where Mary is said to have given birth to Jesus Christ after she and Joseph could not find any room at the inn.Earlier, crowds lined Bethlehem's Star Street and Manger Square to watch the traditional Christmas Eve procession that brought Twal into the town centre.
It's amazing. To be in the birthplace of Christ on Christmas, you can't get better than that, said Brady MacCarl, 22. During the Christmas period, the Palestinian Authority expects at least 90,000 people to flood into Bethlehem, which sits behind a major Israeli checkpoint and the controversial security wall.But unlike in years past, when the spectre of unrest and violence kept tourists away and those who visited spent the night in Israel instead, Bethlehem's 24 hotels were all fully booked.The Christmas season will cap a year of unprecedented tourism for Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories, where visitor revenues are sorely needed.Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Arab Israelis were also expected in Bethlehem, along with several hundred from the tiny Christian community in Gaza who were able to secure rare Israeli entry permits for the holiday.Meanwhile, Israeli police and medics said three Italian pilgrims were killed and two others were seriously injured when their car crashed in northern Israel. Local media reported that all five were nuns.
Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians
by W.G. Dunlop – Fri Dec 24, 2:21 pm ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Christians in the Middle East prepared on Friday to celebrate Christmas, some in fear of attacks against their community, as in Iraq, and others in the most discreet way possible, as in Saudi Arabia.For Iraq's battered Christian community, threats of attacks from Al-Qaeda and mourning for the victims of an October massacre at a Baghdad church have turned a normally festive season into one of fear and sadness.Many mass gatherings in Iraq were cancelled on Friday, and Saturday services will be held during the morning for safety reasons.Security measures have been stepped up after Al-Qaeda threats against Christians, with protective walls erected around some churches and the number of soldiers and police guarding churches strengthened.On October 31, militants laid siege to Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church, leaving 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces personnel dead in an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq.
Ten days later a string of attacks targeted the homes of Christians in Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 33 others.On Friday, Chaldean Catholic archbishop Monsignor Louis Sarko said in a message from Kirkuk that Iraqi Christians must remain steadfast, despite their fears.Today we are living a painful experience in Iraq, which reached its peak with the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation, which touched both Christians and Muslims. But we must persevere in the face of disaster, Sarko said.We will not surrender to division and frustration, he said.Father Saad Sirop Hanna, the priest of the Saint Joseph Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad, told his congregation at a Christmas Eve service: Do not fear -- that is the message today.In Saudi Arabia, Christians will be as discreet as possible in their Christmas celebrations, as the Gulf kingdom forbids the overt practice of any religion but Islam.In the capital Riyadh, there are no signs of the Christmas season.
We don't do much for Christmas; we have to be careful, said Raul, one of the more than one million mostly Christian Filipino migrant workers in the country, who along with two other fellow welders from Pangasinan were doing their weekly shopping at the popular Pinoy supermarket in Riyadh.I put up some Christmas lights in my apartment, and made a tree in the shop, said Valentin, a metal shop worker from Cavite. You can't buy a Christmas tree in Saudi Arabia.Religious services take place, but are exceedingly hush-hush. The state oil giant Aramco, with thousands of non-Muslim employees, has long allowed services in its tightly guarded compounds in Eastern Province.Foreign communities also organise their own services, though most of the Christians in the country do not have access.Although private worship in homes is protected under government orders, many Saudis including the religious police are not aware of that and so Christians are particularly cautious of attracting attention.In other Gulf oil monarchies, major shopping centres have been particularly lively, with shoppers drawn to decorations and Christmas presents.
Various hotels in the United Arab Emirates have decorated trees, with one in Abu Dhabi housing a 13-metre-high (42 foot) version decorated with jewellery said to be worth more than 11 million dollars (8.4 million euros), making it the most expensive Christmas tree ever.In shopping areas of the Syrian capital Damascus, Christmas ornaments, toys, Santa Claus suits and sweets can be found. And Christmas trees have been put up in some Syrian cities, including one in Safita near Tartus in the country's east that is 18 metres (60 feet) tall and has 3,200 lights, with a large nativity scene nearby.Lebanon, a tiny multi-confessional Mediterranean state that is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state, is one of the few countries in the region where Christians have full religious freedom.Christmas celebrations there transcend the multitude of religious communities, members of which formed often sectarian-based militias in Lebanon's devastating 1975-1990 civil war.Many Muslim families have Christmas trees and decorations, and gifts and Santa Claus are social phenomena in the country which is caught up in a frenzy of buying that would match many Western states.Mass is held in Christian communities across Lebanon, including those in religiously mixed areas.South of the border, crowds of tourists and Palestinians flocked into the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, to celebrate Christmas.
Gaza's fallen women: doing time for moral crime
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 24, 8:23 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Najwa Abu Amra cries inside a Gaza jail as she explains how she got here. Struggling to care for two sons and a drug-addicted husband, she agreed to sleep with a man for about 50 dollars.She had resisted prostitution in the past, but she was getting desperate.My husband isn't normal, he was telling me to sleep with men because they would give him money, she told AFP.He did what he liked and he didn't give me anything. I didn't know what to do.Her husband showed no interest in caring for their two boys, one aged nine, the other just three. When she walked out, trying to prod him into better behaviour, he married a second wife.I had two sons, one of them is deaf, I didn't have a choice, she explains as the other women prisoners look on, some of them clutching their own children.Out of desperation, she dialled the number of a man she had met months earlier, and agreed to sleep with him for 200 shekels (54 dollars, 41 euros).
Not long afterwards, Abu Amra was arrested on suspicion of immoral behaviour.She was hauled before a judge and ordered to attend 30 days of pre-trial detention at the Training and Reform Centre for Women, Gaza's only prison for women.The facility is run by Hamas, which has been in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. The group won legislative elections in 2006, and a year later seized control of the coastal enclave after deadly confrontations with rival Fatah.Since coming to power, the Islamist group has sought to bolster Gaza's conservative religious mores, although it has rescinded some controversial measures, including one banning women from publicly smoking the waterpipe.The prison, such as it is, consists of two rooms that house 19 women and a handful of children. The rest of the building, which is still under construction, houses a men's prison and administration offices.Inside one of the rooms, 11 women sit on foam cushions and thick rugs, their thin blankets piled in a corner. One nurses a child in the dimly-lit room, which has only one tiny window letting in very little light.In the other, eight women sit chatting with their female prison guard, Umm Ahmed, who treats them with a mixture of sympathy and revulsion.
Abu Amra's two boys are still with her husband, but another woman, a tired and scared-looking prisoner who refuses to give her name, is rocking her newborn son in her arms.He was born just three days earlier and doesn't yet have a name. His mother was transferred to a hospital for the birth then returned to jail shortly after.His father is a man she slept with for money, Umm Ahmed says. But the new mother claims otherwise, describing the man as her husband.She says her family arranged the marriage while she was in jail, hoping it would be enough to get her out and minimise some of the public disgrace they face. Umm Ahmed says the family has done no such thing.It is a common solution, said Nasser Deeb Suliman, director of prison security, especially when the man in the question is someone the family knows. If it was with a neighbour or a friend, usually the family will decide to marry them, and then the woman can be released, he told AFP.The woman's sister, who also refused to give her name, is in a similar situation.She is heavily pregnant and due to give birth this month, after spending almost half of her pregnancy in prison.Suliman said the women are divided between the two rooms according to the severity of their crimes, but 21-year-old Tahrir, who was convicted of murder, is in the same room as women accused of prostitution and pickpocketing.In the next room sits Rihab, a quiet and pale 34-year-old whose arms are covered in scars from cutting herself. She talks openly but without pride about how she ended up in prison.She didn't need money, she had a job at a local hospital. Her crime was to chose to sleep with two men, both of whom ended up in prison as well.I did it, I'm not going to lie, I did it twice,she said. Her family was furious at first, but her father has forgiven her.He told the neighbours I'm in Egypt, he's going to get a lawyer for me,she said.The two men have already been released, after hiring attorneys to argue their cases. Those accused of moral crimes are rarely sentenced, Suliman says. Instead, a judge extends their 30-day detention period several times, releasing them between four and eight months later -- less if a woman gets married, and more if she is a repeat offender.
Some women are more reluctant than Rihab to admit why they are in jail. Kholud, 18, and her mother, who declines to give her name, have been in prison for two months, and say they were jailed over a family dispute.Umm Ahmed openly contradicts them, but they refuse to change their story.Outside the cell, the guard takes a visitor aside, her face sad but her voice filled with disgust as she describes the women as part of a brothel.The whole family was rotten. They were all involved. The father was in charge. The guy who was with the daughter was also with the mother, she says.
Don't believe everything they say.
Funding government proving tough: Hamas
– Thu Dec 23, 2:08 pm ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Gaza's Hamas-run government admitted on Thursday it is finding it hard to come up with the 25 million dollars a month it needs to fund its budget.In a speech before hundreds of teachers at a ceremony in Gaza City, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya admitted his government was struggling with its finances.It costs 25 million dollars a month to fund the government and the ministries, Haniya said. And it's really difficult to provide that.He said Hamas receives no money from either the United States or the European Union, whose money was offered in the context of political blackmail.Haniya, who holds the post of prime minister in the Gaza Strip, but is not recognised internationally as such, revealed that Hamas employs a massive state infrastructure in the coastal enclave.Employees of government institutions and ministries now number some 34,000 people, he said, a number that includes security services and police.Hamas, a militant group dubbed a terrorist organisation by the United States and Europe, has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.It won legislative elections in 2006, prompting long-standing tensions with chief rival party Fatah to boil over into violence a year later.Hamas fighters in Gaza routed their Fatah counterparts in bloody confrontations and have been firmly in charge of the territory ever since.
