HOLY LAND: HAMAS DONATES $$$ TO CHRISTIANS OF BETHLEHEM...

Islamic Hamas Donates Cash for Bethlehem’s Christmas
The Hamas government has promised to donate US$50,000 to prepare Bethlehem for the traditional Christmas holidays.
by Daniel Blake

The Hamas government, often labelled by the international community as Islamic militants, has promised to donate US$50,000 to prepare Bethlehem for the traditional Christmas holidays. The offering will be twice as much as given in previous years.

Known to be struggling financially, Hamas, has decided to donate the cash to Bethlehem, which is currently only sparsely decorated currently.

Even though the extra cash has been promised, it may not be enough to restore festivities to their fullest in the region, engulfed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting for the past 6 years.

Poverty is known to be affecting the area, and with Israel’s West Bank separation barrier large numbers of Christians are now being seen leaving Bethlehem.

In 2005, just 2,500 foreign visitors toured Bethlehem during the Christmas season, compared to more than 90,000 a month prior to 2000 when the Palestinian uprising came about.

Local businesses are feeling the harsh reality of the ever-declining tourist economy. AP has reported that Abir Karram, who sells traditional hand-embroidered Palestinian dresses, can no longer afford to pay the 700 shekel (US$115) monthly rent for her workshop. Two years ago, she had 30 women working part time for her. Now she has no workers.

“The wall stopped tourists and Arabs from Israel,” she said about the separation barrier, which is meant to stop Palestinian suicide bombings.

“Now people here have no salaries. It’s like a well that finished drawing water,” Karram added.

A 2004 United Nations report has estimated that about 10 percent of Christians had left Bethlehem following the violence up till that point.

The offering of extra funding has been greeted with mixed reactions among local Christians. Some have said they suspect the Islamic militants hoped to gain support from the international community; “It's just for show”, said one anonymous elderly woman, according to AP.

Another Palestinian Catholic believed that Hamas should have given the money to the needy, but was sure that it was a sign of goodwill: “I appreciate it, because Bethlehem is the symbol of peace.”

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Christians Flee Growing Islamic Fundamentalism in the Holy Land

-The Christian population of the areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has sharply declined in recent decades, as tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad. Those who remain comprise a beleaguered and dwindling minority. In sharp contrast, Israel's Christian community has prospered and grown by at least 270 percent since the founding of the state.

-While Israel understands that the construction of the security barrier inconveniences some of the Christian communities living in its vicinity, Israel has shown sensitivity to Christian interests in planning the route of the barrier.

-The plight of Christian Arabs remaining in the PA is, in part, attributable to the adoption of Muslim religious law in the PA Constitution. Israel, by contrast, safeguards the religious freedom and holy places of its Christian (and Muslim) citizens. Indeed, in recent years Israel has been responsible for restoring many of the churches and monasteries under its jurisdiction.

-The growing strength of Islamic fundamentalism within the Palestinian national movement poses problems for Christians, who fear they will be deemed opponents of Islam and thereby risk becoming targets for Muslim extremists. This is exacerbated by the fact that Hamas holds substantial power and seeks to impose its radical Islamist identity on the entire population within the PA-controlled territories.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Islamic Hamas Donates Cash for Bethlehem’s Christmas

2) Christians Flee Growing Islamic Fundamentalism in the Holy Land