Gaza's trapped Christians struggle to celebrate

Christians from across the world are flocking to what is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in Bethlehem.

But with all the Gaza crossings shut by Israel, Christian families there have to apply for permission to leave first.

Sherine Tadros visited one of the many families not allowed to make the pilgrimage.

[flash=480,295]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQm8T6_EHMo&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQm8T6_EHMo

do you know how many were actually given the permission to make the trip?
merry christmas

The Jewish State continues its oppression of Christians in Gaza. News like these hardly make it to CNN or BBC, but if Jews are prevented in any country from properly celebrating, say Yom Kippur, CNN, BBC, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, and the rest of the Western media would scream "Antisemitism!" as breaking news.

Jews have for centuries been persecuted all over the world, however, in today's world they seem to seek their pound of flesh from a world that has oppressed and cursed them in the past. The treatment of Christians in Gaza is despicable and shameful, and cements Israel's reputation as a cold Apartheid state!

Christians all over the world should join hands in solidarity with Christians in Gaza as we all celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The persecution and oppression of Christians in Gaza by Jews must be condemned by all!

JJYOU:

do you know how many were actually given the permission to make the trip?
merry christmas

710 applied and "less than half" were granted "permission".

This a strategy by the Jewish State to frustrate and humiliate Christians in Gaza. Shame on Israel!

the policy is not against christians. i actually heard the news on the bbc and sky today. chill brother we dont want to see any blood shed in that area this period

JJYOU:

the policy is not against christians. i actually heard the news on the bbc and sky today. chill brother we don't want to see any blood shed in that area this period

Would you say the same if Jews were prevented from celebrating Yom Kippur? Why can't the Jews allow all Christians in Gaza to go to Bethlehem? Are the Christians in Gaza terrorists?

you must have had missles being thrown today of all days. chill bro i am a christian like you. you have to understand what is happening in that area to know why the policies are in place

this RichyBlack is the worst propagandist i have seen on this forum.

This was in the news today - Thursday's rocket fire was far less than the barrage of 80 rockets the previous day, and there were no reports of injuries. But Israeli leaders said the continued fire _ the most intense since Egypt brokered a cease-fire last June _ was unacceptable.

One of the mortar shells landed at Israel's passenger crossing with Gaza just as a group of Palestinian Christians was going through on their way to the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations, the military said. Another rocket exploded after nightfall in an industrial park south of the coastal city of Ashkelon, police said.

Learn to report the NEWS as against propaganda you idiot.

RichyBlacK:

Gaza's trapped Christians struggle to celebrate

Christians from across the world are flocking to what is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in Bethlehem.

But with all the Gaza crossings shut by Israel, Christian families there have to apply for permission to leave first.

Sherine Tadros visited one of the many families not allowed to make the pilgrimage.

Christians from all over the world also have to apply for visas to travel to Bethlehem except for those from visa-exempt countries. So what is new here?

Why shld Gaza christians who voted for an extremist party bent on destroying Israel have more access to Bethlehem than me who has to stand in queues to apply for permission to visit Israel?

davidylan:

Christians from all over the world also have to apply for visas to travel to Bethlehem except for those from visa-exempt countries. So what is new here?

Why shld Gaza christians who voted for an extremist party bent on destroying Israel have more access to Bethlehem than me who has to stand in queues to apply for permission to visit Israel?

merry Christmas my dear brother. lets just ignore him

JJYOU:

merry Christmas my dear brother. lets just ignore him

Same to you bro . . . the guy is just an incredulous fellow. I think he shld be working for Al Jazeera.

RichyBlack . . . wouldnt you want to live like a Gaza "refugee" in their "camp" than a free Nigerian in Lagos?

See all the amenities "refugee camps" enjoy . . . she's complaining about using kerosene stoves when millions of free citizens in Nigeria will be relying on wood shavings to cook.

The meaning of hypocrisy shld be redefined as "Gaza".

davidylan:

RichyBlack . . . wouldnt you want to live like a Gaza "refugee" in their "camp" than a free Nigerian in Lagos?

See all the amenities "refugee camps" enjoy . . . she's complaining about using kerosene stoves when millions of free citizens in Nigeria will be relying on wood shavings to cook.The meaning of hypocrisy shld be redefined as "Gaza".

I've told this story many times already but it's very apt. A few years ago, back in Naija, I was listening to the BBC World Service on a transistor radio and a Palestinian was complaining about water and electricity no longer running 24 hours. . . meanwhile I was in darkness as NEPA hadn't brought light for a few days. Water supply was from a privately contructed borehole.

I don't mind being innundated with reports about the conditions in Congo DRC where 3.7m have died but Gaza/West Bank?  Please, some perspective is called for as there are people dying in other places with virtual media blackout.

the other places dont have sexy beautiful women to give these foolish journalist as wives and girlfriends. i was shocked to see a list of western media house middle east correspondents married or dating palestinians. including good old auntie BBC guy jeremy bowen. that is their inpartiality for you.

davidylan:

RichyBlack . . . wouldnt you want to live like a Gaza "refugee" in their "camp" than a free Nigerian in Lagos?

See all the amenities "refugee camps" enjoy . . . she's complaining about using kerosene stoves when millions of free citizens in Nigeria will be relying on wood shavings to cook.

The meaning of hypocrisy shld be redefined as "Gaza".

Even if the IDF bombs your village, your blind support for the Apartheid Jewish State of Israel will excuse the massacre!

They abuse, oppress and persecute Christians on a day as special as Christmas and you still defend them?

How long will it take the imbeciles running Israel to know that those who committed the Holocaust are not Arabs but Europeans?

Shame on the evil Jewish State of Israel and her continued persecution of Christians!

RichyBlacK:

Even if the IDF bombs your village, your blind support for the Apartheid Jewish State of Israel will excuse the massacre!

They abuse, oppress and persecute Christians on a day as special as Christmas and you still defend them?

How long will it take the imbeciles running Israel to know that those who committed the Holocaust are not Arabs but Europeans?

Shame on the evil Jewish State of Israel and her continued persecution of Christians!

what makes you this mad over matters that should not concern you my brother?

JJYOU:

what makes you this mad over matters that should not concern you my brother?

It concerns me because I'm a Christian.

I agree with RichyBlacK completely.

When will the day come for the world to label Israel the Apartheid state it is?

blackspade:

I agree with RichyBlacK completely.

When will the day come for the world to label Israel the Apartheid state it is?

Another slowpoke who just comes to spew anti-semitic propaganda.

Lets give you a scenario . . . imagine if Mexico maintained a constitution that demands the destruction of California and kept sending 60-100 rockets to Southern California every day. Would you be agitating that your state government not only provide 60% of Mexico's power supply but opened the border so Mexicans can cross unopposed into California to perpetrate suicide bombings against you?

Go read up on the real problems with the people of Gaza before you trumpet stuff you know nothing about.

RichyBlacK:

Even if the IDF bombs your village, your blind support for the Apartheid Jewish State of Israel will excuse the massacre!

They abuse, oppress and persecute Christians on a day as special as Christmas and you still defend them?

How long will it take the imbeciles running Israel to know that those who committed the Holocaust are not Arabs but Europeans?

Shame on the evil Jewish State of Israel and her continued persecution of Christians!

this guy is the son of a shoe.
What "abuse, oppression and persecution" are you talking about? Israel refuses to open its borders for criminals, suicide bombers and millitants who think nothing of shooting 60 rockets a day towards Ashkelon . . . and you cry about "oppression"?

RichyBlacK:

It concerns me because I'm a Christian.

I'm not sure. You must be a closet arab muslim.

The article you referenced says "thousands of pilgrims have flocked to Bethlehem . . . majority of them came in on tourist visas which would require them to return to their home countries on its expiration. why shld people in Gaza alone have the right to cross unopposed to another country with recognized borders?

When are we going to cry apartheid on the Saudi Govt?

One thing to note when it comes to morons like RichyBlack . . . they never address salient issues . . . they just keep on droning the same fraudulent propaganda like broken records.

blackspade:

I agree with RichyBlacK completely.

When will the day come for the world to label Israel the Apartheid state it is?

Thank you!

Israel has used the Holocaust as a license to "do anything"! So many people have suffered genocide in this world, not only the Jews:
1. Tutsis (1994)
2. Armenians (1915)
3. The Congo people (1996-2004)

However, the West has given "special status" to Israel and turned a blind eye to its sustained human rights abuses.

Western watch-dog groups, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have clearly stated that Israel routinely violates the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people. But, right-wing elements in Western nations, are in the for front of giving Israel a blank check to commit all manner of atrocities from targeted assassinations to infanticide!

This does not come as a surprise because these right-wing elements spearheaded the invasion of Iraq and established torture as a "necessary tool to fight the war on terror".

The link is clear for all to see; right-wing elements in Western nation (D.ick Cheney, George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, etc.) and the Apartheid state of Israel are working together to suppress the fundamental human rights of anybody they consider the enemy.

Recall also that these same right-wing elements supported Apartheid South Africa and labeled Nelson Mandela a terrorist! They supported the indiscriminate killing of blacks in Soweto and many other South African cities and gave millions of dollars to the despotic, ruthless and tyrannical regime of Pieter W. Botha. That trait among right-wing elements in the West to support the subjugation of people remains intact as evidenced by the continuing support of Apartheid Israel.

RichyBlacK:

Thank you!

What are you saying "thank you" for? Another deluded slowpoke who simply swallows anti-semitic media bias without trying to verify facts?
Birds of the same feather.

RichyBlacK:

Israel has used the Holocaust as a license to "do anything"!

Kindly tell us . . . "anything" like what exactly?

RichyBlacK:

However, the West has given "special status" to Israel and turned a blind eye to its sustained human rights abuses.

The same "west" like Britain who trained and kitted the Arab armies that surrounded Israel when it was born in 1948?
the same "west" like the US who considered its own citizens who aided Israel avoid another holocaust in 1948 as criminals?
The same "west" like Russia who supplied weapons to Egypt in the war of 1967?
You mean the same "west" that has created a special UN refugees group for arab "palestinians" alone?

Which "west" are you talking about?

The same "west" that has finally woken up to the realisation that the arabs dont really want land as much as they want to destroy the jews?

RichyBlacK:

Western watch-dog groups, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have clearly stated that Israel routinely violates the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people.

You know to take the credibilities of these "watch-dog" groups with a pinch of salt when they ignore more severe cases in Darfur, Niger, congo DR e.t.c to police Israel's every move.

RichyBlacK:

The link is clear for all to see; right-wing elements in Western nation (D.ick Cheney, George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, etc.) and the Apartheid state of Israel are working together to suppress the fundamental human rights of anybody they consider the enemy.

What a clueless slowpoke. Yet more unsubstantiated drivel.

But of course dont let SALIENT FACTS get in the way of propaganda.

[size=14pt]Israelis who have spoken out against Apartheid Israel:[/size]

[b]Jamal Zahalka, an Israeli-Arab member of the Knesset argued that an apartheid system has already taken shape in that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are separated into "cantons" and Palestinians are required to carry permits to travel between them.[138] Azmi Bishara, a former Knesset member, argued that the Palestinian situation had been caused by "colonialist apartheid."[139]

Michael Ben-Yair, attorney-general of Israel from 1993 to 1996 referred to Israel establishing, "an apartheid regime in the occupied territories", in an essay published in Haaretz.[140]

Some Israelis have compared the separation plan to apartheid, such as political scientist Meron Benvenisti,[78] and journalist Amira Hass.[141] Ami Ayalon, Israeli admiral and former leader of the Israel Security Agency criticized the model, claiming it "ha[d] some apartheid characteristics."[142] Shulamit Aloni, former education minister, Israel Prize winner, and a former leader of Meretz, said that the state of Israel is "practicing its own, quite violent, form of Apartheid with the native Palestinian population."[143]

Academic and political activist Uri Davis, an Israeli citizen who describes himself as an "anti-Zionist Palestinian Jew",[144] has written several books on the subject, including Israel: An Apartheid State in 1987.[145]

The Movement Against Israeli Apartheid in Palestine, a campaigning group based in Israel, has established a web-based petition in which Palestinians & Israeli Jews Call for Boycotting of Apartheid Israel.

Israeli politician and former Knesset member Yossi Sarid criticised discriminatory marriage law, exemption of Orthodox Jews from military service, and banning of Arabs from purchasing Jewish National Fund land as racist in a 2007 Ynetnews article entitled Our apartheid state.[8] He later compared a further array of Israeli practices including the West Bank barrier, separate roads, 'cheap hard labour', and Palestinian enclaves to apartheid in a 2008 Ha'aretz column entitled Yes, it is apartheid. Sarid wrote 'what acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid and harasses like apartheid, is not a duck - it is apartheid. Nor does it even solve the problem of fear' and added, 'One essential difference remains between South Africa and Israel: There a small minority dominated a large majority, and here we have almost a tie. But the tiebreaker is already darkening on the horizon.' [146]

Daphna Golan-Agnon, co-founder of B'Tselem and founding director of Bat Shalom writes in her 2002 book Next Year in Jerusalem, "I'm not sure if the use of the term apartheid helps us to understand the discrimination against Palestinians in Israel or the oppression against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. I'm not sure the discussion about how we are like or unlike South Africa helps move us forward to a solution. But the comparison reminds us that hundreds of laws do not make discrimination just and that the international community, the same international community we want to belong to, did not permit the perpetuation of apartheid. And it doesn't matter how we explain it and how many articles are written by Israeli scholars and lawyers -- there are two groups living in this small piece of land, and one enjoys rights and liberty while the other does not."[147][/b]

Culled from Wikipedia

Richy . . . by the way take a look at Gaza "refugees" . . . i can guarantee 90% of Nigerians would give anything to live in a "refugee camp" like this.

@RichyBlack

If it's all a question of right-wing elements, how does Obama/Clinton's position on Israel differ from Bush's position? You would see that the US's position remains fundamentally the same no matter which Govt is in power.

davidylan:

Richy . . . by the way take a look at Gaza "refugees" . . . i can guarantee 90% of Nigerians would give anything to live in a "refugee camp" like this.

Okay, you made me laugh .

Simple question for you: Are you among the 90% of Nigerians who would want to live in a "refugee camp"?

Gaza city, not exactly like Goma, DRC Congo.

RichyBlacK:

Jamal Zahalka, an Israeli-Arab member of the Knesset argued that an apartheid system has already taken shape in that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are separated into "cantons" and Palestinians are required to carry permits to travel between them.

The hypocrisy of this is that when Gaza and the Westbank were part of Egypt and Jordan between 1948 and 1967 the arabs never considered themselves part of Israel. Why then are they angry that Israel refuses to let them enter its borders?

4 Play:

Gaza city, not exactly like Goma, DRC Congo.

What a beautiful "refugee camp" that is . . .

I wonder what we shld label Ajegunle as.

RichyBlacK:

Okay, you made me laugh .

Simple question for you: Are you among the 90% of Nigerians who would want to live in a "refugee camp"?

If it looks anything like Gaza city and they have at least 18 hrs electricity everyday, are not used to using kerosene stoves . . . then sure . . . i'd rather live there than Lagos.

4 Play:

@RichyBlack

If it's all a question of right-wing elements, how does Obama/Clinton's position on Israel differ from Bush's position? You would see that the US's position remains fundamentally the same no matter which Govt is in power.

Presupposition of the future actions of a government not yet in power, is an exercise I'm not interested in. However, history tells us that Democrats, e.g. Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, pursue a more balanced road to the "two state solution". Bumbling buffoons like George W. Bush, Condi Rice and D.ck Cheney, are too anti-Arab and too pro-Israel to make any meaningful headway towards the two-state solution.