umkahlil

Bethlehem: Old Bethlehem.

Two residents leaving their compound face a wall instead of the town of Bethlehem.

'Silence regarding Israeli measures is tantamount to consent.'

The Archmandrate of the Greek Orthodox Church, Attallah Hanna, interviewed by Maan Independent News Agency "criticized Israeli measures imposed on the West Bank, and particularly Bethlehem, during the Christmas season.

"'Israel raises the slogan of democracy and justice, but at the same time, they build the Wall.'" He also said that "Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza reflect the true face of Israel."

According to Archmandrate Atallah Israel is a "state of terror and discrimination without any ethics."

He unequivocally states to Maan "the message of Christmas is to take steps to secure holy places" and to "awaken the sleeping conscious of the world." He continued "The world must awake to learn of the 'catastrophe'[to] holy sites and the entire Palestinian people."

According to Maan "He warned that silence regarding Israeli measures is tantamount to consent."

Maan further states: "Hanna accused Israel of targeting every Palestinian living in the city of Jerusalem. He said that the Holy Sepulchre, the site believed by many Christians to be the site of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, is under an equal amount of threat as the Al Aqsa Mosque. He said that the importance of both sites to Palestinians is the same. He pledged support to Muslims and with their desire to protect Islamic sites in Jerusalem.

"Hanna called for all Christians to stand with their 'brothers in Palestine and all over the world.'"

Regarding Amnir Peretz and Ariel Sharon: "Both men, he said, 'are educated in the culture of Zionism and both adopt policies of racism and hatred against the Arabs.'

"Reacting to speculation that Sharon may withdrawal from areas of the West Bank if reelected to the office of Prime Minister, Hanna said "Sharon has nothing to offer Palestinians except more racism, suffering and deception.'

"About the Palestinian state: 'Israel wants us to dream, but I say the Palestinian state is not a dream, it is a reality, it is a thing we hope and want. The history of our people is here, we did not come from abroad, so we will defeat the occupation. We are not calling for the impossible, just the liberation of Jerusalem and Palestinian lands.'"