Here is the front image of wht could be ny virtual Christmas Card to you
http://ifamericansknew.org/images/beth06-front.jpg

Below are reflections/greetings for this holiday season (sorry it is not
more personal) followed by a statement and action alert from the Palestinian
American Congress.

1) Christmas Reflections/Greeting 2006
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/christmas2006/

It is at Christmastime that the sometimes-beautiful and sometimes-poignant
childhood memories of Bethlehem haunt me and other Palestinian Christians
most vividly. Born in Shepherd's Field near Bethlehem to a Lutheran mother
and a Greek Orthodox father, I grew up feeling lucky because we celebrated
two Christmases. The Christmas season was a time of family gatherings
around kerosene heaters where our fingers were cold but our hearts were warm
and stomachs full.

Today, Christmas is a time to reflect on the tragedy that has befallen this
most famous of little towns. Israel militarily occupied Bethlehem in 1967,
but the landscape had begun to change well before that. In 1948, Bethlehem
became home to thousands of Palestinian refugees after more than 750,000
people were driven from their homes in what became Israel. Palestinians were
forbidden to return, and the cramped refugee camps of Dheisheh and Aida on
the outskirts of Bethlehem remain testaments to this nearly 60-year legacy
of dispossession.

After 1967, Israel built new illegal settlements on annexed Palestinian
public and agricultural lands and Israeli-only roads to connect these
settlements to Israel and one another. We could do nothing but watch as
increasing portions of our homeland became off-limits to Palestinians. The
only forested region of East Jerusalem, Jabal Abu Ghneim -- where I used to
picnic and walk almost daily -- became the Jewish settlement of Har Homa.
Today, Bethlehem is surrounded by the settlements of Gilo, Har Gilo, and a
new settlement near Rachel's tomb. The tomb is holy to Christians, Muslims
and Jews but is now off limit to Palestinians, including relatives of the
hundreds of Palestinian Muslims buried there.

Since 2002, Bethlehemites have faced the enormous human costs of a massive,
concrete segregation wall. During my visit last July, I noticed that the
route of the wall zigzagged around Bethlehem, placing fertile Palestinian
agricultural lands on the "Israeli side" of the wall. The wall went straight
through centuries-old villages - separating Palestinian families from each
other and from their jobs, hospitals, schools, churches and mosques.

Many of my relatives have lost jobs in Jerusalem, a mere six miles away,
because it is virtually impossible for West Bank Palestinians to obtain
permits to enter Jerusalem. Even with a permit, checkpoints make travel
unpredictable and often impossible, precluding reliable work attendance.
Although I have an American passport, I am denied entry to East Jerusalem,
where I taught high school. At Bethlehem University, where my brother has
taught mathematics for 25 years, the wall and checkpoints mean many faculty
and students can no longer make it to school. The biblical and literal path
from Nazareth to Bethlehem is blocked by checkpoints and thirty-foot high
slabs of concrete.

I am saddened when I see how Bethlehem has been transformed. A
once-thriving community is stifled, isolated and desperate. Tourism has
plummeted, jobs are scarce and Christian Palestinian families are leaving.
At Christmastime, typically a period of joy and hope, this grim reality hits
especially hard.

Israel's desire to acquire maximum geography with minimum Palestinian
demography is the root of the suffering afflicting the Holy Land. Amnesty
International has observed that the peace processes failed because Israel
has ignored human rights, including the right of native Palestinians to
return to their homes and lands. There is now a broad international
consensus (with the exceptions of the US and Israeli governments) on the
danger to international peace and security posed by Israel's continued
violations of human rights and international law.

Although Israel's actions are given diplomatic and financial cover by my
adopted country of America, I feel hopeful. Jimmy Carter's new book
"Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" marks the first time a major US politician
recognized publicly the reality of discrimination against the Christians and
Muslims of Palestine. The Iraq study group has recommended resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict as critical to regional stability. People are
increasingly pausing to reconsider the value of our government's
unconditional support for Israel. We need our politicians to follow suit.
In this season celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace, let us all
resolve to pray and work for justice in the holiest of lands.

May this holiday season and the new year bear the fruits of the collective
hard work for peace with justice to all people.

2) From the Palestinian American Congress: Holiday Greetings and Action
Alert

Many traditions celebrate holidays this season and we in the Palestinian
American Congress wish them all peaceful and happy Holidays. Such holidays
remind us of those less fortunate than we are and of our responsibilities to
them. We thus stand in solidarity with our Iraqi brothers and sisters of
all religions as they endure their fourth year under military occupation.
We stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are
unable to truly celebrate or even to practice their religious traditions
because of the Israeli occupation, ethnic cleansing, theft of their lands,
and destruction of their society.

Palestinian Christians this Christmas season cannot travel between Bethlehem
and Jerusalem (a distance of 7 miles) because of the illegal apartheid
walls. Palestinian Muslims this Eid Al Adha are subjected to similar
restrictions. Both live in shrinking apartheid cantons subjected to
political, economic, and physical siege. Most families cannot provide for
their Children's basic needs let alone buy gifts for the holidays. Our
prayers and thoughts must be with those people. But they need more than
that. They need our solidarity and support. There are many things each of
us can do. Here are just ten suggestions.

1) Learn more about history (http://www.PalestineRemembered.com) and the
isolation of Palestinians and infringement on their religious and civil
rights (http://www.maannews.net/en/,
http://www.openbethlehem.org, http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml ).
Learn more about suffering of Iraqis (see http://www.electroniciraq.net/)
and other people.

2) Support the Palestinian Civil Society call to action; for boycotts,
divestment and sanctions from Israel until it complies with human rights and
International law (see http://stopthewall.org/news/boycot.shtml).

3) Write letters to the editor (150-200 words) and/or op-eds (700-800 words)
to your local or national newspapers about the issues. Some media contacts
can be found here:
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/contact/media.asp
http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/media

4) Write and call your TV and radio stations and ask that they interview
native people from these areas on issues of religious freedom and the plight
of Muslims and Christians in Iraq and Palestine and
beyond (write to us if you would like suggested speakers near you).

5) Write and call your elected officials. Contacts available at
http://www.firstgov.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

6) Contact local churches in your area and ask that they bring Palestinian
Christians to speak to their congregations and that they pray for justice
and peace.

7) Contact mosques and ask that they dedicate a Friday Prayer to Donate to
worthy causes that help the suffering populations and/or those that educate
and lobby to stop policies of oppression and deprivation.

8) Take time to teach children about what is going on in Palestine. Give
them copies of this book titled "A little piece of ground" by award winning
author Elizabeth Laird (published by Haymarket Books) and then discuss it
with them. http://tinyurl.com/y7lej6 and http://www.haymarketbooks.org

9) Hold a teach-in, a vigil, a forum or other community gatherings to bring
attention to the plight of people in need.

10) Send this message to your relatives, friends, co-workers and
acquaintances and ask them to act. Forward to other listserves.

Contact: media@...
=========
See also: What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today?
http://news.independent.co.uk/appeals/indy_appeal/article2097790.ece

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org

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