THE endless talk these days are of the Christians plight in the Middle East and their suffering from the acts of the extremist in the area. While these acts are by no means aimed at Christians only as more Muslims are victims to these horrific acts, nevertheless these acts against Christian citizens in this part of the world are not only wrong but are also criminal. Having said that, I am simply stunned at the coverage by the Western media of the Christians' treatment by the Israeli's in the holy land. I do think and wonder how may Christians in the West, from New York to Paris from Rome to Sydney, took the time to watch their community play, enjoy and celebrate the holidays this week. I am sure the more religious folk wiped their fears as they sang the hymns and watched the nativity play, which is the famous recreation of the biblical story stating the birth of Jesus. Did they think, pause and reflect how Christmas in the Holy land itself are “enjoying” the holidays under the ugly and brutal Israeli occupation? The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem would never happen today because of the ruthless and brutal Israeli checkpoints which are everywhere. Another form of segregation is present and very visible, which is the huge wall separating Arabs from Jews in Israel and making their lives pure hell. This silence from the West is seen as clear support for Israel to go on and continue with its sectarian and discriminatory policies. Israel is a country where human rights are simply denied for non-Jews, especially if they are Arabs. The European Union and United Nations denounce Israel's out-of-control settlement expansion as a matter of routine. In October, though, EU High Commissioner Catherine Ashton warned that the construction of Givat Hamatos was "of particular concern as it would cut the geographic contiguity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem." The supposedly Christian decision-makers in the West appear to have little concern for their Palestinian co-religionists struggling under Israeli occupation, and until they decide to stand up for Christians and Christianity, as they are keen to do when the violators are Muslims elsewhere in the Middle East, the festival of Christmas will become a thing of the past in the town where, traditionally, it all started. Bethlehem is already being strangled by Israel's actions; inaction by the West will give it the go-ahead to apply the coup de grace. Does anyone in Washington and London, Paris and Berlin even care? With Christians leaving the holy land by the hundreds of thousands over the years with welcoming red carpets for them from the Western governments, the homeland of Christianity will soon be without Christians, a doing by Israel which goes unnoticed and uncritized by the West.
