Ashamed of American Christian abandonment of their faithBy Ray Hanania — Does your mother have to be from Bethlehem before you can even bother to care for the fate of that holy city? My mother and her family are from Bethlehem. She was born down the street from the Holy Manger where Jesus was cradled more than 2,000 years ago. Down the street from the Church of the Nativity built many centuries ago to mark that site which is revered by hundreds of millions of true Christians around the world. And now, down the street from one of the most offensive, disturbing constructions, the 26 foot tall “barrier” that Israel’s government declares is a “fence.” This “fence” is 24 feet tall and is made of concrete. It is a Wall, as even former President Jimmy Carter has said in disgust, and it snakes up and down the streets of Jesus’ Birthplace. This Wall is not constructed to protect Israelis from Bethlehem terrorism, or from terrorism from any other place in a conflict that has raged unending since 1947, but rather it is being built by Israel so Israel can steal more land from Palestinians who are Christian and Muslim.
And while this abomination is being constructed, Christians throughout the world including in the United States take pause from their daily routines of immersing themselves in the spoils of good fortune, buying presents and expensive gifts and new flat screen TVs, an X-Box video games, and new cars, and vacations, and commercialized crap in a feast of greed that contradicts the very foundation of their beliefs.
Jesus was about “giving” not taking.
Jesus was about “kindness” not greed.
Jesus was about “helping those in need,” not selfishly fattening your own.
And in the city of his birthplace, Israel continues to take more and more land from Christians and Muslims, claiming that the land is needed for “security.” Yet the very taking of that land is the cause of much of the resistance from Palestinians, who are Christian and Muslim, who have had enough and continue to fight back in the only way they know how.
I say Christian and Muslim because this is a conflict driven by religion.
Israel is, as they remind you often, a “Jewish State.” But Israel does not exist in the West Bank which was occupied in 1967, except in the minds and actions of fanatics who oppose peace and who seek to drive all of the Christians and Muslims out of the Holy Land.
In the heart of the West Bank just south of Jerusalem, a divided city not just physically but racially and religiously, too, Bethlehem sits surrounded by this ugly, disgusting Wall that in part was built because Israel was able to use money freed up by American tax dollars paid each year in the billions.
The Wall is not a “fence.” It is an “offense.” It is “offensive.”
If this Wall were built to protect Israelis from the terrorist threat, then why wasn’t it built on the line that divided the West Bank from Israel?
Instead, Israel built the Wall deep inside the West Bank not on Israeli land, but on Palestinian land. In fact, the Wall snakes around “grabbing” things, placing such things as important religious landmarks like Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem within its greedy grasp, separating the holy landmark from Christians and Muslims.
Worse, it grabs land. The richest land in the West Bank bordering Israel’s 1949 armistice line borders. Thousands of miles of land, snaking between farm lands and the homes of the land owners who can’t even farm their lands now because the wall divides their property.
The Wall also intentionally grabs all of the important water wells in the West Bank and puts them in Israel’s control.
That means that Christian and Muslim Palestinian farmers and villages and cities no longer have access to those water wells to farm their lands and earn their livings.
It’s all about security, Israel insists.
But it could have been about security, too, if the Wall were built on Israel’s land, instead of on Palestinian land.
Ever since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, it has built settlements and buildings and it has taken land from Palestinian Christians and Muslims.
My own family land sits just north of Gilo, 8.25 acres (33 Dunum) that I have to prove belongs to me now, because Israel has occupied it and I am not a Jew.
I am just one of the thousands of Christians who originate from Bethlehem, whose fate has been destroyed by a conflict that both sides must shoulder the blame.
Yes, both sides, Arabs and Israelis. Both sides have done things to each other to cause this conflict. It is not just terrorism from one side. It is terrorism of all kinds from both sides.
When you take away a family’s land, their ability to survive, to earn a living and all their hope, is it any surprise that some would turn to violence?
If Israel wants peace, pull back your settlers and your land grabs and your greed, and focus on real security by protecting your own state which I and many Palestinians recognize and accept.
Don’t build your state by stealing the lands of others.
As an American Christian who is proud of his Palestinian heritage, I have to cry out this Christmas again for the suffering of the Christians in the holiest Christian city in the Christian religion.
I am compelled to ask out loud, why are my own people, the Christians, so cowardly and silent in the face of the most repugnant persecution of Christians to take place in centuries?
When you sit around your Christmas trees and pretend to celebrate in the true spirit of Christmas, maybe you will think about all that.
(Ray Hanania is an award winning Palestinian American columnist and author. He can be reached at www.hanania.com . Copyright Arab Writers Group Syndicate, www.ArabWritersGroup.com.)
RAY HANANIA is a syndicated columnist. His columns appear in numerous publications including the Jerusalem Post, the Arab News, the Arab American News, the Southwest News Herald and more. Hanania is the publisher of the National Arab American Times Newspaper. Named Best Ethnic American Columnist for 2007 by the New America Media, and the 2009 Mehdi Courage in Journalism Awardee, Hanania hosts a morning Radio Show of Radio Chicagoland, in Chicago (Mon-Fri, 8-9:30 am) on WJJG 1530 AM Radio. He is an internationally acclaimed standup comedian, author of the humor book Ya Habibi, and pens the Comic Strip called Shades of Gray. View his complete Bio?
ANISA MEHDI is an Emmy Award-winning journalist specializing in religion, the arts, and people. For over 20 years she has reported, written, directed and produced television news and documentary programs for major American media outlets, including National Geographic, PBS, ABC News, and CBS. Her commentaries have been heard on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Ms. Mehdi is founder and president of Whetstone Productions, a New Jersey-based production and consulting company. She is adjunct Professor of Communications at Seton Hall University. She writes a twice weekly for the Newark Star-Ledger Newspaper blog. View her complete Bio?
SAFFIYA SHILLO is a peace activist, communications specialist and community editor for the National Arab American Times Newspaper. Ms. Shillo serves as a Board Member of the Palestinian American Women's Society. Her activism is extensive, having served as the former President of the Palestinian American Congress-Chicago Chapter, as a National Board member of the American Task Force on Palestine, and as Director of the Arab American Institute's Chicago office. Active in Jewish/Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, Ms. Shillo gives presentations to national organizations on strategies and methods to achieve peace through dialogue. Ms. Shillo also served as Director of Ethnic Affairs for the State of Illinois' Office of Lieutenant Governor, and worked as a domestic violence/sexual assault counselor serving Chicago's Arab community. She can be reached at smshillo@yahoo.com
ALADDIN ELAASAR is an award winning Arab American journalist and author of several books including Silent Victims: The plight of Arabs and Muslims in Post 9/11 America. Elaasar is also a member of the National Arab American Journalists Association. Email him at omaraladin@aol.com. His latest book is The Last Pharoah: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the MidEast.
RAY HANANIA'S NEW BOOK "The Catastrophe" is now available. The book details "how the fanatic secular Arab left and the extremist Islamic right took the disaster brought on by the creation of Israel, and, using rejection and violence, hijacked the just Palestinian cause and prevented statehood. Order the Book? Only $19.95. 224 PAGES.
More than 2.5 million Muslims from across the globe embark on a Hajj and converge on Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to ask pardon for their sins and renew their spiritual commitment though a elaborate series of ancient rites and rituals. And it's not optional - every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able to do so is expected to make the hajj at least once in his or her lifetime. Despite the enormity of this annual pilgrimage, it has seldom been witnessed by outsiders, as Mecca is strictly off-limits to non-Muslims. Now, with unprecedented access to Islam's holiest city, National Geographic takes the spiritual journey of a lifetime, following three Muslims from very different backgrounds - an executive from Malaysia, a radio evangelist from South Africa, and a blond-haired, blue-eyed professor from Texas - as they take part in an epic five-day quest for salvation.
Author and columnist Aladdin Elaasar examines the impact of Sept. 11, 2001 on the Arabs and Muslims in America.
Arabs first settled in Chicagoland in the mid-19th century, when immigrants from all parts of the world were flowing steadily into the U.S. As tensions in the Arab world flared, immigration increased—the first to arrive were Lebanese Christians, followed by Muslim Palestinians. Today, there are more than 250,000 Arabs in the Chicago area, with equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. A part of the fabric of Chicago, Arabs serve in many roles, from business leaders to elected officials to judges, doctors, engineers, journalists, and more. In the wake of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Arab Americans have come under great scrutiny and have suffered much misunderstanding. Now, this book, which explores their integral role in Chicagoland’s growth, is especially important.
A collection of essays on the experiences growing up Arab and Palestinian living in a Jewish community in America on Chicago's South Side. Includes humor and anecdotal stories along with serious topic discussion. The first book to detail Arab American life first published in the United States in 1996. This 2nd Edition is published in 2007.
The ONLY directory of Arab American ethnic media -- newspapers, radio and TV. Plus organizations and religious institutions and more. Only $35 in PDF Format
CLICK HERE BETWEEN 8 AM & 9:30 AM CST
TO LISTEN TO
"MORNINGS WITH RAY HANANIA"
- LIVE INTERNET STREAMING AUDIO