They get a gift every year, and for some reason I'm just no longer up for it:
"Faithful flock to Bethlehem for Christmas" by Daniel Estrin, Associated Press December 25, 2014
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Thousands of Christian pilgrims on Wednesday flocked to the biblical town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations at the traditional birthplace of Jesus, lifting spirits in the area after a year of conflict and failed peace efforts.
On a crisp, sunny day revelers crowded into Manger Square, stopping in restaurants and admiring the town’s Christmas tree.
Scout troops playing bagpipes, horns, and drums entertained the visitors, while merchants hawked Santa hats and special sesame sweets for the holiday.
‘‘My son and I and my husband came for Christmas to see, you know, be right here where it all took place,’’ said Irene Adkins, 63, from Lorain, Ohio, sitting in a Bethlehem visitor’s center. ‘‘It feels wonderful.’’
The celebrations brought a boost of holiday cheer to the area after a difficult year. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed last spring, and Israel battled Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip during a 50-day war over the summer. The two forces exchanged fire again Wednesday.
For residents of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, an independent state is as elusive as ever.
The Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto that Christians believe is the site of Jesus’ birth, was flanked by the towering Christmas tree and a large poster in Arabic and English that read ‘‘All I want for Christmas is justice.’’
Police and local officials said just 4,500 international tourists visited Bethlehem this year, less than half last year’s number.
By nightfall, perhaps 2,000 people remained in the square, most of them local Palestinians.
Fadi Kattan, a Palestinian tourism expert, blamed the downturn on the summer war in Gaza.
‘‘Image, image, image,’’ Kattan said. ‘‘We’re looking at the attack in Gaza affecting the image of this [place] as a destination.’’
A wave of unrest in Jerusalem, just a few miles away from Bethlehem, also has deterred visitors.
Along with increased Israeli controls.
Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, led a procession from his Jerusalem headquarters into Bethlehem, passing through Israel’s concrete separation barrier, which surrounds much of the town.
I call it an apartheid wall, but that's considered antisemitic in certain chosen quarters.
Israel built the barrier a decade ago to stop a wave of suicide bombings. Palestinians view the structure as a land grab that has stifled the town’s economy.
Related: Israel settlement funding up
Time to fire off another false flag.
Twal said he hopes 2015 will be better than the past ‘‘difficult’’ year.
‘‘I hope next year there will be no separation wall, and I hope we will have bridges of peace instead,’’ said Twal.
After more than eight years of this I have lost all hope.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Muslim, joined the celebrations on Wednesday evening and called for an end to ‘‘extremism and terror.’’
Abbas is locked in a power struggle with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which remains in control of the Gaza Strip even after agreeing to the formation of a unity government with Abbas early this year.
Such bulloney since they formed a unity government, something that is sabotaged as soon as it coalesces.
Sheldon Way, 22, of Delano, Minn., said the celebrations were different than what he was used to but that he nonetheless enjoyed himself.
‘‘Growing up in Canada and the northern US, Christmas was full of snow. But here everyone’s outside, there’s music,’’ said Way, who came to celebrate with his mother. ‘‘It’s different from what I'm used to. But it’s cool.’’
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Did you have trouble getting to the place?
"Jesus’ birthplace grapples with modern traffic challenges" by Tia Goldenberg, Associated Press December 25, 2014
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — It’s Christmas season and the little town of Bethlehem is jammed with a big-city problem: traffic snarling streets everywhere, including around the church marking the spot where tradition says Jesus was born. The city is considering a dramatic solution to the problem — digging a tunnel under Manger Square.
Traffic is a mess year-round. It may be the biblical town of grottos and shepherds’ fields in the minds of many around the world, but Bethlehem is a modern densely populated town of 28,000 with a dizzying weave of small streets that practically guarantee traffic jams.
‘‘Bethlehem is going through a crisis,’’ said Anton Salman, a city councilor. ‘‘We think that the solution to this traffic is to build an underground passage between the two sides of the square.’’
Bethlehem’s municipality hopes to eventually build several tunnels around the Palestinian city, where the urban development problems are myriad. Bethlehem is sandwiched on three sides by other towns. From the north and southeast, it is hemmed in by Israel’s separation barrier and Jewish settlements, leaving it little choice but to build vertically.
It is also a main transit point for drivers between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank.
The area around the Nativity Church, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, is particularly busy, with a mix of tourists swarming the area and cars squeezing across the central Manger Square.
Even worse, during the holidays, the square is closed for annual events like the Christmas tree lighting and Christmas Eve celebrations, when it is thronged with revelers.
Not this year.
The plan proposes a 260-foot long tunnel passing under a narrow two-lane street that crosses Manger Square in front of the Nativity Church. The project would take about two years to complete and would cost $4 million to $5 million, with the Palestinian Authority pledging to foot the bill. If the plan is approved, construction could start next fall.
But the tunnel project could run aground before even breaking ground. The municipality would need to get a stamp of approval from the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO, which has listed the Nativity Church as a world heritage site and would want to ensure its protection.
Also, because the tunnel would pass near church grounds, church officials from each of the three denominations that administer the site would need to be involved. Officials at the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian churches did not return messages requesting comment.
And, as is always the case when excavating in the Holy Land, any significant archaeological finds could hamper progress on the project.
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"Somber pope wishes for Mideast peace, joy for children; Square is packed for his message" by Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press December 26, 2014
VATICAN CITY — About an hour after the pope went inside, a protester from the Femen activist group bared her chest and snatched the statue of Baby Jesus in the life-size Nativity scene at the center of the square, while thousands of visitors were strolling across the space.
A gendarme from the Vatican’s security forces hustled away the woman, after she was covered with a coat.
President Obama and his family marked Christmas in Hawaii. On the sixth day of their vacation, the Obamas gathered in their Kailua rental home to open Christmas gifts. They then joined family and friends at a beach in Waimanalo.
The president and his wife later traveled to Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay to visit with service members and their families.
On Christmas Eve, several thousand Christian pilgrims flocked to the biblical town of Bethlehem for celebrations at the traditional birthplace of Jesus, lifting spirits after a year of conflict and failed peace efforts.
The central Manger Square was decked out in white and yellow lights and a towering Christmas tree, and there was a carnival atmosphere. Vendors hawked corn, candied apples, watches, and balloons in the shape of cartoon characters.
Yup, they were "hawking" goods in cartoon carnival atmosphere, okay.
Scout troops played bagpipes, horns, and drums, and bands from around the world performed on a stage, singing Christmas carols and original Christmas rock ballads, mostly in English. A recording of ‘‘Feliz Navidad’’ blasted through the speakers, too.
A Palestinian host welcomed members of Gaza’s tiny Christian community, who were permitted to cross through Israel to the West Bank, eliciting whistles and applause.
The celebrations brought a boost of holiday cheer to the area after a difficult year. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed last spring, and Israel battled Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip during a 50-day war over the summer.
Yeah, I heard that.
Elsewhere in the region, the Middle East’s dwindling Christian community has suffered persecution at the hands of Islamic State extremists.
Who is enabling such things (getting to be over a month again)?
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"Israelis, Palestinians clash along Gaza border" by Isabel Kershner, New York Times December 25, 2014
JERUSALEM — A clash on Wednesday set off by a Palestinian sniper attack on an Israeli military patrol along the border with Gaza left one Palestinian militant dead and an Israeli soldier wounded, officials said, further straining a tenuous cease-fire that ended a 50-day war over the summer.
The official story screams false flag if not outright excuse.
After a routine patrol on the Israeli side of the border came under fire, Israel responded with tank fire and an airstrike against Hamas positions on the Gaza Strip, according to the Associated Press, citing Israeli military officials. It appeared to be the most serious direct confrontation between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that dominates the Palestinian enclave, since fighting ended in late August.
Merry Xmas, Gaza.
A spokesman for the Health Ministry of Gaza identified the Palestinian who was killed as Tayseer al-Samari, 33. The military wing of Hamas immediately claimed Samari as one of its own, and it said he was the head of the group’s reconnaissance unit in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military said the injured soldier, from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion, had a serious chest wound.
Israel and Hamas each issued stern warnings, pointing to a possible escalation. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, described the sniper attack in a statement as “a lethal violation of the relative quiet along the Gaza border” and “a blatant breach of Israel’s sovereignty.” He added that the military would “continue to use all necessary means in order to maintain the safety of the citizens of southern Israel and will not hesitate to respond to any attempt to harm IDF soldiers.”
They do it to all their neighbors (including Palestinians) and not much of a fuss is raised.
‘‘Our policy is clear — a strong and vigorous response in the face of any attempt to violate the quiet in the south,’’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. ‘‘We will respond strongly to any attempt to violate the quiet that was achieved’’ in the summertime operation.
Great, more blood on your hands for history's judgement.
The military said it had instructed Israeli farmers in border communities “to evacuate the area for their personal safety until further notice.”
Hamas held Israel responsible for the deadly clash. “This is a dangerous escalation,” Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official in Gaza, told a news website associated with the movement.
“The occupation is playing with fire,” Radwan continued, referring to Israel, “and it will bear full responsibility for the consequences.”
Hamas evacuated its police stations and other institutions in Gaza City, as well as elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, in anticipation of further Israeli airstrikes.
None reported in my Globe today.
Radwan called on Egypt, which brokered the cease-fire in late August, to intervene and “curb the aggression and the violations” by Israel.
Haven't they cut off Gaza on their side?
In all honesty, the Egyptians might as well be Israeli.
Tensions have been building since Gaza militants fired a rocket into Israeli territory on Friday and Israel carried out a retaliatory airstrike against a Hamas site in Gaza, the first since the August cease-fire. Israeli officials said that rocket was probably not fired by Hamas but by a smaller militant group; Israel nevertheless said it held Hamas accountable.
Then let's hold Israel and its leaders responsible for everyone in their country, and the same with AmeriKa.
Btw, there has always been some dispute as to who is behind the rockets.
Israeli officials later said the target of the airstrike was a factory producing concrete meant to reconstruct the Hamas tunnels that Israel destroyed or damaged during the war.
More than 2,100 Palestinians were killed in the fighting over the summer, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Sixty-seven Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed.
Look how the Palestinians are lumped into a mass grave, so to speak.
The cease-fire that halted the summer war was supposed to have been followed by further Egypt-mediated talks to reach more lasting understandings between Israel and Hamas and longer-term fixes for Gaza. Those talks haven’t taken place, and reconstruction efforts in Gaza have had a slow start, adding pressure on Hamas, which has struggled to show tangible results from the war, and to an increasing sense of frustration among Gaza’s population.
They look like the American people, and both of us can thank Israel for it.
A Palestinian government jointly backed by Fatah and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and their longtime rivals in Hamas, the fruit of a reconciliation pact reached in April, has also had little impact in Gaza.
Yeah, nothing ever seems to change for the better, only worse.
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Palestinian stabs two Israeli border police
Meanwhile, an Israeli hospital in Jerusalem said it was continuing treatment for a Palestinian boy who was wounded this week during a clash between Israeli border police and Palestinian demonstrators in East Jerusalem.
Five-year-old Mohammed Obeid was returning home from school when a rubber bullet shot by Israeli police struck him in the face, said his grandfather, Ibrahim.
Samri said Palestinians threw fire bombs and fireworks at police, who responded with ‘‘riot-dispersal means.’’
At the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, Israeli troops shot a Palestinian who was climbing on the border fence, the army said. Troops took him for medical treatment and questioning, the army said.
