Bethlehem cut in two by a wall
As with any extreme emotion, hatred blinds. Building a huge wall in the middle of a city has historically been associated with totalitarian regimes. Israel is currently constructing a wall around Rachels tomb, a holy site for Jews. This construction was planned in the framework of a 224-mile wall separating the Palestinians of Israel and the Jewish settlers.
Rachels tomb is located in a part of the city that has become a confrontation point between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel is planning to establish a security zone in this place and also in other parts of the West Bank, the region principally inhabited by Palestinians.
In order to pray at Rachels tomb, which is situated on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, visitors must pass an Israeli military check-point. "Its the entrance of the city where Jesus was born", declares the mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, a Palestinian Christian who grew up on the street that leads to the tomb and will be divided by the new wall. Hanna Nasser, like other residents of Bethlehem, will soon have to have a special authorization in order to reach the house where he grew up.
Today, Israel feels that the tomb, thus fortified, is not sufficiently secure and has ordered the expropriation of the land that surrounds it. "We will ensure free access to one of the holiest of Jewish sites, and thats why were going to build a wall", declared Raanan Gissin, a spokesperson of the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.
Even though the Israeli army has maintained that the decree authorizing the expropriation of land will only be in effect for the next three years, Palestinians, and among others the mayor of Bethlehem, think that this decree is equivalent to the annexation of a Palestinian zone in the West Bank and will be considered as a permanent measure by Israel.
"Because of the decision of Israel, 60 families, near Rachels tomb, which is a Jewish holy site, have been surrounded, isolated and deprived of services; all they have is a small entrance through a wall 26 feet high, which will also isolate the city of Bethlehem from Jerusalem and the other territories", exclaims Msgr. Jacques Berthelet, bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil (Canada) and president of the Canadian Episcopal Conference. "The inhabitants of Bethlehem and particularly the Christians, find themselves thus surrounded, threatened by a slow death and forced to leave the area", continues the prelate, who observed the situation first-hand last January, accompanied by other delegates of the episcopal conferences of Europe and America.
One must refrain from considering the situation completely one-sided for, on the Palestinian side also, violence continues. At the end of the month of February, several Palestinian vandals profaned the monument of the tomb of Patriarch Joseph and even destroyed it with large hammers; a bulldozer finished the job. Natan Sharansky remarked, not without reason: "If we had razed the tomb of one of the founders of Islam, millions of Muslims would pour out into the streets."
