In Holy Land, Easter not what it was

Reuters via MSNBC ^ | April 1, 2010 updated 2 hours, 7 minutes ago | Tom Perry

[Ready4Freddy]

JERUSALEM - As a boy growing up in Jerusalem, Yacoub Dahdal saw Christians from all over the Middle East converge on the city at Easter time to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

Thousands would be hosted in the homes of the city's residents. Many would depart the city as godparents to newly born Jerusalemites baptized during the pilgrimage season.

"It was a festival with every meaning of the word," said Dahdal, now aged 72 and a senior member of the Palestinian Christian community in Jerusalem. "The Egyptians would come by train, the Lebanese and Syrians by bus," he said.

"Imagine when you were down in the Old City, you would hear all the different accents: Lebanese, Jordanian, Egyptian, Syrian, mixed together," he said. "It was a real joy."

Today, he reflects on a very different Easter atmosphere in a city where tension is often more apparent than spirituality.

The home where he was born in the Old City's Muslim quarter, just a short walk from the First Station of the Cross, is today adorned with Israeli flags and houses settlers who have moved in since Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

Flow of Christians dries up

Since that conflict, the flow of pilgrims from neighboring Arab states has dried up. Syria and Lebanon remain in a state of war with Israel. Few Egyptians or Jordanians make the trip, though their governments have made peace with the Jewish state.

Christian pilgrims still fly in for Easter, from Germany, Peru or Russia, as tourists on a once-in-a-lifetime visit who are largely unaware of Israeli restrictions -- apart from the obvious fact that police seem to be around every corner.

[Ready4Freddy]

Can the author really be that obtuse? Of course there are fewer Christians coming from Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan. There are far fewer Christians in those countries now than when Yacoub was a lad pre-1948.

[Gay State Conservative]

Everything I've read in recent times indicates that the Christians of the Middle East are getting the heck out of Dodge.Given the 9th Century pig fornicators they're up against I can't say that I blame them.But it *is* sad.

[Da Coyote]

“Can the author really be that obtuse? “

Yes.

Journalism exists for those to stupid to even go into politics.

[Da Coyote]

Damn, an Obama moment.

“too” not “to”.

It’s the keyboard’s fault.

No, it was Bush’s fault.

[Ready4Freddy]

Ping for your list.

[humblegunner]

"Imagine when you were down in the Old City, you would hear all the different accents: Lebanese, Jordanian, Egyptian, Syrian, mixed together," he said. "It was a real joy."

The fact that nobody spoke English explains the decline.

[Ready4Freddy]

How so, hg?

[ml/nj]

Christian pilgrims still fly in for Easter, from Germany, Peru or Russia, as tourists on a once-in-a-lifetime visit who are largely unaware of Israeli restrictions

I am also unaware of the Israeli restrictions. What? No bombs?

ML/NJ

[CondorFlight]

“First we’ll kill the Saturday people, then we’ll kill the Sunday people.”

You can hear that repeated around the West Bank, too.

[Sender]

“TGIF” takes on a whole new meaning, duddnit? I am renaming it “Thank Allah It’s Friday”. They think they can oppose the G-d of Israel. Good luck with that.