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It is Christmas Eve 2009 and the hope of the true Messiah lives on. Nothing has changed. Christmas Eve in Bethlehem It is now Christmas Eve in Bethlehem. The reverent silence over the hallowed place where Jesus Christ was born is the same on Christmas Eve 2009 as it was more than 2000 years ago. The winter stars still shine on this most humble of towns; the shepherds, in the same kind of clothes worn by those who witnessed the Child in the Manger, are still there watching their flocks by night. The pictures in the YouTube, provided by LifeInTheHolyLand.com...

Seven people were injured on Thursday when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Following the Christmas celebrations, Greek Orthodox priests set up ladders to clean the walls and ceilings of their part of the church, which is built over the site where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born. But the ladders encroached on space controlled by Armenian priests, according to photographers who said angry words ensued and blows quickly followed. For a quarter of an hour bearded and robed priests laid into...

Pointing weapons at Palestinian police, they demand to be on gov't payroll. Gunmen seized the rooftop of Bethlehem's city hall near Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity late Tuesday morning, and pointed their weapons at Palestinian police below, witnesses said. The standoff came just four days before Christmas. The Church of the Nativity is one of Christianity's holiest shrines. Hundreds of Palestinian police and onlookers rushed to Manger Square after the gunmen appeared on the roof of city hall. After about an hour, the gunmen, associated with the ruling Fatah movement, met with the governor of Bethlehem, Salah...

Since the Palestinian Authority’s takeover of Bethlehem in 1995, under the Oslo Accords with Israel, Bethlehem has been transformed from a Christian city into a Muslim city. Bethlehem’s remaining Christians now live in a condition of dhimmitude (a reference to the second-class citizenship Islam imposes on Christians) in the city of Jesus’ birth.

MIDDLE EAST, 3 APR 2002 (14:15) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BETHLEHEM, FATHER GIACOMO AMATAEIS SPAEKS FROM BESEIGED CONVENT: “THERE IS A CORPSE IN FRONT OF US” (FLASH, CHURCH/RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS) “At the moment there are no armed Palestinians inside the convent, but in front of us there is the body of a Palestinian that was killed. I cannot stay on the phone as were are dealing with the Israeli military forces”. This is the first declaration given to MISNA of Father Giacomo (Jacques) Amateis, the Salesian that was supposedly killed yesterday, but in reality only barricaded for over 40 hours in side the small...

LYNCHING IN MANGER SQUARE, BETHLEHEM - THE PICTURES With all the pictures AP sends out throughout the world showing the events of The Oslo War, you might see something besides the "plight of the poor Palestinians" ... and then again, maybe you wouldn't. While we do not know the political beliefs of their journalists, we do know that most of the pictures coming from Israel are taken by Arabs. Don't believe us? Just go to: Yahoo News Page and do a search for news photos, using some key words like: Israel, Ramallah, Gaza, etc. and see for yourself! Even...