P F Tinmore
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- Dec 6, 2009
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A handful of Palestinian Christians stand on a ridge under grey skies at an open-air mass, praying for protection for the sweeping valley that descends from their feet.
For decades, the dwindling Christian community of Beit Jala and Bethlehem has joined its Muslim neighbours to work the land of the Cremisan Valley during the week, and picnic here with their families at the weekend.
But the route of Israel's controversial separation barrier will soon cut them off from the valley, placing it on the Israeli side and out of their reach -- a route that residents say was designed to grab their land.
In Bethlehem, it has dispossessed the area's once-thriving Christian community, pushing them to move overseas as their village lands are annexed to Jerusalem and eaten away by expanding settlements.
For Ibrahim Shomali, Beit Jala's parish priest, the loss of the Cremisan will only push more of the area's shrinking Christian community overseas.
"Families will lose their land, their work and their future for their children, what will they do? They will leave the country," he said.
"The presence of the Christian community here in the Holy Land makes this conflict a political conflict, not a religious conflict," he said.
Abu Eid agrees, saying Israel's ongoing seizure of land is rarely mentioned in connection with the falling number of Christians in the Holy Land.
"When people are talking about Christians emigrating, it's important to know that one of the factors is that basically we have no land anymore."
West Bank Christians pray for threatened valley - Yahoo! News
For decades, the dwindling Christian community of Beit Jala and Bethlehem has joined its Muslim neighbours to work the land of the Cremisan Valley during the week, and picnic here with their families at the weekend.
But the route of Israel's controversial separation barrier will soon cut them off from the valley, placing it on the Israeli side and out of their reach -- a route that residents say was designed to grab their land.
In Bethlehem, it has dispossessed the area's once-thriving Christian community, pushing them to move overseas as their village lands are annexed to Jerusalem and eaten away by expanding settlements.
For Ibrahim Shomali, Beit Jala's parish priest, the loss of the Cremisan will only push more of the area's shrinking Christian community overseas.
"Families will lose their land, their work and their future for their children, what will they do? They will leave the country," he said.
"The presence of the Christian community here in the Holy Land makes this conflict a political conflict, not a religious conflict," he said.
Abu Eid agrees, saying Israel's ongoing seizure of land is rarely mentioned in connection with the falling number of Christians in the Holy Land.
"When people are talking about Christians emigrating, it's important to know that one of the factors is that basically we have no land anymore."
West Bank Christians pray for threatened valley - Yahoo! News