Their visit (organized by a Menachem Begin friend) wasn’t intended to meet Palestinian Christians or to visit the holy site of Bethlehem as Christmas approaches. Instead, they came to express solidarity with Israel & its oppression of the Palestinians. How can one claim to be a follower of Christ while standing with those who kill, dispossess, & degrade an entire people?
Israeli military backed colonizers are annexing historical Christian communities in Bethlehem, and starving them of their rightful and legally owned land.
Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack.
“Priests and nuns have courageously refused to leave the churches, choosing to remain in Gaza despite the imminent dangers,”.
‘These actions are part of a systematic policy aimed at dismantling the authentic Christian presence in Palestine,’ says the Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine.