Nazareth mayor cancels Christmas celebration over Trump's Jerusalem decision

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Christian zionism is a hard nut to crack.

a reply to: UKTruth

Geez, there we go again. Every christian mayor would've done the same. Just look at some pictures of the recent protests and you might get why it aint save no more.

but Trump!!!

You're joking, right?

a reply to: Byrd

Lulzl, Jews don't believe in The Churchian Messiah, anyway.

a reply to: UKTruth

Cancel your minorities holiday to protest Muslims claim to Jerusalem... Man I'm so confused

This isn't about the capital this is about the three religions claim to the city.

a reply to: JDmOKI
Arafat and his wife would attend the christmas services in bethleham every year I think...
except of course, there's a few years in there where Isreal prevented him from traveling to the church...

Like many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who have been unable to travel to Bethlehem due to Israel's tight restrictions, Yasser Arafat, a Muslim, was banned by Israel for the third straight year from attending midnight Mass and other Christmas celebrations.

"This is part of the failed Israeli attempt to harm the morale of the Palestinian people, especially in these sacred days, which commemorate the birth of our master," Arafat said from his Ramallah headquarters, where he has been confined for a year and a half.

In the church on Christmas Eve, a front-row seat was left empty for the veteran leader. The seat was draped with a black-and-white checkered headscarf, like the one Arafat wears. A sign on the seat read: "Yasser Arafat, president of the State of Palestine."

Arafat had attended Christmas Eve celebrations every year after Israel turned the town over to Palestinian control in December 1995.

At midnight Mass, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, struck a political chord in his homily, saying "the separation wall will give no security and no peace."

"The sacrifices of these years will not be for nothing if those responsible conclude the true results, rather than concluding that building the wall is the true solution," said Sabbah, the highest-ranking Catholic official in the Holy Land.

"The true results are that war destroys people and places and does not silence a people that demands its freedom," he added.

www.cbsnews.com...

but, I guess it's okay when Isreal takes christmas from Bethleham??

here's Arafat entering a christian church for christmas mass...
he seems to be being treated as royalty by the christians...

a reply to: dawnstar

Prevented him only right? So they canceled Christmas for Arafat I'm sure he was really depressed about that

originally posted by: Revolution9

THIS POST IS PROPAGANDA.

The OP is deliberately telling one bit of news without giving the context. The reality is THIS:

www.jpost.com...

Nazareth to observe most Christmas festivities despite anger over Trump

Nazareth Mayor Ali Salam decided Thursday to keep most Christmas festivities intact despite anger over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “Our message is we love Jerusalem, we’ll never abandon you under any circumstances,” he said at a press conference in which he announced that singing performances on outdoor stages that are normally part of Nazareth’s Christmas Market would be canceled.

OP, you and your sources are deliberately exaggerating the issue to serve your own political interests. You have made it out that the Mayor has cancelled everything when it is only a minority of carol singing gatherings that will be affected. These precautions have to be taken for the sake of the tourists' security, as well as the security of the performers, Israelis and Palestinians. Would you like to see an atrocity happen, OP? Do you get off on that sort of thing so you can use it as yet more propaganda fodder against Israel?

You are deliberately winding the situation up by doing this. You are CONTRIBUTING to the unrest. That is disgusting.

You have not been honest with ATS by doing this and I had to CLEARLY point this out.

This is the REAL NEWS:

www.jpost.com...

Post Poll: Skyrocketing support for Trump among Israelis

At a time when President Donald Trump’s popularity has fallen in his own country, his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and start the process of moving the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv has significantly increased his support among Israelis, according to a Smith Research poll taken on Wednesday for The Jerusalem Post.

Happy Holidays, OP. Take some of that advice you are dishing out to others - deny your own ignorance!

Damn well said! This OP always post this stuff. Thanks for the clarification.

a reply to: JDmOKI

kind of sounds like it was more than just Arafat???

Like many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who have been unable to travel to Bethlehem due to Israel's tight restrictions, Yasser Arafat, a Muslim, was banned by Israel for the third straight year from attending midnight Mass and other Christmas celebrations.

www.cbsnews.com...

but my point is that the palestinians are both christian and muslim, and I don't really think that they are divided as badly as you make it out to be, since there is the leader of the palestinians, being treated by what looks like leaders of the bethleham church on christmas day.

both the christian and the muslim palestinians are being uprooted from their lands, packed in the few areas as Isreal expands their Jewish state...

Isn't the focus of the issue:

Trump the president who said the US embassy will be moved where others have delayed the move.

a reply to: dawnstar

I'm not defending Isreal I'm just saying canceling Xmas is dumb

a reply to: JDmOKI

so, you saying that the bethleham church won't be holding mass this year?? are they going door to door hauling away the christmas decorations out of the houses?
or is it that some of the festivities have been cancelled?
I think it's the latter??
how stupid it is would depend on weather they mayor and his administration saw evidence that there is a security risk at the cancelled events.

and, all of this is kind of overlooking my main point....
you were asserting that they were cancelling the events to hit at the "minority" christians....
because they are palestinians so obviously they must be muslims....
you are completely overlooking the money that flows into the city around this time of year by christian pilgrams.

Bethlehem now has a Muslim majority, but is still home to a significant Palestinian Christian community. Bethlehem's chief economic sector is tourism, which peaks during the Christmas season when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, as they have done for almost 2,000 years.

en.wikipedia.org...

that would be a rather costly thing to do just to irk the christian community...

originally posted by: Revolution9

THIS POST IS PROPAGANDA.

The OP is deliberately telling one bit of news without giving the context. The reality is THIS:

www.jpost.com...

Nazareth to observe most Christmas festivities despite anger over Trump

Nazareth Mayor Ali Salam decided Thursday to keep most Christmas festivities intact despite anger over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “Our message is we love Jerusalem, we’ll never abandon you under any circumstances,” he said at a press conference in which he announced that singing performances on outdoor stages that are normally part of Nazareth’s Christmas Market would be canceled.

OP, you and your sources are deliberately exaggerating the issue to serve your own political interests. You have made it out that the Mayor has cancelled everything when it is only a minority of carol singing gatherings that will be affected. These precautions have to be taken for the sake of the tourists' security, as well as the security of the performers, Israelis and Palestinians. Would you like to see an atrocity happen, OP? Do you get off on that sort of thing so you can use it as yet more propaganda fodder against Israel?

You are deliberately winding the situation up by doing this. You are CONTRIBUTING to the unrest. That is disgusting.

You have not been honest with ATS by doing this and I had to CLEARLY point this out.

This is the REAL NEWS:

www.jpost.com...

Post Poll: Skyrocketing support for Trump among Israelis

At a time when President Donald Trump’s popularity has fallen in his own country, his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and start the process of moving the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv has significantly increased his support among Israelis, according to a Smith Research poll taken on Wednesday for The Jerusalem Post.

Happy Holidays, OP. Take some of that advice you are dishing out to others - deny your own ignorance!

Why does he need the Jew Beenie to touch the wall?
It's just a wall and not magic.
Looks like he picked his side.

originally posted by: dawnstar
a reply to: JDmOKI

so, you saying that the bethleham church won't be holding mass this year?? are they going door to door hauling away the christmas decorations out of the houses?
or is it that some of the festivities have been cancelled?
I think it's the latter??

As far as I can tell, it's just the latter. Apparently there was local pushback against this (not surprising) and earlier today it was announced it would be a scaled-back event

While I applaud this more reasonable tone, I still think Trump will never notice this, so as protest it's ineffective. It hasn't made headlines here in America. A more interesting question is if it will make a difference in Israel and Palestine. I don't have the answer to that.

originally posted by: Josephus
a reply to: enlightenedservant

Christian zionism is a hard nut to crack.

It's simple when you realize that America's supposedly pro-Christian right wing doesn't give a crap about the Palestinian Christians or their plight. Many of them equate "Palestinian" with "Muslim" and "Israel" with "holy ally", then react accordingly. Some even think that the modern state of Israel needs to meet certain conditions in order for the End Times to begin (and others look at biblical quotes that say to support Israel).

(I say "supposedly pro-Christian" because in practice many also don't seem to care about Hispanic people, even though the vast majority of them are also "fellow" Christians, nor about Africans, even though roughly half of them are also "fellow" Christians.)

a reply to: enlightenedservant

I can't help but think that the European/American influence in the founding of Isreal along with all the support it gets has more to do with them trying to fullfill bible prophecy than anything else....
never mind that God really probably never needed their help in fullfilling the prophecy and to be honest, probably won't be fullfilled till it's time under God's timetable and not theirs.
all they are doing is causing needless deaths and turmoil for the people of the region...
and ya, ensuring that they have a powerful ally that is friendly to them in the oil rich area...

a reply to: vonclod

Most people don't know that .

And although obama talked about it in one of his speeches the speech he gave wasn't about this topic.
Most people didn't even listen to that speech.
But when trump made his speech it was about this topic only and he made that (useless) grand gesture of signing the proclamation. Lots more people around the world listened.

Isn't there a statue of Santa that you morons can knock down?

a reply to: underwerks

No he didn't. If anyone "stole" it, it was the mayor.

Christmas is still Christmas, irregardless of whether Nazareth holds ceremonies, or not.

The birth of Christ is still going to be celebrated by those who follow.

The mayor canceling the celebrations will have just about the same effect for most that the Sheriff of Nottingham cancelling Christmas had. The only people being hurt are those in Nazareth. Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: underwerks

.

Christmas is still Christmas, irregardless of whether Nazareth holds ceremonies, or not.

The Who's of Whoville taught us that.