Bethlehem occupied then and occupied now
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Bethlehem obviously is associated with the birth of Jesus Christ. 2000 years ago the region known as Judea was a province of the Roman Empire where the Romans held down a restive Jewish population. Today Bethlehem lies on the West Bank part of a territory governed from Ramallah by the Palestinian Authority or PA.
The town today is still occupied not by the Romans this time but by the Israelis. The West Bank is regarded as occupied territory by the UN and many others across the world. Although the Palestinian government's writ runs on that territory Israeli forces maintain a presence to supposedly keep order and protect illegal Jewish settlements on the West Bank.
With Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel the atmosphere has been tense with Palestinians clashing with Israeli forces. Trump should have recognised West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital for when Palestine became a recognised state.
However, with Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, any peace between the two sides looks, for now, dead in the water. Facing facts though peace has been on life support for ages with Hamas and Fattah of the Palestinians falling out (although I believe they may have patched things up) and a very right-leaning Israeli government.
It is sad that in the birthplace of Jesus Christ where the Prince of Peace was born peace is still an elusive thing.
The town today is still occupied not by the Romans this time but by the Israelis. The West Bank is regarded as occupied territory by the UN and many others across the world. Although the Palestinian government's writ runs on that territory Israeli forces maintain a presence to supposedly keep order and protect illegal Jewish settlements on the West Bank.
With Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel the atmosphere has been tense with Palestinians clashing with Israeli forces. Trump should have recognised West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital for when Palestine became a recognised state.
However, with Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, any peace between the two sides looks, for now, dead in the water. Facing facts though peace has been on life support for ages with Hamas and Fattah of the Palestinians falling out (although I believe they may have patched things up) and a very right-leaning Israeli government.
It is sad that in the birthplace of Jesus Christ where the Prince of Peace was born peace is still an elusive thing.
carmen3521 › ???
soncee › ??
Shavkat › It sounds the place is in chaos. We do hope that peace will come in between the opponents. War is not the answer for everything. We need to tolerate the differences and to understand the differences. c",)
Borderline › The Palestinians are not the original population of Judea/Palestinae, they are Arab invaders from the Arabian peninsula, same as in northern Africa. Palestine never existed itself as a country.
LAFFINGKNOME › The Israelis are not true Hebrews either. Many of them come from Europe or at least their forefathers did and have European DNA.
indexer › @LAFFINGKNOME Very few Jews are descended from Hebrews. The area was occupied by Muslim invaders in the 7th/8th centuries and the Jews who lived there mostly converted to Islam. Who are the true descendants of the Hebrews with the best right to live there? The Palestinians, that's who!
indexer › You are perfectly correct. The vast majority of today's Jews are descendants of converts to Judaism who had never lived in Palestine.
LAFFINGKNOME › Thanks for all your diverse opinion!
