No Way to the Inn Christmas Campaign Resources
CPT Palestine
18 November 2007
Campaign “How-To’s”:
The CPT Palestine team is pleased to provide the following ideas for how your family, small group, or church can use the “No Way to the Inn” campaign as a teaching tool about the separation barrier throughout the occupied Palestinian territories:
ÿ When building the wall around your nativity or crèche, be creative! Build a wall encircling the nativity, with no one or nothing else in view. Perhaps leave Mary and Joseph outside the wall, separated from the nativity (they certainly would have difficulty entering Bethlehem from Nazareth today!) Or perhaps Handala (a Palestinian symbol of resistance – www.handala.org) could join the shepherds, separated from the baby Jesus by the wall. Create as the Holy Spirit leads your family, small group, or church!
ÿ Contact the local media regarding your family, small group, or church decision to erect a wall surrounding your nativity or crèche. Use this opportunity to explain to the media (and the broader public!) about the separation barrier the Israeli government is building throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. Note: If you decide to extend the campaign through to Epiphany, call the media on January 1 – this is often a slow news day.
ÿ Take pictures of your wall. If you make your own Christmas cards, consider using a photo of your nativity/crèche surrounded by the wall. In the card, explain why this is relevant.
ÿ E-mail pictures of your wall to: guest.49296@MennoLink.org. The CPT Palestine team will compile and use the pictures for broader distribution.
ÿ Remember, in prayer and reflection, the Palestinian communities, Christian and Muslim, who are unable to travel because of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Use our worship materials and reflections (first reflection below – more coming soon) to incorporate into Advent and Christmas worship services
REFLECTION
Palestine: No Way to the Inn--Bethlehem behind the Wall
By Lorne Friesen
18 November 2007
The Gospels of both Matthew and Luke tell the nativity story, and both authors make it abundantly clear that Jesus was born under the Roman occupation. According to some, the whole world was at peace; it was called “Pax Romana”. Occupation, then as well as now, meant that the powerful ruler had such a stranglehold upon the citizens that it controlled almost every aspect of life for those under its domination. Both Luke and Matthew have the courage to refer in their stories of Jesus’ birth to the hardships that were part of life in Judea and Galilee.
Luke informs us that the occupation required Mary and Joseph to make a long and dangerous journey to satisfy the dictates of the Occupying Power. Matthew tells us that all infant boys born near the place and time of Jesus’ birth were slaughtered, for Herod to preserve the power that was given him by the Roman authorities.
Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus have often it turned into a fairy tale that misses the point of the gospel. The gospel accounts give dramatic evidence that in spite of the best efforts of the political powers at securing their own position, God continues to move. Caesar Augustus and Herod the Great sought to advance their own political careers, but it is never God’s will that an individual or a nation use injustice to advance their agenda. The message of the scriptures is that no matter how brutal and unjust the methods of the powers, God will continue to achieve God’s plan for us.
Imagine the risks of being pregnant under the occupation. Caesar made his decree, and so Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Many other pregnant women as well as Mary would have been making similar journeys. And if the delivery was premature and the mother and child died en route, Caesar would not have cared in the least. The Israeli military occupation of the West Bank likewise places its own interests above the needs of the people under its control. Numerous mothers, whose labor has already begun have been held up at checkpoints, some have given birth in the open fields or in their cars. Mary gave birth in a distant community, far away from the traditional midwife support that families usually provide. It was occupation that made it necessary for the birth of Jesus to be in crude circumstances with the numerous risks of birth in a stable or cave among the animals. And we should remember that both in Mary and Joseph’s day and in ours, there is a mysterious God-sent challenge to imperial power in every pregnancy—the power of love and new life works outside the restrictions of occupation.
Luke informs us that the census required people to return to their place of origin. Joseph was from Bethlehem, and so Mary and Joseph needed to make this journey. There is no record of the number of people who were required to make such journeys. The disruption in the lives of people will have been enormous. The purpose was to consolidate the power of the Roman authorities, and there was no regard for the human cost to its citizens. Today, travel is again a major issue in the occupation. Today, travel in and out of Bethlehem is controlled by checkpoints in this monstrous 27 foot high wall that snakes across the West Bank. Checkpoints similar to international border terminals channels access in and out of Bethlehem. The Israeli government has made special arrangements for tourists, so that their inconvenience will be minimal, but most Palestinians find their travel severely restricted even in the case of medical emergencies. They need special permits even to travel the five miles to Jerusalem. Many residents of Bethlehem have not been able to visit Jerusalem for years.
May your reflections and meditations on the Nativity story, help you find a bond of solidarity with the countless people throughout the world whose lives are controlled by powers that have little regard for their well-being.
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