CONVENTION 2006

August 3rd to August 7th

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WHIPPANY, NEW JERSEY

WAS A BIG SUCCESS! 

Welcome Bien Venido !
 

Our organization brings together people in North America and elsewhere, whose family origin is from Bethlehem, Beit Sahur, and Beit Jala in the Holy Land.   They bring with them a rich Palestinian heritage accumulated over the ages since the birth of Christianity in their small home towns.  Visit our web pages for news and information on the Association, its activities, its members, upcoming events, what we are doing to alleviate the present desperate situation in the Bethlehem region, and links to other interesting sites. Contact your long lost friends and relatives by posting a message on our Message Board. 

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More about us and contact information.

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Help your Friends & Relatives in Bethlehem: Click here to Join
 

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Plight of Palestinian Christians- McCaul / Crowley proposed resolution:
In June, Congressmen Michael McCaul and Joseph Crowley have submitted a resolution that blames the Palestinian Authority for the economic plight and migration of Palestinian Christians from the Holy Land. It demands that Congress condemn the P.A. for its treatment of Christian Palestinians! It does not mention the Israeli occupation, the confiscation of Palestinian lands, the siege and strangulation of Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns. We joined many Churches and Palestinian organizations in a joint effort to stop the bill and amend it to properly place the blame squarely where it is due. See our letter to Congressmen McCaul and Crowley.
 

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California Mother's Day Banquet:
The Los Angeles Chapter invites all Bethlehemites and friends to their annual Mother's day event: banquet, entertainment and dance, Saturday, May 13.

 

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Easter in Bethlehem 2006:
 While thousands of Christians came to Jerusalem during these holy days of the Easter season,  the Christians from the Bethlehem district, 5 miles away, were prohibited from worshiping in Jerusalem during Holy Week and Easter. Local Christians felt that Christ was not allowed to rise this year by all the Israeli checkpoints around his tomb! There was no way he would be permitted to appear in Emmaus or lake Tiberias. In fact, the village of Emmaus has been erased by Israeli settlements.

 

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News updates:

•  In shadow of security wall Bethlehem celebrates festive Christmas: (HCEF) Bethlehem has celebrated its most festive Christmas since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000 with the largest turnout of pilgrims visiting the town of Jesus' birth for more than five years. More than 30,000 pilgrims descended on the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town for the festive holiday. Details

 

•  Bethlehem Hosts Huge Christmas Crowds: (AP) Thousands of tourists flocked to Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday, bringing a long-missing sense of holiday cheer to Jesus' historic birthplace. Details

 

•  Bethlehem a 'prison' - patriarch  (BBC) Patriarch Michel Sabbah said 

  Bethlehem has become an "immense prison" since the erection of the West Bank

  barrier Details

 

•  California Christmas gathering: Bethlehem Association celebrates

  Christmas Details

 

•  Open Bethlehem: At Open Bethlehem, we believe that our city may still

  have a future if we fight for it with all the energy and creativity it deserves.

  We must: for our own  sake and for the world. more

• For more details : Go to the News Section
 

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2005-06 Scholarship Awards: twenty three scholarships granted,
  for a list of awardees with photos go to SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS.

 

 

OH LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM*

Oh little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
A wall is laid where tourists stayed,
And tanks go rolling by.
And in thy dark streets shineth
No cheerful Christmas light;
The grief and fears of three sad years
Are met in thee tonight.

How silently, how silently
The world regards it all,
As now thy heart is torn apart
By Israel's ghetto wall.
They terrorize a people -
A war crime and a sin;
Their winding "fence" can make no sense;
Revenge can still get in.

Oh promised child of Bethlehem,
Cast down the iron cage,
The walls of hate that separate
And harden and enrage;
Bring justice and make equal;
Come down from far above;
And come to birth upon this earth,
As hope and peace and love.

Alternative Xmas Carol, sung by 'Just Peace UK' anti-occupation protestors.