Bethlehem

The name means “house of bread,” which is of tremendous significance to Catholic Christians, though that translation is not widely known.

We know it from the famous hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” but it turns out we know little else these days about the site of the first Christmas.

Americans are unfamiliar with the town where Jesus was born, according to a survey commissioned by the group Open Bethlehem.

Only 15% of the Americans surveyed realized that Bethlehem is a Palestinian town on the West Bank, with a mixed Muslim-Christian population.

Are you surprised? You have a lot of company.

Open Bethlehem commissioned a nationwide survey of Americans along with a companion survey of Bethlehem residents, to focus attention on a town where the Christian population is steadily dropping. The Zogby poll found that 81% of Americans want Bethlehem to retain its Christian presence.

See the two key points there? The Christian population of Bethlehem is steadily dropping, and the great majority of Americans want the town where Christ was born to retain its Christian presence. 

The companion polls found markedly different attitudes between Americans and Palestinians regarding the current situation in Bethlehem. Most Christians in the town (78%) believe that the steady outward flow of Christians is the result of Israeli government policies, and especially to the “security wall” that rings the town; most Americans blame Islamic militants, with only a small fraction (7%) attributing the problem to Israel. A solid majority of Americans consider Bethlehem an unsafe place to visit, while 80% of the town’s residents say it is safe. Only 17% of the American respondents said that they were confident that Muslims and Christians can live together in peace; about 90% of the Christians in Bethlehem answered that question affirmatively.

Go to that CWNews link above and read the comments readers have left at the bottom. They make good and interesting points, astutely noting that what we know about Bethlehem and Palestine is what the media reports on it, which isn’t much. What does get reported is skewed, which you can see starkly in the above poll findings between Americans and Palestinians.

The first time I visited Bethlehem, about this time at the end of 2000, I couldn’t believe the dramatic contrast between what we saw there and what Americans see and hear in the media here. It was a devastated area then, not entirely due to being three months into the intifada, though mostly because of that. We were just about the only tourists there, and they heavily rely on that trade for their economy.

There is an alarming Christian exodus from the Holy Land. The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is working heroically to turn that around by giving Christians support in education, housing, employment and necessary services. They need help.

I was in Bethlehem at this time last year on pilgrimage. I consider it a safe place to visit if you go with a good guide. And I saw firsthand that Christians and Muslims are living peacefully together in some places, so they can. If they will.

More on Christmas in Bethlehem to come…