An American Visit to Bethlehem
Dr. Bernard Sabella
Executive Director of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees
Middle East Council of Churches
Jerusalem
Associate Professor of Sociology
Department of Social Sciences
Bethlehem University
Bethlehem
Palestinian Territories
November 27, 2004
The other day a group of American university students visited Bethlehem University
in Bethlehem of the nativity fame in the Palestinian Territories. They discussed
with their Palestinian peer a number of issues, including mutual perceptions
or misperceptions, the stand of the American Administrations on the Arab-Israeli
conflict, the situation in Iraq and the upcoming presidential elections in
Palestine. After the formal discussions were over, the American and Palestinian
students intermingled, exchanged e-mail addresses and promised to keep on
with their discussions.
On Manger Square, the American students had two pleasant surprises: the first
was shaking hands with the Roman Catholic Palestinian Mayor of Bethlehem,
Mr. Hanna Nasser, as he was coming out from the Church of the Nativity accompanying
a pilgrim group on one of these rare visits of pilgrim groups to the town
in recent years. When the students asked him his wishes for Christmas, his
response was that his wishes were the wishes of the people of Bethlehem:
Peace for Bethlehem that would bring in more pilgrims and Peace for Palestine
that would bring stability and eventual reconciliation. The second surprise
came as the group continued towards the entrance of the Church of the Nativity
where a correspondent of an international American news agency asked them
for an interview. The correspondent was interested to know how they happened
to be in Bethlehem and whether they felt afraid being in the Palestinian
Territories. The students explained to her that they have just met with Palestinian
students at Bethlehem University and that they have found them very friendly,
warm and hospitable. In fact, a couple of students mentioned that they were
encouraging their parents to come and spend Christmas and the New Year in
Bethlehem. Were they afraid of terrorism? She asked. Absolutely not was the
answer as the correspondent jotted down the names and addresses of the students.
In fact, a couple of students commented that they would be more afraid of
crime and other forms of violence in their own towns and cities in the US
than here in Bethlehem.
At the Saint Jerome Grotto or Cave inside the Church of the Nativity, where
in the fourth century Saint Jerome, a monk and hermit, worked for over thirty
years on translating the Bible into the Latin Vulgate translation which is
still in use, the guide was referring to the story of "no place at the inn"
that is associated with the birth story of Jesus of Nazareth. She was insisting
that since Mary and Joseph originally hailed from Bethlehem, there was no
need for them to look for a place at the inn. Family would have taken care
of them as families in Bethlehem and in other parts of Palestine would take
care of their kin today if they would come back for a short visit or a long
stay. In fact, and perhaps because she wanted to prove her point further,
the guide was saying that if you, strangers, would walk now through the streets
of Bethlehem and nearby Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, where the shepherds were
first alerted to the imminent birth of the divine babe, people would greet
you and ask you in. So how much more hospitable would they be with close
kin and family? The group was left with the impression that possibly
the families and kin of Joseph and Mary must have left the little town of
Bethlehem; otherwise there was no need for the couple to look for a place
at the inn.
As the students concluded their visit with a traditional Palestinian dish
of Hummous and Falafel at a small cramped restaurant on Manger Square, they
reflected that they would have liked to stay more time in Bethlehem engaging
their Palestinian peers. They were especially appreciative of the resilience
and determination of the students at Bethlehem University to keep on with
their studies in spite of everything. Most important they felt that the people
in Bethlehem reminded them of people back home who wanted to lead their lives
in peace and tranquility. Would they come back again to Bethlehem? Definitely,
to cement new friendships and to explore common areas of interest that unite
people. Most impressive was the almost similar response of a Palestinian
and an American student on the visit: they are so much like us, aren't they?