sandwich for anytime of the day 
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| Manger Square Bethlehem Palestine |
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem is gearing up for a subdued Christmas, without the festive lights and customary Christmas tree towering over Manger Square, after officials in Jesus’ traditional birthplace decided to forgo celebrations due to the Israel-Hamas war.
The cancellation of Christmas festivities, which typically draw thousands of visitors, is a severe blow to the town’s tourism-dependent economy. But joyous revelry is untenable at a time of immense suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, said Mayor Hana Haniyeh.
“The economy is crashing,” Haniyeh told The Associated Press on Friday. “But if we compare it with what’s happening to our people and Gaza, it’s nothing.”
More than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel’s blistering air and ground offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas’ deadly assault Oct. 7 on southern Israel" ... READ MOREhttps://apnews.com/article/bethlehem-west-bank-israel-hamas-war-a42bbd967c27a68f71f8aace59387963
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES or quotes or watch videos IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
Born in Warsaw Poland in 1907, graduated from University of Berlin died in 1972 in New York City. In late October 1938, when Heschel was living in a rented room in the home of a Jewish family in Frankfurt, he was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Poland in the Polenaktion.
Heschel's sister Esther was killed in a German bombing. His mother was murdered by the Nazis, and two other sisters, Gittel and Devorah, died in Nazi concentration camps. He never returned to Germany, Austria or Poland. He once wrote, "If I should go to Poland or Germany, every stone, every tree would remind me of contempt, hatred, murder, of children killed, of mothers burned alive, of human beings asphyxiated.
Heschel arrived in New York City in March 1940
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel believed that no religious community could claim a monopoly on religious truth. For these and other reasons, Martin Luther King Jr. called Heschel "a truly great prophet." Heschel actively participated in the Civil Rights movement, and was a participant in the third Selma to Montgomery march, accompanying Dr. King and John Lewis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel
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| Heschel, left, presenting the Judaism and World Peace Award to Martin Luther King Jr., December 7, 1965 |
"The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference."
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| Al Jazeera has referred the "assassination" of its journalist Samer Abu Daqqa to the International Criminal Court. |
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| Samer Abu Daqqa - Palestinian photojournalist, killed bu an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza |
The Guardian: "Cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh had gone to Farhana school in the southern city of Khan Younis after it was hit by a strike earlier in the day. While they were there, an Israeli drone hit the school with a second strike, the network said.
“The network holds Israel accountable for systematically targeting and killing their journalists and their families,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
“Following Samer’s injury he was left to bleed to death for over five hours, as Israeli forces prevented ambulances and rescue workers from reaching him, denying the much-needed emergency treatment,” it continued."
Samer Abu Daqqa died after attack while network’s chief correspondent in territory, Wael al-Dahdouh, was injured https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/16/al-jazeera-cameraman-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza-school-broadcaster-says
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES or quotes or watch videos IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
Al Jazeera has referred the "assassination" of its journalist Samer Abu Daqqa to the International Criminal Court.
The Al Jazeera cameraman died on Friday after going to Farhana school in the southern city of Khan Younis after it was hit by a strike earlier in the day.
While he was there, a missile the Qatari-based network says was fired by an Israeli drone hit the school with a second strike, badly injuring Abu Daqqa.
The Israeli military prevented emergency services from reaching him, resulting in him bleeding to death.
"We decided to urgently refer the case of the assassination of our colleague photographer Samer Abu Daqqa to the International Criminal Court," Al Jazeera tweeted on Saturday.
Samer Abu Daqqa was murdered on 15 December 2023 "during an air strike that targeted the Al Jazeera crew while covering the Haifa School airstrike in Khan Yunis during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Wael Al-Dahdouh
was injured in his hand and stomach, but was able to withdraw on foot.
Samer, however, was unable to withdraw after his injury and continued to
bleed for more than five hours, eventually succumbing to his wounds.
Abu Daqqa was 45" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samer_Abu_Daqqa
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| Wael Dahdouh lost his wife, as well as a son, a daughter and a grandson, in what Al Jazeera reported was an Israeli airstrike that hit Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza. Another son, Yehia, was seriously wounded. |
"It's a difficult moment in the life of a Palestinian journalist, when they go to cover an incident for the news and find out that the news is their own family" Wael Dahdouh
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| One the most iconic images of the Holy Land is the fish and loaves mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee |
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| Father
Yusif Asead celebrating Mass in Gaza in the most horrifying conditions.
Celebrating the Divine Liturgy even though no electricity, no freedom,
and the possibility of being bombed at any second. God is their strong refuge and faith is their greatest comfort. December 2023 |
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Stars of Bethlehem Palestinian Embroidery |
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| Sunbula Bethlehem Star coin purse- Traditional 'Bethlehem Star' motif adorns this handy coin purse. Made
by women artisans from small villages in the Bethlehem area. https://www.sunbula.org/ |
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Embroidered Cushion Cover - Star of Bethlehem- The Bethlehem Arab Women's Union (BAWU) was founded in 1947 as a first aid center to care for refugees from Al-Nakba (Palestnian catastrophe at the creation of the state of Israel). Located in ... Read more |
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Star of Bethlehem Quilt, ca. 1845 (American) |
Bethlehem Star , a tatreez (embroidery) symbol that has decorated Palestinian artwork for centuries and was brought to Europe via the Crusades.  | |
| Nativity
in Bethlehem 2023 - Baby Jesus in the rubble, a symbol of hope
reflecting the current reality of the Israeli made genocide in Gaza
right now. Pastor
Munther Isaac & Bethlehem's Evangelical Lutheran Church |
Religious Fact
Jewish- Christian- Muslim ALL
of the book ALL Abraham's
heirs... ALL of faith
somewhere on our
family tree.
A branch with branches
and twigs and seasons
bringing forth new leaves.
One branch on one tree
in a large orchard of life.
Some where some one
long long ago choose
to believe, to have faith
and to name that faith.
That human being
told true stories to
others. And others
helped spread the word.
Minds and hearts opened
communities grew
and yet
so did divisiveness as we are all
only human,
with many loving children
teaching each in turn
phrases to say
and habits to have
shaping human history.
Jewish- Christian- Muslim ALL
of an elaborate world where one by one,
each in our own exclusive way,
we are empowered to decide
who and what to notice
& who and what
to forget.
poem
copyright ©2014 Anne Selden Annab
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| “My Christian grandmother and my Muslim grandmother in Palestine” - Shared by a Palestinian man on Facebook |
poem
copyright ©2014 Anne Selden Annab
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| Palestine photo credit ATFP news roundup |
poem copyright ©2014 Anne Selden Annab
Ibrahim's Estate
Recognizing rights
basic human rights
the People of the Book-
the Christians and Muslims and Jews
and the People of Outside the Box
looked... They
looked to homelands
looked to citizenship
looked to fair and just laws
to compassion
and empathy
and the Golden Rule...
looked for ways
to make peace
and diplomacy
a daily practice.
Some went astray.
Some waged war
instead of waging peace.
Some grew ugly thoughts
instead of gardens with flowers
to delight the soul and fruit to feed
the hungry.
Some grew selfish and paranoid.
Some grew angry and cruel
Some grew violent.
Bigots & bullies tried to own the story-
to tell it in ways to diminish
and alienate "others"...
to tell it in ways
to spark rage
and arguments...
But the People of the Book-
the Christians and Muslims and Jews
and the People of Outside the Box
taught their children to read
and to think... to stop look and listen...
and to invest wisely
so that country by country
community by community
we all might be free
as one epic nation
free to flourish
enjoying
Ibrahim's Estate...
This then is the nation
the promised land-
the real estate
agents of Good
keep safe for all to inherit...
No border, no book, no line, no letter
no brick or stone can contain it. No passport
can define it. No one sect
can own it... it is ours
in the largest sense
It is ours for all
eternity.
poem
copyright ©2013 Anne Selden Annab
Tiny 2,000-year-old golden bell found in Jerusalem: A
tiny golden bell which was lost in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago
during the Second Temple period has been found among ruins near the Old
City, Israel's Antiquities Authority has said
Little golden bell
lost
for 2000 years-
a precious treasure
and token
of times gone by
What stories did you hear
when you were first created
bought and sold
and then later- through the ages
as you hid in Palestine?
What songs and hymns stirred
your heart to beat
underground
Did footsteps echo
in your ear
coming and going
Shall we argue now
as to your religion
and rightful heirs...
Fondly remembering the freedom
and the beauty found
in my own American childhood
(and the silly seriousness of children)
I like to think
you belonged to a young girl
A girl with joy in her heart
and a brilliant mind...
even brighter than your gold polished
A girl able to balance on a beam
A girl whose own story
we will never know
She is free to simply be
no ID card- no passport
no prison- no politics
no accusations
no religion
no names
Just life
being lived
little golden bell
perhaps she meant
to drop you.
poem
copyright ©2011 Anne Selden Annab
Freedom to me is
And unto us
