Christmas in Bethlehem ...useful links

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4167&ed=225&edid=225

Christmas in Bethlehem
By VisitPalestine.ps

 

Every December Bethlehem takes centre stage as it welcomes thousands of visitors who come to experience this historic town and join in the Christmas celebrations. This year should be no different as Bethlehem and its host communities once again prepare to welcome their guests from across the world.

Men, women, and children, tourist and local alike, will once again pack Manger Square to wait for and welcome the Roman Catholic Patriarch, Archbishop Fouad Twal, as he arrives at the Church of the Nativity and marks the start of Christmas celebrations. Palestinian boy scouts and girl scouts will bring the streets to life as they parade down Manger Street playing loud, festive music on their bagpipes and drums. Be sure to check out the December schedule of events that is expected to be packed with activities throughout the area. Dozens of international and local artists, musicians, choirs, and bands are scheduled to perform in Manger Square and at other venues, such as the Bethlehem Peace Center and Dar Annadwa (International Center of Bethlehem). The Annual Christmas Market will once again bring together local and international artisans showcasing and selling crafts, traditional foods, Christmas decorations, and children’s goodies. The Christmas-tree-lighting ceremonies in Bethlehem and neighbouring Beit Jala and Beit Sahour are yet another draw for tourists and locals alike since they will surely be accompanied by music and dance celebrations.

Celebrations will slow down after Christmas Eve on the 24th but pick up again with the celebration of Greek Orthodox Christmas on January 6 and Armenian Christmas on January 18.

If you plan to spend New Year’s Eve in Bethlehem, there will definitely be dozens of parties taking place at hotels and restaurants in the area. The Manger Square celebrations will feature fireworks displays and various performances.

Useful links for Christmas season events:
www.thisweekinpalestine.com

www.visitpalestine.ps
www.travelpalestine.ps

Elevating the best: Rosa Parks becomes the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall.

"She defied the odds and she defied injustice," Obama said at the unveiling of a statue of Rosa Parks at the U.S. Capitol. "She lived a life of activism, but also a life of dignity and grace. And in a single moment, with the simplest of gestures, she helped change America and change the world."

 

Rosa Parks statue in  in the Capitol's Statuary Hall photo by Jack Reed/Reuters

"We do well by placing a statue of her here," Obama said, "but we can do no greater honor to her memory than to carry forward the power of her principle and a courage born of conviction." Rosa Parks statue unveiled at Capitol

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) takes part in the unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue in the U.S. Capitol in Washington February 27, 2013. (From L-R) are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC). REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and congressional leaders unveiled a full-length statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in the Capitol Wednesday, paying tribute to a figure whose name became synonymous with courage in the face of injustice.

Parks becomes the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. A bust of another black woman, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, sits in the Capitol Visitors Center...READ MORE

Bethlehem 2012 Christmas in Palestine

Christian worshipers visits the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, ahead of Christmas, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

In this photo taken on Monday, Dec 17, 2012, Bethlehem’s first female mayor, Vera Baboun tours near the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West bank city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem’s first female mayor, Vera Baboun, can’t walk through the main square of the biblical town without being stopped by admirers. “This is our new mayor, who is turning Bethlehem into one of the greatest cities in the world,” a tour guide hollered to a group of Christian tourists passing by the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. After seven years of Islamist Hamas control of Bethlehem that drained the town of international aid funds, Baboun, a Christian, and her colleagues from the more moderate Fatah Party hope to turn things around, starting with the Christmas season. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

A Palestinian vendor pushes a cart in front of a Christmas tree as he sells corn at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION FOOD)

 

People watch fireworks explode after the lighting of the Christmas tree outside the Church of Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 15, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

A Palestinian wood carver works on a figurine of the baby Jesus in an olive wood factory in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, ahead of Christmas, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

A worshipper lights a candle in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 20, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

Bethlehem's new female mayor gears up for Christmas 

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Tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists are expected to visit Bethlehem in the West Bank over Christmas. Photograph: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP/Getty Image

 

"OK, we are living in a big prison, but we still hope that things will change."

Bethlehem is "a symbol of hope and peace" to the world, said Rishmawi. However, he added: "Hotels in Bethlehem will be full at Christmas, but we need families to come here all the year round, to walk in our streets and eat in our restaurants."

No room at the inn – but Bethlehem's popularity is a boon for Palestinians

More visitors and statehood recognition raises hopes for tourism industry in West Bank city, which is largely controlled by Israel.

♥ .. •●♥ EID MUBARAK FOR ALL♥●• .. ♥

Celebrating Palestine through the Art of Abdul Hai Musallam

Celebrating Palestine through the Art of Abdul Hai Musallam
By George Al Ama and Nada Atrash

Palestine and its celebrations were the motivation behind the talent of Abdul Hai Musallam. At the age of five, Abdul Hai lost his father and continued to live peacefully among his five sisters and their mother in his little village of Al Dawaimeh, near Hebron. They were expelled from the village in 1948. That period of Abdul Hai’s life was the most influential on his art; he spent his childhood in his village home where all the women in the neighbourhood used to gather each morning. He represented this repetitive event in his work Abdul Hai’s Mother’s House, in which he recounted the daily routine of the village women who came together to embroider and chat while sipping their morning coffee. The little child Abdul Hai is observing the details while sitting in a tree and watching the scene.

In 1970 - a date that Abdul Hai refers to as his true date of birth - he began to use a carpenter’s technique of mixing sawdust with glue to produce a dough-like substance to fill the cracks of a piece of wood in order to form bas-relief figures and shapes. The ensemble is later painted to form masterpieces that reflect the memoirs of the artist’s early life in Palestine. It was a long journey for the self-taught Abdul Hai to discover the artist that lay inside him; his ultimate dream was to fight for Palestine. Unable to fulfil this dream, he was led by an urge to employ his art to serve the Palestinian cause.

In Tripoli, Libya, the first station of his mysterious journey with art, the Libyan Desert added to his feelings of pain and alienation. Later he moved to Beirut and then to Damascus before settling back in to the crowded neighbourhood of Al-Qusour in Amman. Throughout his journey Abdul Hai maintained his spontaneous nature and honesty, which were reflected clearly and freely in his representations of pre-1948 Palestine. He concentrated on the beauty and simplicity of the Palestinian village and its richness - daily life, celebration, feasts, and traditions - forgetting the painful reality of Palestine.

The late seventies and early eighties in Beirut were an important period in Abdul Hai’s art, during which he continued to work under the Israeli bombing. Sitting on a chair in his makeshift studio in the entrance of a building, Abdul Hai spent his days working vigorously on his art. At sunset he would arrange his equipment, pick up his rifle, and leave to begin his night duty as a guard. His art during that period reflected the Palestinian struggle; a bas-relief work of young women and men dancing with rifles in their hands represents pride and power, and the commitment to resist. His works of that period were exhibited in many places. One of the most significant exhibitions of that time - and one that was visited by the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat - was held in Beirut in 1982, under the fire of the Israeli invasion.

Another approach to resistance is noticeable in the prominence of “the woman” in works that reflect Palestinian heritage and folklore. For Abdul Hai, woman is the reason for life; she is the mother, the daughter, and the lover. Sometimes she is there with her impulsive nature and at other times she is there simply wearing her traditional dress; she could be as lofty as an empress in a legend or as transparent as a mistress. For him she is a symbol of the earth, the revolution, or freedom; she is a representation of fertility and the land.

Born in 1933 and living in his home village until 1948, Abdul Hai now enters his Amman studio in the morning and leaves behind his reality to return to those fifteen early years, trying to assemble his memories and arrange them in artistic masterpieces together with the joys and delights of Palestinian cultural heritage. Abdul Hai creates folkloric portraits and documents traditional songs, sayings, and poems that relate to various occasions and situations. His works represent traditional dresses from various areas of Palestine; a collection of relatively small art pieces shows one to three figures modelling costumes from the various areas of Palestine. He often inscribes sayings on love, romance, affection, and sorrow on these works.

A detailed illustration of village weddings is a living witness to all the celebrations that accompany the occasion, starting with the visit of the groom’s family to the bride’s house, the bride’s henna, the bride’s arrival on a camel (al-zafeh), the arrival of the bride at the bridegroom’s house, and the dancing and dabkeh that accompany the celebration. His works display a spontaneous yet sophisticated illustration of embroidered traditional dresses, headdresses, veils, and jewellery, as well as rugs, carpets, and scenes of the village in the background.

Other special celebrations, feasts, and activities of the Palestinian village are documented in the works of Abdul Hai; the Festival of the Tree - Spring Festival, Sham Al Nasim documents a traditional festival that is no longer celebrated in Palestine. Fasting Ramadan is another work of art that represents the holy month of Ramadan: men are gathered around a low table holding their beads and waiting for the sunset prayer. In a distance, boys and girls are standing on the roofs, observing and waiting for al-mu’athen at the mosque to call for prayer, after which they would run to their houses to break their fast. The popular poet, the women’s return from the vineyards and fig groves, and the celebrations that accompany circumcision are also documented in his works.

Not only did Abdul Hai celebrate the Palestinian village and the Palestinian diaspora and struggle, he was also involved in, devoted to, and influenced by the turbulence that afflicted Palestine. After the assassination of his colleague and friend of eight years, the artist Naji Al-Ali, in London in 1987, Abdul Hai dedicated his time to produce a collection of works on the artist, leaving behind all his other works and insisting on keeping alive the memories of a great friend.

Gold Dust is a film produced in 1986 by Mohammad Mawas that tells the story of Abdul Hai Musallam. The title refers to the ability of the artist to transform cheap raw materials into pieces of art that tell the story of Palestine. Today, Abdul Hai Musallam still lives in Amman and continues to dream of gathering into a museum his 1,200 bas-relief works that document Palestine, its cultural heritage, its traditions, and its folklore.

George Al Ama and Nada Atrash are part of the Research and Training Unit at the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation (CCHP). George and Nada can be reached at info@cchp.ps.

“The Visit of the Groom’s Family to the Bride’s House” 2007. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman Jordan.

“The traditional Dance”. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman Jordan.

“The Bridal Trousseau” 1991. George Al Ama collection.

“The Festival of the Tree” or “Sham el Nasim”. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman.