the bethlehem pack 2012

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www.amostrust.org [email protected] t: +44 20 7588 2638 reg.charity no. 292592

Picture: Mary in the rubble of a demolished home

The Bethlehem Pack 2012

Contents page

Introduction 2

Facts about Bethlehem today 3

Palestinian Christians Speak 4 - 8

Using a walled nativity set in a church service 9 – 10

Home & Hope – What if? A reading for 4 voices 11 - 12

Prayers & Reflections – Nazareth, Gaza & Bethlehem 13 - 16

Challenging Injustice. Rebuilding Hope- Christmas Appeal 2012 17

Video Resources 18

What next? 19

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Introduction

Today the 'little town of Bethlehem' lies behind an eight metre high concrete

separation wall, built by the Israeli occupation forces.

If Jesus was born today in Bethlehem, the Wise Men would spend several hours

queuing to enter the town. The shepherds, despite being residents of Bethlehem,

would struggle to graze their sheep because their land would be annexed by the

building of the separation wall and a lack of freedom to travel and restrictions on

trade would make it very difficult for them to make a living with

Many people may not be aware just how hopeless and how oppressive the situation

in Bethlehem has become. For peace to come to Palestine and Israel, we must

speak out about the injustices faced by the Palestinians living in the Holy Land, and

support them with our prayers, both at Christmas and throughout the year.

The Bethlehem Pack has been put together to help individuals and churches talk

about the current situation in Bethlehem at carol services and Christmas events.

We have included a wide range of materials for churches coming to this issue for the

first time as well as those who already have an awareness of the situation. The pack

contains facts about the current situation, prayers and reflections using the words of

people living in Bethlehem today, all suitable to be read out loud.

There are also links to videos and suggestions of ways you and your church can

support Palestine and the people living there.

New for 2012

For the start of Advent, a reflection from Nazareth (page 8) & a Nazareth

prayer (page 13.)

an interactive reading about home demolition - (pages 11 & 12)

STOP PRESS: In light of recent events, we have added prayers for Gaza (pages 14

&15)

In April 2013 a group of Amos Trust volunteers will help to rebuild a home just outside

Bethlehem, which was demolished illegally by the Israeli army. Our Christmas

appeal this year is to raise money to buy the building materials for the home. We

hope that people using this pack will make a donation to the appeal, perhaps by

organising a collection for this appeal at one of their Christmas services. (See page

21for more info.)

Whether you use the materials in the pack to as part of a carol service, to lead a

reflection in a Sunday service during Advent or to put together a whole Christmas

service, the important thing is that we speak out.

Let’s not remain silent this year. Amos Trust, November 2012

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Facts about Bethlehem today

Here are some facts about the current situation in Bethlehem. They could be printed

on a service sheet for a carol service, projected during a time of reflection, or read

out as inspiration for prayers for peace. You can download photos of Bethlehem

and the separation wall to accompany these facts via

www.amostrust.org/downloads

Today Bethlehem is surrounded by an eight metre high separation wall with military

watch towers. It was built by the Israeli occupation forces. The International Court of

Justice in The Hague has stated that the wall goes against international law and

should come down. No-one can enter Bethlehem without going through a military

checkpoint and showing their ID.

The population of Bethlehem is Muslim and Christian Palestinian people. Muslims and

Christians have been living together peacefully in Bethlehem for generations. Many

Palestinian Christian families in Bethlehem can trace their ancestry back to the

earliest Christian community. All Palestinians, Muslim or Christian, no longer have the

right to move freely. They require a permit from the Israeli authorities in order to

come and go from their home town.

Trees, especially olive trees, are very important in Palestinian culture. Since 1994,

almost 60,000 trees have been uprooted, burnt or cut down by Israeli forces in the

Bethlehem area. Just this year, hundreds more have been uprooted in Al Walajah

and Nablus.

The separation wall isolates 25% of Bethlehem’s agricultural land, meaning

Palestinian farmers have to obtain permits and go through military checkpoints

every day to get to their land. Checkpoints are often closed without warning or

farmers are turned back for no reason.

In the Bethlehem area alone, there are 19 illegal Israeli settlements taking Palestinian

land from local families and choking Palestinian communities. If Jesus was born

today in Bethlehem, much of the shepherds’ fields would have been confiscated for

illegal Israeli settlements.

87% of Bethlehem’s land has been taken by Israeli occupation enforced restrictions.

This means that people are forced to live in cramped conditions. In some places the

separation wall is built so close to buildings that the windows are blocked and

daylight can’t get in. The wall has cut people off from their shops and their land, and

has made busy roads into dead ends. One in five people in Bethlehem are now

unemployed in what was once a thriving town. If Jesus was born in Bethlehem

today, the innkeeper would be struggling to keep his business going.

http://www.amostrust.org/downloads

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Palestinian Christians speak

Here are some words from Palestinian Christians who live in Bethlehem and one living

in Nazareth. These statements are intended to be read aloud as part of a service,

perhaps leading into prayers for peace.

Jasmine Rishmawi is from Beit Sahour, the site of the Shepherds’ Fields,

close to Bethlehem.

Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. As soon as December starts, you

can feel a warm breeze around which you’ll never experience unless you are in

Bethlehem for Christmas. Just by walking around this little blessed town, you will feel the

pure touch of God in your soul; Jesus is born in your heart.

Whenever I think of Christmas, the picture of my family gathering just pops into my head

causing me to smile effortlessly. One of my best memories is the year my brother and

sisters and I got my Dad to take us around Bethlehem to see the Christmas lights and the

Santas all around the town giving out chocolates and balloons, spreading good cheer.

It is a memory of the good times and great laughs in spite of everything.

Another Christmas I’ll never forget is when my sister got stuck on the Jordanian – Israeli

border on Christmas Eve. She had to stay in Jordan and missed Christmas with the

family. I will never forget the year I was returning home to Bethlehem for Christmas from

my school in Ramallah. At the checkpoint soldiers searched through my backpack and

unwrapped all the gifts I had brought for my family.

I will never ever forget the year when my college friends and I decided to spend

Christmas in Jerusalem for a change, but after hours of humiliation and harassment at

the checkpoint, we had to go back home, celebrations forgotten.

This Christmas, I won’t beg my Dad for a ride around town even though it is still

decorated amazingly. Every time I see that huge eight metre high wall around my little

town, I lose any hope I have in my heart. This Christmas I don’t want pictures of the wall

to be saved in my memory destroying my hopes. I want to keep my hope alive; the

hope from the birth of Jesus of a better life coming filled with peace and love. I want to

keep my hope of life in which you’re allowed to dream and to live a life that is not

prohibited by an army or a wall. It’s the life that I wouldn’t trade for anything; it’s the life

that I am always dreaming of.

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Sami Awad is the Director of Amos Trust’s partner, the Holy Land Trust, a

Christian peace organisation. The Holy Land Trust promotes non-violent

resistance and peaceful protest, and is based in Bethlehem.

Greetings to you this Christmas season from the little town of Bethlehem. This little town,

the place where the Prince of Peace was born continues to face daily hardships. Just

this year alone, in the surrounding beautiful villages, hundreds if not thousands of olive

trees were burned by illegal Israeli settlers for absolutely no reason but to humiliate and

damage the source of livelihood for hundreds of Palestinian families. Land theft for the

building of the illegal separation wall and expanding illegal settlements is worse than

ever before. No matter where you stand in Bethlehem, you can see the effects of the

cold grip of this brutal and humiliating occupation.

It is important for us here in Bethlehem to know that other Christians around the world

agree that this occupation has to end. It is encouraging for us to know that people have

realised that you can stand up for the human rights of the Palestinians without

compromising the rights of Israelis to also live in peace. You do not have to pick a side. I

invite you this Christmas season to continue praying for peace for both communities that

live in what we all call the Holy Land.

I remind you this Christmas season of the story of the Magi who came to Bethlehem

requested by King Herod to go and find out what is happening there. Once they came,

saw, met, and worshiped with those who lived in this town, their lives were transformed

fully and they could not go back the way they came. They did not declare war on King

Herod or demand that he was overthrown; they simply chose a different path, a path

that honoured the true message and spirit of the Prince of Peace, a message of peace

on earth and goodwill to all, including both Israelis and Palestinians.

For more information about the Holy Land Trust, go to www.amostrust.org/projects

http://www.amostrust.org/projects

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Rana Salman is from Bethlehem in the Occupied West Bank where she

works for the Palestinian NGO, the Holy Land Trust.

In Bethlehem, getting families together during Christmas is a big challenge! People are

separated from each other by an eight metre high wall. Each area is surrounded by a

checkpoint. Families have to apply for a permit issued by the Israeli Authority to visit

each other during this season. Sometimes, you may get one while some of your family

members won’t or just the opposite. It happens randomly and you never know if your

name will be picked or not. Although it is supposed to be a joyous day, things don’t

happen as we expect in Palestine.

Luke 2:15 says: When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds

said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken

place, which the Lord has made known to us.” If I could send a message to churches in

the UK this Christmas, I would ask all churches who make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land

to visit not only historic sites and churches in Bethlehem but to visit the ‘living stones’- the

Palestinian Christians and spend time with them, share a meal or serve the community to

discover the real joy, just as the shepherds did!

My hopes for next year are to end all systems of oppression, injustice and brutal violence

and to just have peace for all: peace in our families, peace in the world and especially

peace in the land we are privileged to call Holy!

People ask what Jesus would do if he visited modern Bethlehem but I’m not sure if Jesus

can make it to Bethlehem today! Being a Jew living in Nazareth, Jesus will not be

allowed by his own leadership to enter Bethlehem. He will have to “illegally” sneak into

Bethlehem and maybe get searched at a checkpoint. As he approached Bethlehem

and saw the reality, he would probably weep over the town of his birthplace the same

way he wept over Jerusalem.

For more information about the Holy Land Trust, go to www.amostrust.org/projects

http://www.amostrust.org/projects

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Rifat Kassis is a Palestinian activist from Beit Sahour, a village close to

Bethlehem which is the site of the Shepherds’ Fields. Rifat is one of the

authors of the Kairos Palestine document, a call and challenge from the

Christian community in Palestine to churches around the world.

To our Christian brothers and sisters in UK, on behalf of Kairos Palestine, I send my

warmest greetings to your communities and families as Christmas approaches.

I also write with three humble calls about the oppressive reality we face in Palestine in

general, and in Bethlehem in particular.

The first call is to “come and see”. Many pilgrims travel to Bethlehem to see the holy sites,

but they leave without ever meeting us, the Palestinian Christians who live in the grip of

occupation. Bethlehem‘s lands are constrained by illegal settlements and devoured by

the eight metre high separation wall. Its residents are governed by punishing movement

restrictions. Bethlehem remains in a chokehold, as do our lives.

There is a tremendous gap between the reality we live in and the image distributed to

tourists and Christian pilgrims. But that gap can be bridged if people come and see for

themselves, meet the local people as well as visiting the holy sites, and find out first-hand

what life is like for Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem today. We believe in the power of

tourism! It is a political tool, because the people who visit us, go back home and tell

others about our lives, how we cannot travel freely, how water is restricted and how we

the Palestinian people struggle.

The second call is to support us economically. When you visit - by choosing to stay in

Palestinian-run hotels and use Palestinian buses and tour companies; and when you’re

at home by buying Palestinian products like olive oil, dates and handicrafts. These are

not only economic decisions, but also political ones. They support our heritage and

sustainability at a time when Israel seeks to dominate both the tourist industry and the

tourist narrative.

And our third call is to pray for us. Many Palestinians, including Christians, remain

hopeful, and we are empowered by the joint efforts of committed, peace-seeking Jews

and members of the international community.

We invite you to come, to see, to pray, and to act in the name of peace with justice.

We wish you a blessed Christmas season.

Find out how you and your church can get involved in supporting the Christian

community in Palestine by joining Kairos Palestine Britain and Ireland Network, see page

19 for more info and visit www.kairospalestine.org.uk

http://www.kairospalestine.org.uk/

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Susan Barhoum is from Nazareth in Israel, where she works for the Arab

Association for Human Rights, and pastors a church with her husband.

As Palestinian Arab Christians they are part of a discriminated minority

in Israeli society.

Palestinian Arabs living in Israel are just 20% of the population of Israel. They do not have

equal rights with Israeli people, and there are over 50 laws that discriminate against

them, restricting their rights to work, educate their children and travel. Palestinian Arab

Christians in Israel are a minority within this minority. The Christian community in the Holy

Land is dwindling, as more and more Christians are leaving to find better lives abroad for

themselves and their families. Christians in Israel have existed since the day of Pentecost

and we do not want the churches to merely become buildings. However Christian

people are not furniture or artefacts to be preserved, but people with needs and

aspirations just like you in the west.

As we celebrate Christmas and think of baby Jesus, we are encouraged by the Virgin

Mary, who was chosen to bring him into the world. She was brave enough to accept

God’s blessings on her at a time when she could have faced death as a pregnant

unwed young woman. Today, in the city of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, Christians

are facing a constant struggle for existence, but God provides us with hope to persevere

during this difficult time.

Your prayers, solidarity and support, particularly at Christmas, are greatly needed and

appreciated, because as it says in 1 Corinthians verse 12: ‘we are one body and its parts

should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if

one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.’ May God bless you as you remember

your Christian brothers and sisters who live in Israel.

See also our prayer for Nazareth on page 13.

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Using a walled nativity in a church service

Amos Trust has worked with Palestinian

craftsmen based just outside Bethlehem in Beit

Sahour (site of the original Shepherds’ Fields) to

create a wooden nativity set with a wall to

illustrate the current situation in Bethlehem. The

wall can be removed, so the set can be used

as a visual aid and focus for prayer as well as a

traditional nativity scene. You can buy large

walled nativity from www.amostrust.org/shop

The following words can be used with the large walled nativity set in an all age

church service.

CHRIST STILL COMES

Set up the nativity set with the stable & tree but no wall. Put the Magi on the far side

opposite the stable.

Bethlehem is in the West Bank, part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory which has been

under Israeli military rule since 1967. The situation in Bethlehem today is very different

from this traditional nativity scene.

Taking down the tree

Explain how palm trees are seen as a sign of peace and, together with olive trees, are a

central symbol of Palestine. (Side point: you might wish to make an additional comment

that in the Islamic tradition Jesus is born under a palm tree such as the one shown.) The

nativity scene is made of olive wood. The carpenters never chop an olive tree down;

instead they harvest the boughs from the tree as it grows. This means olive trees can be

hundreds or even thousands of years old. The olive trees on the Mount of Olives date

from somewhere close to the time Jesus sat beneath them on the night of his arrest.

Olive trees are also symbolic as a national symbol for the Palestinian people, on account

of their presence in the land through the years, tended by generations of owners. One

of the tragedies of the current unrest in Palestine and Israel is that olive groves have

been dug up, chopped down, or burnt, either to clear the ground for settlements, to

build the separation wall or in attacks on local people.

Replace the tree with the separation wall.

The real separation wall is 8 metres high and is more than 700 kilometres long. It is

combines concrete wall, wire fences and bypass roads that cut people off. The

International Courts of Justice in The Hague have stated that the wall is illegal and

should be taken down. There are gaps in the wall, but it surrounds towns such as

Bethlehem, preventing people who live there from moving easily. No-one can enter

Bethlehem today without going through a military checkpoint and showing ID, which

can take several hours. The Palestinian residents of Bethlehem, both Christians and

Muslims need a permit to come and go from their home town.

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The Magi

The Magi as you can see are on the other side of the wall. They travelled from the East,

probably from Iraq, Iran or one of the other neighbouring countries. Nowadays they

would find it difficult to reach Bethlehem as they would first need to pass through Israeli

border crossing on the Jordan River.

Discard the magi.

The Shepherds

The wall and neighbouring settlements also prevent shepherds in Bethlehem from going

to their fields. The shepherds’ fields just outside Bethlehem we read about in the Bible

from the time of David and on the night when Jesus was born are now unrecognisable.

Land has been taken by illegal settlements and shepherds have severely restricted

access to their own land. Often they have to obtain permits and go through military

checkpoints to get to their land. A handful of shepherds still remain but not enough for

our story.

Remove the shepherds and the livestock.

Mary and Joseph

Mary and Joseph were Jews. They travelled from Nazareth in what is now northern Israel.

They would have gone to Jerusalem and journeyed the six miles to Bethlehem from

there. Now the main entrance of the wall surrounding Bethlehem includes a massive

checkpoint like we see at airports and ferry terminals. The Israeli authorities have ruled

that Israeli Jews are no longer allowed to enter Bethlehem.

Remove Mary and Joseph.

Baby Jesus

The infant Jesus is left alone in the manger. Jesus of course grew up, taught, travelled,

was crucified, died and rose again. While the Christmas story would be impossible now,

the Christian faith says that Jesus still comes to Bethlehem today. He is there in the

people who follow him; he provides a light in the darkness which the darkness cannot

understand and can never put out. As those who follow him we are called to break

down the walls of division and to let the light of truth and hope shine.

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Home and Hope

This year Amos Trust’s Christmas appeal is to raise funds for building materials to

rebuild a demolished home in Al Walajah, just outside Bethlehem. (See page 18 for

details.)

Since 2000, 12,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished by the Israeli army and

authorities. Palestinian homes are demolished on the pretext of security if they are

deemed to be too near Israeli settlements or the Separation wall. Often a home will

be demolished in the middle of the night and the owner given no warning and

leaving adults and children traumatised.

Our partners the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem and the Israeli Committee Against

House Demolitions in Jerusalem have identified home demolitions as one of the most

pernicious tools used by the Israeli occupation to pressure and intimidate

Palestinians and force them from their land.

“We had 40 minutes’ notice – ‘Get your things and get out’. Then the bulldozers

destroyed our home. I screamed that this is our land, but they pushed me away.

What do you say to your children when this happens?”

To find out more about home demolitions and how Amos Trust are involved with

standing with local Christians against demolitions in Bethlehem, download our home

rebuild information pack from visit www.amostrust.org/downloads

What if .. a tale of Palestinian community life. A reading for 4 voices by Rev Michael Beckett

A house is built in Lego or something similar – each time someone

comes up to read they take a small piece of the house.

Voice 1: What if a piece of land that had been in your family for

generations was annexed for the building of houses for other

people to live in?

Voice 2: What if these other people were from overseas, and were

granted citizenship of your homeland, and yet you, someone

who has lived in your country all your life, were refused

citizenship?

Voice 1: What if these other people, these settlers were granted

preferential rights to the provision of running water, rubbish

collections and allowed to pay less tax?

Voice 3: What if these settlers were given the freedom to travel on roads

built solely for their use, while your travel was restricted or

denied?

http://www.amostrust.org/downloads

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Voice 2: What if a member of your family, who had moved abroad, was

then denied the right to return to their country of birth? And yet

these newly arrived settlers were able to come and go from your

country freely?

Voice 1: What if one day you returned home to find work had begun on

an 8-metre high ‘security’ wall in the middle of your community,

separating you from your neighbours and family?

Voice 3: What if in the shadows of the wall and new housing

developments for the settlers, you were refused permission to

renovate your home or build on the land that you own?

Voice 2: What if every time you paid the £2,000 processing fee to apply

for planning permission, you were given a new excuse and

denied the right to build?

Reader 4 does not take a piece of the house

Voice 4: What if, when in frustration, you did build on your own land

without permission; you and your family woke up one morning to

find your home, surrounded by hundreds of armed soldiers?

Voice 1: What if you were bound and beaten in front of your wife and

children, then given fifteen minutes to gather what little

belongings you have and get out?

Voice 4: What if you and your children saw your home being demolished

by bulldozers?

The remains of the house are demolished

Voice 1: What if as a result of this one of your children was so traumatised

that they stopped speaking?

Voice 2: What if you were then handed an invoice for the cost of the

demolition?

Voice 3: Tries to rebuild What if you did rebuild your home only to find this

cycle of harassment and demolition repeated again and again

and again?

Voice 4: What would you do?

Voice 2: Who would you turn to?

ALL: What if? (pause) What if we took the chance to proclaim: Now

must be the time.

Voice 1: To do unto others, as we would wish them do unto us.

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Prayers and reflections

A prayer for Nazareth

O God, We pray for Nazareth – too often ignored.

Can any good come from you we wonder?

Yet the angel Gabriel did not pass you by.

He came and sought out Mary

Sought her out in this tiny insignificant town

And said ‘Hail favoured one.’

And so the whole wonderful liberation story begins,

Not with the powerful and influential,

Not with the rich or with celebrities,

But here in an ordinary place – that is forever holy.

Thank you God that here a message burst

Unexpectedly upon a surprised young woman.

A message that must have been accompanied

By shame and misunderstanding.

And yet . . . a message to have angels singing

Shepherds hurrying . . . and wise men wondering.

A message that still has the power

To plant a seed of hope in all of us.

That God is not far off, indeed much closer than we think.

Renewing our spirits, restoring our souls

And walking with us as we carry on living and telling the story.

Here our story begins.

Garth Hewitt, Founder, Amos Trust

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A prayer for Gaza - 14th November 2012

God of many names, I cry out to you:

As the bombs pound Gaza again

As more children die,

And more and more will carry the scars and psychological wounds.

As medical staff try to respond with depleted stocks,

And numbers of casualties mount.

As the missiles fly against Israeli cities,

And fear and hatred grows in each community.

As political lies are fed us in sound bites,

And statistics become currency

In an equation over electoral gains.

As attempts to arrange a cease fire become more frenetic,

And world leaders try to justify the unjustifiable

‘Israel has the right…’

There is no right

It is all wrong.

I am sick of praying for peace.

The words stick in my throat.

I protest and march

Shout slogans and give and lobby and weep.

I want to know how many deaths are required.

How much less is one child worth than another?

How much hatred and fear do we have?

A just future Palestine

Is not a one sided call,

It is the only way

To end this cycle of shame and death.

Amen

Chris Rose , Director, Amos Trust

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Forgotten Gaza

Each Christmas we are reminded that there was no room for the Holy Family.

This year, Lord, we remember forgotten Gaza - being bombed and attacked

once again. There is no room for them in our world.

This Advent and Christmas nothing has improved, the people of Gaza are still

forgotten, still imprisoned, still under a medieval type siege, with their water

taken and resources destroyed.

Lord we remember forgotten Gaza – once a beautiful, historic place, now its

people denied human rights, with no proper facilities for the injured and

disabled.

Gaza passed by on the other side by the powerful and by politicians, yet

loved and precious to God.

Lord, we remember forgotten Gaza,

May mercy come, may justice come, may love come, may Christmas come.

You who had no place to lay your head,

You who knew what it was to be despised and rejected,

Have mercy on forgotten Gaza and move our hearts this Christmas to make

room for Gaza, so we work to bring them the gift of justice and the gift of

hope this year.

And also we remember Israel, we pray for those who are frightened and

have lost loved ones and we pray that as justice is given to the Palestinians

they will find their peace and security.

Amen

Garth Hewitt, Founder, Amos Trust

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A prayer for Bethlehem - God’s in your hands

Angels still sing,

Their voices

Whisper off the hill tops,

Bounce off the concrete walls,

Snake their way through checkpoints,

Blanket settlement blocks.

Their whispers swell

And grow and permeate -

‘God is in your hands,

In your arms,

Dependant on you’.

They are still as amazed,

Still hide their dismay,

at their diminished audience.

Yet they let rip

As the band kicks in

‘This way -

No subjugation!

No coercion!

God is in your hands!’

They scream with joy.

They yell as loud as they can.

Row upon row

Filling the night sky

‘Do you get it?

There are no strings attached.

Peace is yours

A baby’s been born.

God is in your hands’. Chris Rose , Director, Amos Trust

A prayer for justice and peace in the land of the Holy One Ramani Leathard, Trustee, Amos Trust

Living Lord, ignite in us a passion for justice

And a yearning to right all wrong.

Strengthen us to work for peace in the land we call Holy:

for peace among Jew, Christian and Muslim for reconciliation between

communities for harmony between faiths.

Inspire us to act with the urgency of your quickening fire, for blessed are the

peacemakers they shall be called the children of God.

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Challenging injustice – Rebuilding hope - Christmas Appeal 2012.

We hope that everyone using the Bethlehem Pack will organise a collection at one

of their Advent, Christmas or carol services to raise funds for our Christmas 2012

appeal to rebuild a family’s demolished home in Bethlehem.

In April 2013 Amos Trust will be working with local Palestinian families, the Holy Land

Trust and a team of volunteers to rebuild a family’s demolished home in the village

of Al Walajah, just outside Bethlehem. Homes in the village have been bulldozed by

the Israeli army and the families’ farm land taken. Soon the village will be

completely surrounded by the Separation Wall.

“We do not call it a house demolition. We call it a family demolition”

Rebuilding this home will not only transform the lives of the family, but it will give

hope to the local community. Helping these people to rebuild is to stand with them

in solidarity against the injustice of home demolitions, and to ensure that they know

they not forgotten by the rest of the world.

We need to raise £25,000 to pay for everything we need to rebuild the house from

bricks, cement, light fittings, even the kitchen sink!

Our shopping list includes:

10,000 concrete blocks, 20 blocks cost £5.00

140 bags of cement - £10.00 each

8 light fittings - £20.00 each

2 sinks- £35.00 each

1 toilet - £50.00 each

1 roof top water tank - £125.00

Plus we are looking to raise a further £12,000 for the salary for the community field

worker. This role is a vital part of the project, as the field worker will not only run the

rebuilding project, but they will also support the family and local community before,

during and after the rebuild.

If you are holding a retiring collection, make sure you let people know how the

money will be spent and what different amounts of money could buy.

You can make an online donation via www.amostrust.org/support or send a cheque

payable to Amos Trust to Amos Trust 4th Floor Development House, 56 – 64 Leonard

Street, London EC2A 4LT.

This Christmas, help a family return home and add your voice to challenge the

injustice of home demolitions.

http://www.amostrust.org/support

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Video Resources

Here are some suggestions of film clips you could use in a church service this Christmas.

Click on the links to see the videos on YouTube.

You can also find all the links on the download section of our website:

www.amostrust.org/downloads

Bethlehem: Hidden from View

This documentary features interviews with Christian Palestinians living in Bethlehem and is

ideal for use in small groups. You can see a promo here:

You can buy a DVD copy for £5.00 from www.amostrust.org/shop

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, played by Basel Zayed on the Oud.

Basel Zayed plays the Oud, a traditional Palestinian instrument in this video which

features images of the Separation wall using animation.

To watch the trailer either paste this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9i7G5JtHv4

into your browser or click here.

Little Town of Bethlehem

Little Town of Bethlehem is a moving and eye-opening documentary which follows three

young men of different faiths on their journey to choosing to engage and teach non-

violent resistance in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

To watch the trailer either paste this http://littletownofbethlehem.org/trailer/ into your

browser or click here. You can also buy the full film from this site.

They’ve cancelled Christmas in Bethlehem

Taken from Garth Hewitt’s Bethlehem, Palestine EP, this track’s challenging lyrics are set

to images from modern day Bethlehem. The images of the Separation Wall and

checkpoints make it ideal for use for reflection in a church service.

To watch the video, either paste this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMyjywN-8Ac

into your browser or click here.

http://www.amostrust.org/shop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9i7G5JtHv4

http://littletownofbethlehem.org/trailer/

http://littletownofbethlehem.org/trailer/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMyjywN-8Ac

19


What next?

Kairos Palestine Britain and Ireland

Kairos is the Greek word for ‘special or significant moment in time.’ The Kairos Palestine

document is a call to Christians around the world to speak out about the situation in

Palestine. It was written by a group of Palestinian Christian leaders and theologians and

was endorsed by a large number of churches and church groups in Israel, Palestine and

internationally. A global Kairos movement has grown up in response to this call including

Kairos Palestine Britain and Ireland, an umbrella organisation of churches and Christian

groups united in campaigning for justice for the Palestinian people.

Visit www.kairospalestine.org.uk to find out more about this campaign and how your

church can become a member and join the campaign.

Made in Palestine

Made in Palestine is an Amos Trust initiative promoting products to get people talking

about Palestine. The Made in Palestine t-shirts are made in a factory in Bethlehem and

come with a tag directing people to www.madeinpalestine.co.uk where they can find

an intro to the current situation in Bethlehem. Available in red & green in a range of sizes.

£10 each with profits to Amos projects in Palestine.

Visit www.amostrust.org/shop to buy a shirt & see our other campaign items.

Visit the Holy Land

Amos Trust organises alternative pilgrimages to Palestine and Israel. Ideal for first time

visitors who want to visit the historic and Biblical sites as well as find out about the current

situation in Palestine. We run a range of trips for different ages, all based in Bethlehem

and Nazareth.

Because you have to see for yourself to start to understand – trip participant 2012

Visit www.amostrust.org/travel to find out more.

http://www.kairospalestine.org.uk/

http://www.madeinpalestine.co.uk/

http://www.amostrust.org/shop

http://www.amostrust.org/travel

the bethlehem pack 2012

Documents

bethlehem pack

gaza bethlehem

residents of bethlehem

little town of bethlehem

current situation

christmas events

home hope

christmas services