palestinians...

[Fasglas]

Troublemakers from a country that never existed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/palestini...115655681.html

Jerusalem violence, rain put damper on Bethlehem Christmas
[Associated Press]
JALAL HASSAN and IMAD ISSEID
,Associated Press•December 24, 2017

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — It was a subdued Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Sunday, with spirits dampened by cold, rainy weather and recent violence sparked by President Donald Trump's recognition of nearby Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Crowds were thinner than previous years as visitors, especially Arab Christians living in Israel and the West Bank, appeared to be deterred by clashes that have broken out in recent weeks between palestinian protesters and Israeli forces. Although there was no violence Sunday, palestinian officials scaled back the celebrations in protest.

Claire Degout, a tourist from France, said she would not allow Trump's pronouncement, which has infuriated the palestinians and drawn widespread international opposition, affect her decision to celebrate Christmas in the Holy Land.

"The decision of one man cannot affect all the Holy Land," she said. "Jerusalem belongs to everybody, you know, and it will be always like that, whatever Trump says."

Trump abandoned decades of American policy Dec. 6 by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and saying he would move the U.S. Embassy to the holy city.

Trump said the move merely recognizes the fact that Jerusalem already serves as Israel's capital and that he was not prejudging negotiations on the city's final borders. But palestinians, who seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital, saw the declaration as unfairly siding with Israel. On Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to reject Trump's decision. The Old City, in east Jerusalem, is home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites.

The announcement triggered weeks of unrest in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including near-daily clashes in Bethlehem, which lies just south of Jerusalem.

By midafternoon, hundreds of people had gathered in Manger Square near the city's main Christmas for celebrations, greeted by bagpipe-playing young palestinian marching bands and scout troops. Accompanying the decorations was a large banner protesting Trump's Jerusalem declaration.

But after nightfall, the crowds had thinned as rain fell and temperatures dipped to about 9 degrees (49 F). Just a few dozen people milled about Manger Square, while others took shelter in the church and other nearby buildings.

Bethlehem's mayor, Anton Salman, said celebrations were toned down because of anger over Trump's decision.

"We decided to limit the Christmas celebrations to the religious rituals as an expression of rejection and anger and sympathy with the victims who fell in the recent protests," he said.

Next to the square was a poster that read "Manger Square appeal" and "#handsoffjerusalem."

"We want to show the people that we are people who deserve life, deserve our freedom, deserve our independence, deserve Jerusalem as our capital," he said.

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the apostolic administrator of Jerusalem, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, crossed through an Israeli military checkpoint to enter Bethlehem from Jerusalem. His black limousine was escorted by a group of men on motorcycles, some of them wearing red Santa hats.

Pizzaballa, who last week rejected the U.S. decision, tried to steer clear of politics. He waved to the crowd, shook hands and hugged well-wishers.

"Now it's time to enjoy," he said. "We as Christians we will enjoy, despite all the difficulties we have. Merry Christmas."

But in his homily during midnight Mass, Pizzaballa prayed for the peace of Jerusalem and appealed to politicians "to have courage" to make bold decisions that respect all peoples. palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Muslim, was among those in attendance.

"There is no peace if someone is excluded. Jerusalem should include, not exclude," Pizzaballa said. "The mother, Jerusalem is our mother, loves all her children. If one is missing, the mother cannot be in peace."

"We need vision," he added. "And despite the many disappointments of the past and of the present days, with determination, do not abandon having a vision, but on the contrary, even more than before, let yourself be provoked by the cry of the poor and the afflicted."

James Thorburn, a visitor from London, said it was important to enjoy the holiday and show solidarity with Bethlehem's residents.

"I know that a lot of people did cancel," he said. "I felt I should come to support the palestinians."

--------------

Comments:

tim benton
yesterday
Let the idiots be angry. First, there has never in history been a sovereign nation called Palestine, so in claiming part of a city that neither they nor any other Arab nation in all of history ever had as their capital is not taking anything from them, it is simply preventing them from taking what was never theirs. They will throw fits, in the end nothing will get done, the leadership of the palestinians are too intent on crying and putting hands out for money. The best news, congress is pushing through laws under Trump that will cut off 100% of funding to the #$%$, about time they do this. Tired of paying my taxes to find they go to terrorist that are paid by the palestinian authority for killing Israeli's.

[Bill]

Trump abandoned decades of American policy Dec. 6 by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and saying he would move the U.S. Embassy to the holy city.

Dafuq? Didn't Congress already vote to do this exact thing decades ago?

[99 pewtercoupe]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Dafuq? Didn't Congress already vote to do this exact thing decades ago?

Yes they did

The Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by Congress in 1995, requires the United States to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by December 31, 1999 and that Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of Israel. The Embassy remains in Tel Aviv because the Act also allows for the President to "delay the implementation of the law indefinitely if the move presents national security concerns."[20] Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have regularly invoked the clause, delaying the move of the embassy to Jerusalem. In 2017, President Donald Trump officially declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and ordered the State Department to begin moving the embassy. The relocation process is expected to take around 4 years.

[Fasglas]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Dafuq? Didn't Congress already vote to do this exact thing decades ago?

Correct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Embassy_Act

The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no later than May 31, 1999, and attempted to withhold 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the State Department specifically for "Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad" as allocated in fiscal year 1999 until the United States Embassy in Jerusalem had officially opened. The act also called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. Israel's declared capital is Jerusalem, but this is not internationally recognized, pending final status talks in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The proposed law was adopted by the Senate (93–5), and the House (374–37).

Despite passage, the law remained unimplemented by Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, President Donald Trump signed the waiver in June 2017 before announcing the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on December 6, 2017, and beginning the relocation of the embassy.

[DAB]

so despite all the prior presidents declaring publicly that Jerusalem was Israel's capital, and despite the american people (thru their representatives) declaring that Jerusalem is Israel's capital and that the US embassy needs to be there, people are mad at Trump for carrying out the will of the people?

instead of protesting the obvious truth, go lend a hand to your neighbor. do something useful.

[OddBall]

I really wish someone would blow the hell out of that damn rock, the dome and the temple to hell and back. Leave nothing but dust and then take a leaf blower to that.

[VITE1]

Let me get this straight. These muslims get pissed off over a much delayed political decision and then react with violence.


And the left want more of them here.

Morons.

[Lakota]

State of Palestine
Partially recognized state, UN observer state
Recognized by 136 UN member states

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine

[Fasglas]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Covenant

"Palestine, with its boundaries at the time of the British Mandate"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine
In 1964, when the West Bank was controlled by Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organization was established there with the goal to confront Israel. The Palestinian National Charter of the PLO defines the boundaries of Palestine as the whole remaining territory of the mandate, including Israel. Following the Six-Day War, the PLO moved to Jordan, but later relocated to Lebanon after Black September in 1971.

[vetteman9368]

Originally Posted by Lakota

State of Palestine
Partially recognized state, UN observer state
Recognized by 136 UN member states

State of Palestine - Wikipedia

I care more what my garbage man thinks than what the UN thinks.

[JRD77VET]

So Clinton broke his promise twice to name Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
Bush broke his promise twice
Obama broke his promise twice

Trump fulfilled his promise within the first year.

palestine can just go disappear

[Jasper711]

Originally Posted by Fasglas

Troublemakers from a country that never existed.



BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — It was a subdued Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Sunday, with spirits dampened by cold, rainy weather and recent violence sparked by President Donald Trump's recognition of nearby Jerusalem as Israel's capital.



Claire Degout, a tourist from France, said she would not allow Trump's pronouncement, which has infuriated the palestinians and drawn widespread international opposition, affect her decision to celebrate Christmas in the Holy Land.

"The decision of one man cannot affect all the Holy Land," she said. "Jerusalem belongs to everybody, you know, and it will be always like that, whatever Trump says."


... in his homily during midnight Mass, Pizzaballa prayed for the peace of Jerusalem and appealed to politicians "to have courage" to make bold decisions that respect all peoples. palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Muslim, was among those in attendance.



James Thorburn, a visitor from London, said it was important to enjoy the holiday and show solidarity with Bethlehem's residents.

"I know that a lot of people did cancel," he said. "I felt I should come to support the palestinians."

--------------

These complainers would be the first to accuse Trump of imperialism, if he did anything. Unfortunately for their argument, Trump did nothing this time, except not stand in the way of what others have decided, and of course that is all his fault now.

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by Jasper711

Trump did nothing this time, except not stand in the way of what others have decided, and of course that is all his fault now.