IN STEREO

When they put the church on the World Heritage list under the Palestinian Authority, it gives us credit in our conflict with the Israeli side, where the Israelis are always trying to speak about Bethlehem as part of Israel, not part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. When it was put on the list as a Palestinian city under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority, it also means that they recognise the Palestinian state for the Palestinian people. And this is important for us politically, for our people, for our future. It’s one of the procedures that can be helpful with everything we are facing as a Palestinian people these days. When we have announcements and recognitions from different UN agencies and world community institutions, it means that they recognise Palestine. One example: we had the siege of the Nativity [Church], I don’t know if you heard. It’s a big story that took place in 2002, with big suffering for the people, inside the church and outside the church.

It was a big experience. I was in the church. It’s a long story, to speak about 39 days. But I can say that the Church of the Nativity was the place where people trusted that the church would protect them from the invasion, from the Israeli soldiers who entered the city in those days. And in my opinion, the church succeeded in doing that. Because [in] the siege that took place in Bethlehem, if the people weren’t inside the Church of the Nativity, I am sure that a big disaster was expected as a result of the Israeli behaviour. Especially [because], as everybody knows, there are no red lines in the behaviour of the Israeli army towards Palestinian people. But the church, it has a big value, and people around the world also protested against the siege during that period, which gave us the umbrella to protect the church, and the people inside the church. – Mayor