IN STEREO

Bethlehem is preparing for Christmas for two, three months before, I’d say. We have many things to do, because the view of the whole world is on Bethlehem on this day. All the journalists, all people, on this day their minds, their eyes are on Bethlehem. So it’s very important for us, as scouts, the municipality, and the politicians to have a very nice day without any problems. The whole society of Bethlehem is preparing. For me as a scout, the first thing: here in Beit Sahour, we have the Shepherds’ Field, right? The field of the shepherds who knew at the moment of Christ’s birth, so they came from here to Bethlehem to see Jesus Christ. The last two years, we have been preparing for a lot of people walking from the Shepherds’ Field to the Nativity, with traditional clothes, like how the shepherds lived in those days. That was the traditional life.

So we do it to see how it was 2000 years ago. With this walk, we also have Santa – we use [symbols] for nowadays. This is the first thing. And the second thing [to prepare] is for the scouts in Bethlehem walking from Al Amal, the Catholic support centre, [down Star Street] to the Nativity Church. This is the old way, the only way from Nazareth to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, that Mary and Joseph used. So for thousands of years, this way has been used, and our scouts still use it [to represent] the story. I joined the scouts in 1993. It’s a long time. Every 24th of December, I’ve gone with the scouts to Bethlehem. I think for my whole history in the scouts, it’s only been two or three times we haven’t gone. It was because we had the Second Intifada, and all of Bethlehem stopped. There was nothing we could do. [But] from 1993 until now, the same thing. – Fadi