Politicizing Christmas in Bethlehem

In 2005,  the official lighting of the Christmas Tree in Bethlehem took place on December 15.

In 2009, the official lighting of the tree in Bethlehem took place on December 22.

In 2011, it happened on December 15.

In 2012, it happened on December 14.

This year, it happened on November 30.

Press coverage of the lighting ceremony in previous years was scant. This year, it was more extensive, and the speeches were political:

Among the speakers at the night's events was Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, who said in his remarks that "Palestine has preserved the values of peace and tolerance by celebrating Christmas for centuries."

He marked the ceremony by saying that, "the Christmas celebrations commence from the city which has always been an authentic part of history, human heritage, and national identity."

Palestine Press Agency adds that Hamdallah said that the values of "peace and tolerance" will bring tidings of "freedom and dignity and complete salvation from the occupation and freedom from the settlements, ending the unjust siege on our people in the Gaza Strip , and upholding the principles of justice and law, in the independent state of Palestine on the whole land occupied since 1967, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its capital."

The Bethlehem mayor's speech was just as political.

It looks like the PLO has decided that they can get a couple of extra weeks of Israel bashing in under the banner of "peace and tolerance."

I also can't shake the idea that this year's lighting ceremony was intended to coincide with Chanukah, to try to divert attention away from a holiday that celebrates Jewish nationhood thousands of years before Palestinian Arab nationalism existed.