Christmas tree ceremony in Bethlehem another opportunity to bash Israel

Yesterday, the "moderate" Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah spoke at the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in Bethlehem. (Video here.)

Did he speak of hope and peace and goodwill towards men? A little, but only to push his main point of blaming everything on Israel. It was just another speech telling Palestinians that they have no responsibilities and Israel is evil.

Even the sentences that began with praise for peace and love and tolerance included hate for Israel.

Excerpts:

From the land of Palestine, which has long been home to the coexistence of human beings, religions and cultures, and their children taught the values ​​of tolerance embodied by Jesus, the messenger of love, ...we bring the message that, in Palestine, people yearn to live in freedom and peace, and that the time has come to unite the world, to lift the historical injustice done to them, ..nd it is time for the implementation of UN resolutions on Palestine, and end the Israeli occupation.

As in every year, Palestine is celebrating the glorious festivals, while is reeling from the injustice of the Israeli occupation, and experiencing a serious Israeli escalation, with the intent of murder and torture, and holding the bodies of the martyrs. [Palestine] is facing the worst deportation schemes and forced displacement, turning towns and villages and towns into ghetto, and the destruction of their houses and confiscation of their land and violation of holy places. {Israel] prevents worshipers, Christians and Muslims alike, to have access to their churches, mosques, and the practice of worship and religious beliefs.

As we light a holiday Christmas tree, we remind the world that the city of Bethlehem represents the story of the Palestinian people and their history and their struggle. Despite our wounds and general pain and suffering and tyranny we remain steadfast, and we are still vibrant with joy despite the walls and settlements which encircle us, and Israel is trying to stifle hope and to confiscate the necessities of life from us. We hope the valued guests here will be ambassadors of the truth, and to relay to their countries and their governments how much sorrow and injustice that they have seen, and how much resilience and hope the people of Palestine have.

This is a celebration of the life of Jesus Christ and his values ​​of peace and love, but bearing tidings of freedom and dignity, the achievement of the aspirations of our people's legitimate right to freedom and independence, in the full removal of the Israeli occupation and the establishment of full sovereignty on the 1967 borders of an independent state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem, our eternal capital.

The speech was just more proof that Palestinians define themselves in terms of Jews, not as independent people.

The bolded sentence shows that the entire point of the Christmas tree lighting is anti-Israel propaganda. Bethlehem is being set up by the PA not as a place for pilgrimage but as another opportunity to get the world to hate Israel.

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