Christmas in Bethlehem may only be for the dhimmis if Hamas has its way

In the last week leading up to Christmas I was bombarded with television news coverage from Canadian networks on Israeli security measures/check point into Bethlehem and the potential threat they created to the prosperity of the Arab residents of Bethlehem. I’ll be frank; I just couldn’t see the point of these news stories. The checkpoints were not a new thing under the sun and were originally instigated by Israel as a response to protect tourists and Israelis from attacks by Palestinian terrorists.

If tourism was down significantly in the proceeding years it was a direct consequence of the Palestinian Intifada. Speaking as a tourist, it would not be a deterrent of having to go through an Israeli checkpoint to enter Bethlehem that discourages me from touring the area but I found the Palestinian Intifada really off-putting. Call me mean spirited or even unchristian, but I possess a distinct lack of desire to be made an instrument of aid for anyone attempting to enter their idea of heaven through a martyrdom operation nor has being blown to smithereens made the 1000 Things I Must Do Before I Die list.

The tourists came back to Bethlehem this year but I cannot help but to wonder for how long - if Hamas gets it way. Thanks to the History News Network for bringing this Bethlehem story from Chiesa to light.

It is a fear that took shape after the electoral victory of Hamas, not only in Bethlehem’s municipal elections, but also in those of other cities of Cisjordan: Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya. A new style can already be seen in the municipalities where Hamas is installed: Christian women employed there, who are accustomed to shaking everybody’s hand, are held at a distance by the newly elected, for whom physical contact violates Islamic principles.

The general plan of Hamas also includes the imposition of a special tax, called al-jeziya, upon all of the non-Muslim residents in the Palestinian territories. This tax revives the one applied through all of Islamic history to the dhimmi, the second-class Jewish and Christian citizens.

In an interview with Karby Legget, published in the December 23-26 edition of “The Wall Street Journal,” Masalmeh, the leader of the Hamas contingent at the municipal council of Bethlehem, confirmed: “We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday. We say it openly – we welcome everyone to Palestine but only if they agree to live under our rules.”

Batarseh, the mayor, doesn’t agree. He doesn’t want the tax, and says it will never be introduced.

While the current mayor of Bethlehem is a Christian, Christians in Bethlehem are now a distinct minority – another direct consequence of the Palestinian Intifada. How much longer under a Hamas controlled Bethlehem will Christians be able to hold out or make a stand against dhimmitude?