December 1st

Woollen clothes
gifts to the poor
from Singapore

It's the 1st of December and what a horrible way to start ... with a possible terrorist stabbing in the southern city of Arad. An israeli soldier, 19 yrs old, died. I've noticed a pattern this past year, that terrorist attacks get more frequent toward Christmas time ... because the Islamist know that with each attack the soldiers will tighten restriction of arab movement hence disrupting Christmas celebrations. It's deliberate and provokes enmity between christians and jews.  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5050358,00.html

The past few evenings I've been busy running from one hotel to another gathering donations from pilgrim groups. It consists of heat packs which are very heavy, as well as toiletries and woollen clothes. Then it's repacking them into smaller packs so that the sisters can carry them into the Palestinian Territories to give to the poor for Christmas. The winter is cold, and the poor, aged and handicapped have little to stay warm. So while you're enjoying your Advent, please don't forget the less fortunate christians here in the Holy Land.

Santa's House in
Jerusalem

Bad news for 3 bedouin villages as the govt. sent notices to the 300 bedouins that they will be evacuated and the desert land be left for the neighbouring jewish settlements. Sad but true ... I wonder if the shepherds on Christmas night felt the same.    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.825706

It's definitely not going to be a merry christmas for many people this year. Not even if Santa moved to Jerusalem's Old City and has his front door all decorated for the season.