Bad news Tuesday

Damascus Gate ... empty and cold

There were 2 more ramming attacks this morning .... one in Hebron in the south and another in the Jordan Valley. Things have escalated from yesterday's attack. For sure security will be stepped up during the Christmas holidays ... perhaps christians from the Palestinian territories may not be granted permits to enter Jerusalem. I am suspecting that all these attacks are meant to disrupt our christian festivities ... to drive a wedge between christians and the State of Israel.

In Iran hundreds of christians have been arrested  as they prepare to celebrate christians.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-said-to-arrest-over-100-christians-in-crackdown-on-conversions/?fbclid=IwAR24eqOTsf8-eubXGnnwsRf8z9hcu6HyzH5xTDSnldXY5Qj2T9fdFuhmeJQ

In Syria over half a million people have been killed to date in the dreadful war ... among them tens of thousands of christians, yezhidis and mandaeans. It is horrific ... but even more horrific is the silence of the world. The news I receive from Damascus by my students and friends working there are simply too terrible to describe.  https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/560-000-killed-in-syria-s-war-according-to-updated-death-toll-1.6700244?fbclid=IwAR1Gy-9nm81tcXlDabbVd_rGcrrQaoIBanpCuY-sc690CQtz9V8Y49DqRfE

The sun continues to shine today though it's only 14 degrees. Lovely weather. Tourists numbers have declined mainly because it's getting close to Christmas and it's a family feast so fewer people come here. Only those brave people who will stand in the rain and cold on Dec. 24th will come for Christmas at Bethlehem. But with all the horrible news that we're receiving .... Christmas is not joyful .... it is but a vague memory for those poor christians hiding and running for their lives, wondering where the next meal will come, where to shelter from the cold and snow.