The article speaks of
... reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs ...
And who caused all this trouble?
The DT points the finger in one direction. Subsequent paragraphs speak of ...
... [t]he sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism.
This is evidenced by a ...
... mosque on one side of Manger Square … directly opposite the Greek OrthodoxAnd for how many centuries has this mosque been standing there?
and Roman Catholic churches.
Then there are references to shops selling Christian souvenirs having
... their shutters painted a sun-bleached green – the colour of Islam.
Try telling that to Shia Muslims in the Indian sub-Continent who regard black as the colour of their faith.
Finally, the editorial refers to
... a baubled Christmas tree in reception and a card showing the direction of Mecca in the rooms.
Hotels across the Middle East and Asia carry such cards. This is no more a sign of creeping fundamentalism than Gideons bibles in hotel rooms across the world (including nominally Muslim countries) is a sign of creeping Christian extremism. Observant Christians read the Bible. Observant Muslims pray to Mecca at various times. So what?
In the simpleton tabloid world of the Tele, can all world conflicts (including ones that don’t quite exist) only be explained as a giant crusade? And how does the Tele explain the fact that Bethlehemites (Christian and Muslim) themselves prefer to point to another entity as the cause of their suffering?
Was it Muslims who have been building a concrete wall separating Rachel’s tomb from the rest of the town, leading to the closure of 70-80 businesses?
Of course, no one can deny that a minority of crazy Muslims were burning churches in response to a recent speech by the Pope. Still, the last time Bethlehem’s mayor met with the Pope, it was to discuss the giant wall.
So who could have come up with such a distorted view of Bethlehem? The answer might be found here.
Words © 2006 Irfan Yusuf
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