"I grew up less than a mile from Shepherds' Field in Beit Sahour in the occupied West Bank the hillside where, according to the Gospel of Luke, the news of Jesus's birth was first proclaimed. For my family, these were not distant biblical landscapes. They were the backdrop of our daily lives: The olive groves we played in, the terraces we tended, the land where our faith and identity were rooted."
"Today, for the first time in my life, I felt fear that the community that raised me may not survive. In recent weeks, a new illegal Israeli settlement outpost has been established on the edge of Beit Sahour. Caravans and construction equipment have appeared on a site the town had hoped to use for a children's hospital, cultural centre, and public spaces projects supported by international donors and meant to strengthen a Christian community that has endured for centuries."
A new illegal Israeli settlement outpost has been established on the edge of Beit Sahour, occupying land intended for a children's hospital, cultural centre, and public spaces supported by international donors. Caravans and construction equipment now block plans meant to strengthen a long-standing Christian community. Beit Sahour is one of the last majority-Christian towns in the West Bank with Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical families who share worship, intermarriage, and heritage. Decades of confiscation, the separation wall, and settlement expansion have left little land for Palestinian construction. Families face uncertainty, rising tension, restricted ability for youth to build homes, and a real risk of displacement threatening community continuity.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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