Your Presence Might Be The Best Christmas Gift Of All

"O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

Christmas Procession for Bethlehem
Saturday, December 23
4:00 PM
Meet at Lafayette Park
(16th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW)

Mary and Joseph, with donkey, will lead candle-lit procession around the White House and the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse.

Bethlehem, the city where the birth of Jesus was heralded with heavenly joy 2000 years ago, is languishing today in the darkness of a military occupation. All its residents, including Palestinian Christians, are suffering.

Please help bring light into the darkness by joining a gathering in support of Bethlehem. Our glowing candles and presence will show our concern and love for those who struggle in poverty and isolation.

"The biblical town is now walled in by Israel's West Bank separation barrier, poverty is deepening, and Christians are leaving Bethlehem in droves." (AP 12/10/06)

"Our town has become a prison for those of us who live here; our livelihoods have been strangled by the Israeli wall and the restrictions on movement, which have severed the arteries which for centuries have sustained our little town. It is right that Christians should know this, and that their prayers in this season be directed towards the many people suffering dire poverty in Bethlehem as a consequence of the Israeli occupation...Bethlehem needs the world, and the world needs Bethlehem. We must not let the wall separate us." (Leila Sansour, Chief Executive, Open Bethlehem, in the Tablet, 12/1/06)

To find out more about Bethlehem today, see www.openbethlehem.org.
Sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee for Bethlehem
Questions or Comments: noraburgan@aol.com