O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie.
This little tid-bit is from Kay Wilson, a person I am proud to call a friend.
Kay is a British-born Israeli tour guide, jazz musician and cartoonist. She is the survivor of a brutal terror attack. Since the attack she is a public speaker for StandWithUs and OneFamily Together.
She writes…
Take a good look at each picture here. They are from my visit to Bethlehem when I went to see my Palestinian friend. The pictures show a normal town. Just like any other town, Bethlehem has wealthy neighbourhoods and poor neighbourhoods.
Personally, I saw some very nice housing. I saw some beautiful Palestinian shops. I saw Israeli goods sold in Palestinian supermarkets (which makes a mockery of the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions) and I saw that some Palestinians have cars that the rest of us can only dream of.
For peace to be possible, it has to be based on truth. And the truth is that there is no genocide against the Palestinians. There is no Holocaust being perpetrated by Jews. None. None. Not even one.
On her Facebook page Kay wrote:
“Today, little old insignificant me, posted a couple of pics of the realty of Bethlehem on my FB. It went viral as they say, and infected the social media. In 12 hours it got nearly 700 likes and nearly 400 shares (not bad at all) and was also reposted on blogs.
Moral of the story:
We don’t have to backed by politicians, have huge money, even be smart or famous to make a difference – because truth always prevails. We may all be relative nobodies, but it’s the little words and deeds that make a difference. So keep sharing the things that make the world a better place, no matter how small you think they are. And keep sharing the truth about our beautiful Israel.”
“And it came to pass that in December 2010, two Palestinian shepherds left their little town near Bethlehem and set out to walk ten miles across the Judaean Hills. There in the forest, they kept watch by night. The following day, at about the 6th hour (3pm) the shepherds saw two women walking along the Israel National Trail. With great fervour they took out their knives and attacked the women.
While shepherds held the girls that day and pinned them to the ground, their serrated blades glinted in the sun, shining all around. With knives to their throats, the women dare not move.
‘Fear not,’ said the men – for mighty dread had seized the women’s troubled minds – ‘we bring you good news that will cause great joy for our people.’ What could these glad tidings be? Rape, a robbery, a beating? Anything was better than death the women pondered in their hearts.
And it came to pass that near the seventh hour, the shepherds said, ‘behold’, let us go forth and kill these Jews like Allah has told us to do.’
The shepherds gagged the women, removed their shoes and bound their hands. They forced one woman to her knees, covered her head and pushed her neck forward. The woman knelt, and prepared herself to be beheaded. Suddenly she saw a great light – the blade of his knife glinting in the sun. The Jewish woman whispered, ‘Hear Oh Israel.’ The Islamic host cried, ‘Allah HuAkbar,’ and the Christian screamed “Jesus,” the name of a Jew born in David’s town.
Thirteen times the shepherds thrust their knives into the women, breaking bones, tearing flesh, even impaling one to the ground. As the Jew played dead, she watched the Christian friend hacked to death before her very eyes.
The shepherds returned home glorifying and praising Allah for all that they had seen and spread the word concerning what had they had done.
‘Today near the town of David two Jews have been slaughtered,’ they declared. They plotted and schemed, boasting to their neighbours, ‘this will be a sign, they will find two of their own, all meanly wrapped in bloody clothes and in the bushes laid.’ And everyone who heard of it, was amazed.”
Kay gave this talk at a TEDx event recently using the TED conference format, but independently organised by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
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