Israel denied tourism ministers to enter Palestine for Christmas
Jerusalem : Israel vetoes Arab tourism ministers Christmas visit to Bethlehem, Palestine. The host, the Palestine Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Maʻayʻah denounced the refusal of the Israeli government to grant several Arab ministers of tourism entry permits to attend Christmas celebrations in the Holy Land.
Israel initially granted the requests of the ministers from Egypt and Bahrain to enter Bethlehem, but vetoed entry of Qatar and Tunisia due to their ‘unrestrained attacks’ against Israel.
Due to opposition from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the planned visit of tourism ministers from four Arab nations set to participate in Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem on Tuesday has been canceled, according to senior officials in Jerusalem.
A number of Arab ministers planned to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron at her invitation and attend the Midnight Mass in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve along with President Mahmoud Abbas and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton but the Israeli authorities refused to grant them entry permits, etn .travel reports.
According to holylandphotos.org , ,Bethlehem is located 8 km.south southwest of Jerusalem.It was a city in the tribal territory of Judah. The ancestors of King David lived here — Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, Jesse, etc. It is mentioned 40 times in the Old Testament. Besides being the birthplace of David (1 Samuel 16) it was fortified by the Judean King Rehoboam (ca. 926 B.C.; 2 Chron 11:6) and resettled by Jews after the Babylonian Exile (Ezra 2:21; Neh 7:26). It is mentioned 8 times in the New Testament, especially in connection with the birth of Jesus (Matt 2:5–12, 16; etc.).
The focal point of the town is the Church of Nativity which is built over the site where tradition has it that Jesus was born. There, Christmas celebrations are held at various times by the Christian communities that have “rights” to/in the building.
