In its Dec. 25 edition, the Washington Post runs an Associated Press article that depicts Bethlehem in warm, festive terms with tourists and pilgrims packing hotels for Christmas celebrations in Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity - plus an accolade to the Palestinian Authority for its presumed respect of all religions ("Bethlehem packed with Christmas Eve visitors" page A19) To put this year's celebration in a historical context, the article reports that Israel turned Bethlehem over to Palestinian civil control in 1995, and "since then, residents have been celebrating the holiday regardless of religion."  Which religion pray tell was blacklisted in Bethlehem before 1995?  The AP doesn't say. It gets even more problematic in the next paragraph, which reads:  "Today, only about one-third of Bethlehem's residents are Christian, reflecting a broader exodus of Christians from the Middle East in recent decades."  This hardly does justice to Bethlehem's real...(Read Full Post)