A City Of Refuge

After Years Of Supporting The Palestinians Over Israel, The Vatican Shows They’re In Full Control Of The West Bank City Of Bethlehem On Christmas Eve

The Church of the Nativity, where Catholics believe Jesus was born, was set to host Palestinian dignitaries and pilgrims from around the world for a midnight Mass. Uniformed Palestinian scouts wearing yellow and gold capes and playing drums and bagpipes paraded past assembled visitors in Manger Square, bedecked with a large Christmas tree. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head Catholic cleric in Israel and the West Bank, crossed an army checkpoint from Jerusalem to Bethlehem ahead of the holiday prayers, where he was greeted by prominent members of Bethlehem’s Catholic community. For years now, Pope Francis from the Vatican has been supporting Palestine over Israel at every opportunity, and that support has paid big dividends. In 2015, Pope Francis signed a treaty giving official Vatican recognition to the state of Palestine. Last year the Catholic pope met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss how they might go about overturning President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the list goes on and on. So what do we see on Christmas Eve 2019 in the town where Jesus was born? We see the hand-picked representative of the Vatican, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, crossing through the army checkpoint, and being escorted by uniformed Palestinian scouts as a conquering hero.