Audio Slideshow – “They surrounded us with a wall on all sides,

it’s like living in a tomb.”

Its a powerful image of a harsh life lived by Christian Arabs in Bethlehem, found in this audio slideshow  by Martha Rial in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

We only ever hear about loss from that part of the world. Linger too long and hope becomes a figment of the imagination.  Not much of a  figment for the people featured in here:

‘Tens of thousands of Arab Christians began leaving their homes in Palestine in 1948 when Israel became a state. The outflow of Christians from the Holy Land has continued in response to decades of violence and economic disruption in the area.

The result is that in Biblically significant towns, such as Bethlehem, the Christian community is battle-scarred, economically bereft — and dwindling.’