It
hurts my heart that Holy Cities are
separated by an 8-meter high Wall”
Talal Barham, 44, 4 children
“There
are thousands of interviews done
about the situation here,” opens
Talal Barham. Talal is a
sophisticated, well-dressed man in
the beginning of his forties,
speaking fluent English.
“One
thing that is underestimated is that
the situation in Bethlehem is
completely different from the rest
of the West Bank.” Talal bends over.
“This is the place were Jesus was
born!” He waits a second. “So here
you find a special group of people.
It’s the Palestinian Christians;
they are the roots of Christianity
all over the world.”
In
Talal’s view, Christians are
suffering more from the situation
than other Palestinians. “The
majority of Palestinian Christians
live in the Bethlehem area. 80
percent of them earned their income
from tourism, for example by making
or selling handcrafts. After the
Intifadas, the Israeli government
tries to keep tourists away from
Bethlehem. So Christians are hurt
most.
But
according to Talal, there is also a
spiritual suffering. Talal considers
Bethlehem and Jerusalem twin cities;
in Bethlehem Jesus was born, and in
Jerusalem he passed the last period
of his life. “It hurts my heart that
these holy cities are now separated
by an 8-meter high wall.”
Two
years ago, Talal left for the United
States. After a long legal battle,
he got full US citizenship in
January 2008. He had the possibility
to let his wife and daughters come
over as well. But he started to feel
not in his place in the USA, because
of his religious beliefs.
Softly but quickly speaking, he
says: “The place where you have been
born will remain important for you
during all your life. If the Messias
would come, then where would he show
up? In Bethlehem of course!” But in
Bethlehem, the number of Christians
declines rapidly. “If this situation
goes on for 50 years, there would
not be any Christian left to welcome
the Messias! That would be such a
shame!”
That
perspective appeared so horrifying
for him that he decided to come
back. And although life in the West
Bank is much more difficult for him
than in the States, he is happy to
be back. Thanks to his American
passport, he can move freely between
Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
But
most of all, his heart is quiet
again. He feels that his family is
available to welcome his Messias.
