"Bethlehem Unwrapped" was a disgraceful Israel hatefest. The Israeli Embassy in London accused St James’s Church in Piccadilly of attempting to “incite against Israel and Israelis”.
The visitor to Bethlehem Unwrapped was invited to believe that all the problems of Bethlehem’s Christians today stem from Israel’s security fence. There was absolutely no mention of the fact that the reason why the Christian population of Bethlehem has declined so rapidly in recent years is not because of this but because the Christians are being gradually forced out from their historic homeland by extreme Islamist Palestinians.
The Rector Lucy Winkett appeared distinctly unbothered by whom she allied with in her anti-Israel hate-festival. One of her ‘partner organisations’ is ‘Interpal’, an organisation which in the US is designated as a terrorist entity.
Neither Lucy Winkett's blog nor the Festival pointed out that Israel is the only country in the Middle East whose Christian population is growing
Worst of all, neither noted that the wall/fence has cut deaths from suicide bombings by over 90%.
How disgusting that £30,000 was given to erect the mock-wall. Why did Lucy Winkett not insist the money was given to the poor and hungry?
This church has an unfortunate history of malevolence against Israel.
We call on Archbishop Justin Welby to condemn this ill-conceived stunt and to ensure that C of E churches are no longer abused to vilify Israel.
More details here and here.
