Dear Editor: Political propaganda should not be confused with the truths of the Bible which we all believe in. Rosemarie Pace may have a problem with saying that Bethlehem is part of Israel, but the Holy Scriptures make clear that Saul, David and Solomon were Kings of Israel. David was from Bethlehem which in Hebrew means City of Bread. That has been the city’s name from Biblical times. The Bible also makes clear God’s covenant with Abraham regarding the Land of Israel and its promise to his descendants.
Politics come and go but the eternal truths of the Bible remain. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the City of David, which is in Israel.
GARRY S. SKLAR, MD
Las Vegas, Nevada
The article to which I referred stated that Bethlehem is in Israel. Only the author of that article could confirm whether that statement was meant as a Biblical or political one. It is true I was reading it as a political entity. That Bethlehem is in Palestine is not propaganda. The propaganda is that of the political state of modern Israel which refutes the very existence of Palestine, occupies it, and oppresses Palestinians on a daily basis. I do know what I’m talking about. As I wrote in my first letter, which The Tablet cut, I was there. I will add here that I walked with the Palestinians. I listened to them. I saw their oppression and shared in it, being tear-gassed downwind of a group of young children who were playing at the entrance of their refugee camp. They were tear-gassed for no reason other than the daily abuse by the Israeli Defense Force. Bethlehem is in Zone A of the West Bank, the most “autonomous” zone of occupied Palestine, and still under the harsh thumb of Israel. Bethlehem is in Palestine. Complying with Israel’s claim that all the land is theirs is buying into their propaganda and stoking the fires of the conflict to which the whole region and the whole world are being held hostage.