Celebrating Christmas as Rafah Counts Its Dead

[Scurrilous]

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=20031224071028598

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"In view of the international media, Manger Square is filling with Palestinian Christians and journalists to ring in the opening of the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem. Revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, the Church of Nativity would be a prime destination if it were not for the continuing Israeli military occupation.."

<snip>

"Israeli occupation forces left the center of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, although as is normal the Israelis remain at the line they have created.

The Apartheid Wall, the Israelis are building with armored machines is overshadowed only by its many sniper posts. Israeli soldiers continue to shoot into and bombard Palestinian homes adjacent to the ever-expanding Israeli border. The line changes as the Israelis demolish more houses, turning what once was the center of the city into the border.

The Israelis killed ten Palestinians in Rafah yesterday. Forty Palestinians are in the hospital. The number of demolished homes is yet to be determined as Israeli tanks and bulldozers have just left the Yibna Camp in Gaza, where they attacked heavily yesterday. Palestinian medical and search crews are beginning to dig through the rubble looking for bodies, as several people report fears that there is a family still inside one of the demolished houses."