Counter Currents: O Little Town Of Bethlehem!

Dear Friend,

Countercurrents is reproducing two articles from our archive this Christmas, one by Prof. Francis Boyle and the other from Prof. Ron Forthofer. Both have almost the same title - "O Little Town Of Bethlehem!" This is our way of saying Merry Christmas!

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org

O Little Town Of Bethlehem!
By Francis A. Boyle

http://www.countercurrents.org/boyle031210.htm

Bethlehem is cut-off and surrounded by the Israeli army--the Church of the Nativity too. The Israelis are inflicting ethnic cleansing upon all the Palestinian, both Muslims and Christians. They are also pursuing a policy of deliberately forcing Palestinian Christians out of Palestine as part of a perverse strategy to turn a war of national liberation into a religious crusade, figuring it would play better in the United States. And these are the original Christians, going back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Meanwhile, the United States government is financing it all to the tune of $5 billion per year


O Little Town Of Bethlehem Today
By Ron Forthofer

http://www.countercurrents.org/forthofer211210.htm

During Christmas time, the town of Bethlehem in the West Bank, the birthplace of Jesus, comes to mind. I wonder what Jesus would think were he to return to Bethlehem and to the rest of the West Bank today. Unfortunately, he would still see a foreign military force occupying the land. Since Jesus had experienced the Roman occupation when he was alive, he might not be too surprised about the occupation. However, Jesus would also see something he had not witnessed under the Romans. The current foreign power, Israel, has now colonized much of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and there are about 500,000 Israeli colonists living in over 200 illegal Jewish-only colonies and outposts on lands taken from the Palestinians


Implementation Of US-Iran Interim Nuclear Deal Stalls
By Keith Jones

http://www.countercurrents.org/jones231213.htm

Negotiators for Iran and the P-6—the US, its European allies (Britain, France, and Germany), Russia and China—extended a two-day meeting on implementing last month’s interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear program into a third and fourth day. The “technical” negotiations concluded Sunday without agreement, however, due to what Iran termed “serious differences.”


South Sudan Slides Toward Civil War
By Bill Van Auken

http://www.countercurrents.org/auken231213.htm

Thousands have been killed or wounded in the fighting, and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands driven from their homes, many of them crowded into United Nations peacekeeping bases for protection. An attack on one of these bases last Thursday by what UN officials described as “unknown assailants” killed three Indian peacekeepers and 11 civilians


Uphold The Amman Message
By Chandra Muzaffar

http://www.countercurrents.org/muzaffar231213.htm

The recent proposal by some political and religious leaders to amend the Malaysian Constitution to specify that Article 3 which states that “Islam is the religion of the Federation” refers only to the teachings of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah(ASWJ) has far-reaching implications. Does it mean that non-Sunni, minority sects will not be recognised as Islamic? If such sects --- the Shias being a case in point --- are not recognised as Islamic, what would be their status? How would such an amendment impact upon Malay Shias since Islam is one of the defining attributes of Malay identity?


Condemning India And Flattering The U.S.
By Vidyadhar Date

http://www.countercurrents.org/date231213.htm

True, Devayani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat, deserves some flak. One can understand the virulent criticism leveled against her by some critics.. But how come some of these worthies are so desperate to give a clean chit to the U.S. when this is totally unwarranted


Sangeeta Richards: The Forgotten Victim Of Khobragade Affairs
By V. Arun Kumar

http://www.countercurrents.org/akumar231213.htm

The forgotten victim of Khobradge Affairs, Sangeeta Richards has every right to get justice and it is our duty to ensure that her case is not silenced by Indian elites under the carpet of nationalism


Is Aam Admi Party A Hope?
By S. Mohammed Irshad

http://www.countercurrents.org/irshad231213.htm

Although they claim that they are neither right nor left , the party has to demonstrate its capability to take on the market ideology. The ideological position may not be a matter; however, the response to the current economic policy would be a significant challenge to the party