Instead of lights, Palestinian Christians have decorated their trees with the thousands of machine-gun bullets that have been shot into their homes. Palestinian Muslims marked the holy Eid Al Fitr just two days after Christmas in the same somber way. They huddled in stairways and cellers with their Christain neighbors while Israeli helicopters bombed their houses. But many here say that the bombing is not the worst of what's happening. More devastating yet is the tight quarantine that Israel has imposed on every town, city, and village of Palestine.
People are unable to move from one town to the next, even for medical treatment.
Every Palestinian here is being slowly killed, not just the ones who have been shot. I stood in Manger Square on Christmas Eve this year. In that space where thousands should have been, only a handful of faithful remained, mostly Palestinians. We were hoping for a sign that would speak to us of birth and life. We're still waiting.