Page 6 - Win Bethlehem News Today

What is the expectation from what his message might be this year? >> first of all, happy christmas to you. since the precedent has been set let me send a shout out to my wife. merry christmas to you, sweetheart. i think the story of christmas from the popes point of view is the story of a poor child born to a refugee family in bethlehem. i think the expectation is that pope francis will connect the story of the christ child to all the contemporary displaced and refugee families of the world. pop...

Christmas your thoughts what we need to focus on. >> i was in egypt around jordan. asking pray for us. this is a remarkable time for them. i was speakin speaking with an b christian pastor in bethlehem. pastor of first baptist church in bethlehem. thats a good deal being the pastor of first baptist in bethlehem. they are under intense pressure, majority arab muslim culture. and they are saying pray for us. pray that we can be you light and truth in this culture because we are seeing a lot of mus...

Faith people dont like. seasons greetings and happy holidays. seasons greetings from the white house it doesnt mean anything to anyone. there was also a ceremony for hanukkah, a menorah ceremony for hanukkah at the white house as well. i think you want to recognize the richness of the different religions and the faiths that people practice in the country. not diminish them by making them something generic. >> right. nine out of 10 americans according to pew research celebrate christmas. two thir...

Jordan said the jerusalem declaration threatened the peace process. irans president said the u.s. does not respect the legitimate demands of palestinians. and again today, sandra, palestinian protestors clashed with israeli troops in bethlehem, ramallah but the significance of the violence is less than one week ago. palestinian officials are now coming that abbas is not going to meet with the u.s. vice president mike pence. the vice president is expected to arrive here this weekend. the two had ...

Making that declaration, the u.s. has not only completely eliminated, eradicated the palestinian dream of also having east jerusalem as the capital of their future palestinian state, but that it is also sending a broader message to muslims across the world that they are no longer welcome in jerusalem. now throughout the morning here so far, there have been small clashes. groups of youth are gathered around us. you see in the background, this road, again, that the demonstrators are meant to be ma...

Sides. people were saying they were out to vent their frustration. were expecting that to happen, were told that protests are going to -- protesters are going to start coming in an hours time. and like arwa said, theres protests planned in bethlehem. there are protests planned for ramallah, in jerusalem. really across the west bank, across gaza. and in jerusalem. palestinians dont seem ready to lay down their cause. theyre ready -- theyre continued to keep fighting for it, and thats what were se...

The u.s. president. the question again, will this day, again, turn into more clashes on the streets? ian lee live in ramallah. arwa damon in bethlehem. thank you for the reporting. we turn to southern california. thousands of firefighters working there nonstop to combat thick wildfires. they made progress friday containing five blazes. however, the largest inferno, thomas wildfire, grew to nearly 58,000 hectares or 143,000 acres. at least one person has died in a car crash while evacuating fro...

And it has been slammed by much of the american community including u.s. allies. heres what happened at a security council meeting that took place on friday. >> we, therefore, disagree with the u.s. decision to move its embassy to jerusalem and unilaterally to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel before a final status agreement. these decisions are unhelpful to prospects for peace in the region. >> translator: were worried that the new position by the united states on jerusalem risks fur...

Erupt into violence. for many, you also get a sense that theyre actually exhausted least on the palestinian side. they are exhausted by this back and forth that keeps happening time and time again with at least from their perspective, no resolution at all to decades of grievances. george? >> important to point out, arwa, before the declaration by the u.s. president, the palestinian/israeli conflict has not been at the fore, but it is at the forefront now. and were seeing the reactions on the str...

>> jerusalem will remain the capital of israel and must remain. >> we will move the american embassy to the eternal capital of the jewish people, jerusalem. >> reporter: donald trump will follow through on their promise recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel and directing the state department to begin the multitier process of moving the us embassy from tel aviv in bethlehem, flags of donald trumps image are burning, the potential for protests rise, us consulate in jerusalem, a security w...