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Source: https://aijac.org.au/featured/israel-is-not-bethlehems-enemy/
Israel Is Not Bethlehem's Enemy
(The Australian-Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council) Allon Lee - Bethlehem's mayor Anton Salman shamelessly exploited genuine interest at Christmas in the traditional birthplace of Jesus in The Australian on Dec. 26 to advance a dangerous and deluded anti-Israel agenda devoid of fact or historical accuracy. Since the Palestinian Authority (PA) took over the city in 1995, the Christian percentage of the city's population has plummeted from 40% to 12%. His claim that Israeli security measures are deliberately aimed at preventing people from visiting and spending money in Bethlehem ignores the fact that 3 million people visited Bethlehem in 2018. He refers to "the illegal wall that has been built through the heart of our city," though the separation barrier lies north of the city's limits and is there to ensure the right of Israelis not to be knifed, car rammed or exploded to death. Claiming that Bethlehem's future is at risk from Israel is Orwellian because the only threat to the city and its Church of the Nativity is from the Palestinians themselves. The writer is a policy analyst at AIJAC.