After reading the New York Times article "A Sad New Carol: Go Ye From Bethlehem" by Greg Myre my reaction was that it is terrible that so many Christians are leaving their homeland. Since the Arab-Israeli war began, Muslim refugees have been moving into Bethlehem. Their have been an estimated 3,000 Christians in the Bethlehem area who have moved abroad since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000. Tourists and pilgrims used to visit Bethlehem and pack the central square at Christmas time but now they stay away. If the fighting over there does not stop soon the trend will continue and there will be no Christmas in Bethlehem. Catholics that live in Bethlehem have lost their jobs and have no other choice but to leave. Souvenir shops have closed; shrines are no longer visited by hundreds of people. The old feel they need to stay in the area they were born while their children leave to look for work. Many of the old Catholics depend on their children to send them money to survive.
             The meaning I got from this article is that the fighting between religious factions needs to stop. Also that neighboring countries need to stop hindering people from getting to Bethlehem. If this exodus of Christians from Bethlehem continues the city will be run by Muslims and won't celebrate Christmas again. People over in that area need to sit down and make peace with each other, they need to realize that not everyone is the same and will not act the same.
             Being a Catholic myself this does bother me, I know that I will never be able to go visit Bethlehem myself but what if my children wanted to. With so many people leaving the area now what is to become of it in the future. I would love to see the central square packed for Christmas celebrations. Just five years ago the Church of the Nativity was overflowing with tourists for the Christmas celebrations, the Pope visited their and new hotels were being built to a
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