Christian Pilgrims Return to Bethlehem

After a sharp decline in the number of Christians making a pilgrimage to Bethlehem during the Palestinian intifadah, as well as an exodus of Christians from the town that had been majority Christian since the time of Christ, last year marked the first increase in pilgrims. This year, all of the hotels in the area are full (There is no room at the inn!) as even more pilgrims have come to the Holy Land.

The reason for the increase is because of the relative peace in the West Bank. Most notably, there have been relatively few suicide bombings in recent years in the Holy Land. I attribute the peace to two reasons, beyond the usual level of Israeli counterterrorism. One reason is the security wall erected by the Israelis.

The other is the overthrow of Iraq's Saddam Hussein regime and the capture of the Palestinian terrorist he harbored, Abu Abbas in that country. Hussein had harbored and financed terrorists who targeted and killed Americans. Abbas had been infamous for the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, during which a disabled American was killed by being tossed overboard. Abbas had been the conduit for Hussein's stipends of $25,000 per family of each suicide bomber. One suicide bombing targeted an American restaurant, Sbarro's in Jerusalem, which caused American casualties. Another killed four U.S. servicemen in the Gaza Strip. Other suicide bombers killed and injured scores of Israelis.

In short, the Liberation of Iraq has helped to produce the indirect benefit of enabling Christians, as well as Jews and Muslims, to practice their religion through pilgrimage to the Holy Land, much as the Crusades had preserved this right. At this Christmastime, we should all be especially grateful to our U.S. soldiers.

Merry Christmas.