Two Generations Late, Bethlehem Rocks, About the Missing Humor…………
"O Come All Ye Faithful to Bethlehem's first Christmas rock festival. A young musician who grew up near Jesus' traditional birthplace feels the old-fashioned way of marking the holiday - hanging around Manger Square and listening to carols - is a little dull. So Emmanuel Fleckenstein has organized a three-day battle of the bands that he hopes will attract bigger crowds to Bethlehem. City elders, worried about putting off traditional pilgrims, are keeping the wailing electric guitars and pounding drums at a safe distance from the Church of the Nativity……… On Christmas Eve, though, Fleckenstein's four-man band gets to play in the prime venue, Manger Square, and, in a nod to the occasion, will end its 45-minute set with a rendition of "Silent Night." The festival, modest in scale, is a sign of Bethlehem's gradual revival as a tourist attraction, after gloomy years when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict all but shut down the city………..In marketing Bethlehem, city officials seek to assure potential visitors that they are safe while not glossing over the hardships of life under Israeli military rule. Bethlehem, a town of 32,000 just south of Jerusalem, is ringed on three sides by Israel's West Bank separation barrier, portrayed by Israel as a shield against suicide bombers and by Palestinians as a land grab…..….”
Maybe it’ll improve the sense of humor and people won’t be so surly over there? I can of doubt it, but hope springs eternal. The Palestinian territories are probably tied with Jordan in first place for lack of humor. It is probably not just geographic because it is as bad beyond the West Bank, even beyond Jordan which is notorious for its lack of humor and surliness.
Cheers
and Happy Holidays
Mon Email
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