We start off Tuesday’s RNS report with a story from the Vatican City about Pope Benedict’s message against new weapons of war. Stacy Meichtry reports: Pope Benedict XVI called for countries at war to uphold international law Tuesday, urging the international community to apply current arms regulations to “newer and more sophisticated weapons.” Benedict did not name any countries in his appeal. But the United States has been under heavy scrutiny in Europe for its perceived disregard for United Nations war conventions. Benedict made his appeal in the first World Day of Peace message of his papacy following a much-discussed November Italian television documentary alleging that the United States “indiscriminately” used white phosphorus as a weapon against insurgents during the battle for Fallujah. Asked at a press conference whether the pope’s message applied to the Iraq war, a spokesman responded, “That’s correct.”
Michele Chabin reports on the loss of tourism in Bethlehem since the latest Palestinian intifada began in September 2000 and the prospects for tourism in Jesus’ birthplace this holiday season:
Most of the items for sale in the Bethlehem Star Store have been sitting, undisturbed, on glass-encased shelves since 2000, the last time large numbers of pilgrims frequented this town, the place where Jesus was born, according to the Christian Bible. “Back then we worked day and night,” recalls George Baboul, the shop’s Greek Orthodox owner, sizing up his overflowing inventory of mother-of-pearl crosses and olivewood Nativity scenes. But when the Palestinian intifada erupted in September 2000 “the tourists stopped coming and there was no business. None.” Residents of this mixed Christian-Muslim town, who derive almost all their income from tourism, are trying to remain upbeat this holiday season, especially since Christmas falls on the same day Hanukkah begins. But so far the signs are hardly encouraging.
Hanukkah is a reminder that light can fix the world, writes Cecile Holmes in her feature on the Jewish holiday: The Jewish principle of “tikkun olam,” meaning to fix the world, resounds this time of year with the coming of Hanukkah and its emphasis on light and freedom. Hanukkah’s origin dates to Hellenistic oppressions of the Jews in 168 B.C. when Antiochus Epiphanes decreed the worship of images in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. After three years of fighting, the Maccabees drove their enemies from the city, regaining their religious freedom. The eight-day festival recalling the Maccabean revolt celebrates divine light. Legend has it that the Judeans realized their supply of oil was defiled when they entered the temple. Only one unsealed vial was found to light the candelabrum. Though that oil should have lasted only a day, it burned for eight, providing enough time to ready a new supply and rededicate the temple. “Hanukkah is a festival of light celebrating the fact that during the darkest time of the year, there came a little light shining in,” said Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, an author, lecturer and scholar in residence at San Francisco’s Temple Emanu-El.
