Sweden: "Bethlehem is a prison, Israel kills children"

One more Christmas article bashing Israel.

In an article which appeared in Swedish newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning, a group of Swedish women who spent Christmas in Bethlehem claimed that Bethlehem is a prison.  "Israel has closed off Bethlehem behind a high wall.  Today, on Christmas Eve, we think of those residents."

The women write that getting into the city is easy, but that Palestinians and residents of Bethlehem have a hard time getting out.

Describing the checkpoints, the women accuse Israel of treating the Palestinians like animals: "When you see them patiently standing there, in the grid-paths that resemble cattle pens, waiting for the young Israeli conscripts to check their certificates, you wonder if it's really happening."

Gunfire is often heard by the Wall in Bethlehem, teargas stings the eyes.  "Palestinians can be imprisoned for the slightest transgression.  Children are abducted and imprisoned, sometimes killed  Shortly before we arrived in Bethlehem, a 12-year-old boy was shot dead, his crime was throwing stones."

Christians and Muslims work together for peace, they say.  Everybody they met in Bethlehem spoke of peace.  There are some Jews who also want peace, like 'Breaking the Silence', "But every minute Israel violates international law and UN human rights regulations."  The women are careful to deny any motive of antisemitism.  "We are not talking about the Jewish people, but of abuses committed by the State of Israel's current government".