Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Thursday, December 25, 1958 THE CLINTON CHRONICLE 7^ Clnaits (My SfigMy Little Town of Bethlehem BethUhem, Jordan, Dec. 17—On the Plain of Boat to the east, little Bedouin #ria follow the wheat har vesters to glean bits of grain. Men in flowing headdress trudge along rocky trails from the south accompanied by women, children and baggage. The whine of reed flutes from distant slopes heralds the passing of lonely shepherds watching their flocks. Identical scenes might have wel comed the Holy Family on the out skirts of the little town of Bethle hem the day Christ was born. At the time of Christ’s birth Beth lehem was a market town for rural people, especially for Bedouins to the east and south. In this respect, the town has not changed. As long ago as David’s time 900 years before Christ, David’s son, Chamaan, built a caravanseri here which served as shelter for Be douins and their flocks as they moved in and out of town. That same caravanseri was probably the inn where Joseph and Mary were unable to find lodging. The cara vanseri has disappeared but the same kind of Bedouins still come to Bethlehem. Marked by the typical Arab head dress falling down over the neck and shoulders, the wide-shoulder ed cloaks and their loping gait, these Bedouins throng Bethlehem’s streets almost any day. They come in to buy and sell on a meager scale and spend long hours in crude sidewalk cafes sipping thimble sized cups of bitter Arab coffee. The market place for these peo ple is an open square paved with flagstones. The grain, rice, vege tables or old clothes for sale are displayed on flat trays on the ground or stacked in crude tempo rary wooden stalls. The settled inhabitants of Beth- 1 e h e m’s population, numbering around 10,000 Uve in a city which stitt bears the malt of the Crusad ers. The overwhelming majority of the population is Christian; only one Moslem minaret competes with innumerable church spires and domes on Bethlehem’s skyline. These people live in stone bous- ss, many of them with low domes as protection against summer heat and winter rain. Some of their houses date back to Cruaader times. Many open into cobblestone streets barely wide enough to ac commodate an automobile. The arched gateways and vaulted roofs stretching across streets recall the medieval Europe of the Crusades. Costumes of the women of Beth lehem bear the Crusader marie. Those who wear traditional dress have long full garments, usually Mack or dark rad, decorated with square stitched red or gold embroi dery, usually in the form of a Cru sader’s ctuaa. lory, the ihepherda of Bethlehem today have their freedom of move ment restricted. Within sight of their town to the military frontier dividing Arab Jordan from the newly created state of Israel. With the war still unsettled shepherds to approach the de marcation line, for fear of touching off a frontier incident. At noon each day Miepberda must leave grazing grounds to find wa ter for their flocks. Many visit Solo mon’s Fools near 1 Bethlehem at midday. In the evening the shep herd carefully counts his flock as it enters the fold, one by one. The fold may be a little stable built by the shepherd. More often It is a limestone grotto, with the entrance practically dosed, to admit only one animal at a time. Bethlehem’s status as the birth, place of Christ has given the town a new modern industry—tooriam. The otherwise sleepy little town ranks as one of the foremost sites of religious pilgrimage in the world and every year it is visited by thou sands of tourists from all conti nents. It is the center of numerous religious orders and institutions of all types—Catholic, Orthodox, Ar menian. Protestant. The varied drees of friars, priests, nuns, fis- 9 sights at no charge r This offer may sound suspicious, but it is valid. The guide asks no mc&ey At the end of the tour be are offered for sale in small shops .toi farm from the Church of the Nativity, where Christ was bom. TV shop-keepers lounge In the ten, add to the color of native cos- min u. the sidewalk cafes, waiting! invites the tourist to his shop for salesmanship tumee. , for tourists to arrive at the church. a r«*t and a cup of coffee or tee pioneered it. Many modern Bettilehemites As soon as a tourist arrives~and —still with no obligation make a living carving objects of they are easy to spot—the shop- Once the visitor la seated the piety from mother of pearl, Dead keepers converge on him in a pack, shop-keeper casually calls attention Texas, but The Canavati brothers, who had a shop in Lareds, now have returned to land, are masters of Ms type of and claim to have Sea Stone and olive wood. These souvenirs, along with embroidered Each offers his services aa a guide to the souvenirs he has to sell. The He will show the tourist through the tourist is lucky if he can escape and brocaded Crusaders' jackets church and all the other Bethlehem without buying. Business in slow for these peo ple most of the year, but when Christmas comes, BeMehem’s population more than ‘tnhkin for a few days and souvenir sellers am* happy. found only in Bethlehem and un known in the rest of Palestine This is a conical shaped high hat, cov ered with a large white veil When Christ was bora the people of Bethlehem lived largely from sheep raising sad olive growing. Many live from the same occupa tion today. Olive groves braced with stone terraves fall away from the edge of the town to the Plain of Boas below. On the plain wheat is grown Here Ruth of the OM Tee- Lament story gleaned behind the harvesters, just as Bedoum girts do today. Many Bethlehem inhabitants own to the land they till. Caring for these sheep dictates a way of life unchanged since the night towp. herds on nearby slopes heard the angels sing of the new-born King. Shepherds daily leave the town and take their flocks over the same slopes where the angels sang. Sometimes they travel 25 miles in a single day, clambering over the rocky hillsdies to find bits of grass and shrubs. A new element has been added to Bethlehem’s population since 1948 -Arab refugees from Israel. Driv en from their homes by the Arab- Israel war, these people live in the outskirts of the town in tents, ho vels, and caves. Many a baby has been born in the pest seven years in circumstances similar to those of Jesus—in a grotto shared by animals, placed in a crude wooden crib made by the father. On Christmas Eve these refugees sit sullenlv beside the road watch ing well-dressed tourists arrive for Christmas ceremonies at the Church urf the Holy Sepulchre. As there are no Europeain standard hotels in Bethlehem most visitors stay in Jerusalem. They drive back and forth for the Christmas Eve services which recount the inci dents of the day the Holy Family came into a crowded Bethlehem and found “there was no room for them ia tfm inn.’’ Almost for the first time in his- 6fUommUiU Office Hours 9-5:50 200 South Broad St. PHONE 6:>8 DR. FRED E. HOLCOMBE J4, .nd they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger." In the hush of a Holy Night, He was bom, bringing to earth a joyous promise of Peace and Good Will to all mankind. And now, as the bells ring out the glad tidings, age-old yet ever new, another Christmas dawns. Hope* is strengthened, courage fortified, faith renewed Hearts and spirits are bright with the shining wonder of the Day. 7. 'o all our friends, our greetings and good wishes! May you hear the wonder of Christmas in each dearly cherished carol.. .see its magic in each gaily decked tree... feel its infinite joy deeply in your heart. •And, as you hark to the words of the sacred story, may the blessings of His message surround you and those you hold dear, at Christmastide and through all the days to come. i •-, Clinton-Lydia Cotton Mills