A legacy from the heart of Bethlehem

April 19: A general strike in Palestine was called for against the British Mandate after which the British army turned the Jacir residence in Bethlehem into a prison to incarcerate the Palestinian rebels. The strike lasted 6 months.

1937:

July 1937

July 7: The Peel Commission Report recommended turning Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State incorporated into Trans-Jordan, with Jerusalem and Bethlehem placed under the British Mandate.

1955:

December 1955

December 19: Three members of the Baghdad Pact, Abdallah Tayeh (nicknamed "The Deer"), Abdelkarim Aqel, and Ismail Al Khatib, along with many other high school students from Bethlehem were martyred during a demonstration in Manger Square in Bethlehem.

1986:

February 1986

February 26: The Israeli government gives the green light for the establishment of a settlement on the Mountain of Abu Ghneim (north east of Bethlehem), whose land was confiscated from the residents of Bethlehem. This settlement is now known as "Har Homa."

1995:

December 1995

December 24: Bethlehem was handed over to the Palestinian Authority as part of the Oslo accord agreements signed and agreed on by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

December 24: First traditional midnight Christmas Mass held at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem was attended by Palestinian President Yaser Arafat.

2000:

December 2000

December 24: First traditional midnight Christmas Mass held at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem without the presence of President Yaser Arafat since 1995 due to Israeli occupying forces' siege of his Headquarters in Ramallah following the outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada back in September 2000. Instead, his Koufieh was placed on his seat throughout the service.

2002:

March 2002

March 29: Israeli occupying forces brutally entered Bethlehem on the first of a 40-day incursion and curfew imposition on the city, during which they also imposed an unprecedented siege of the Church of the Nativity at the end of which some 30 Palestinians were expelled and exiled outside their home town to Gaza and Europe.

2006:

January 2006

January 25: Palestinian Legislative Council Elections with 4 parliamentary seats for the Bethlehem District. The Bethlehem Electoral District thirty-two Candidates (in the Majority System) are (with the 4 winners in highlighted in Red): Abu Ali Mustafa (PFLP) Candidates: Gabriel George Bishara al-Shomali (#1), Maria Alfred Rock Rock (#2), Mahmoud Ibrahim Hamdan Fanoun (#9), and Hasan Mahmoud Abdel Jawad al-Fararjeh (#26); Change and Reform (Hamas) Candidates: Khaled Ibrahim Tafish Thouaib (#17) and Mahmoud Daoud Mahmoud al-Khatib (#18); Fateh Candidates: Fayez Anton Elias al-Saqa (#27), Fouad Karim Saliba Kokali (#28), Sulieman Ahmad Sulieman Abu Mifreh (#29), and Majid Ali Mohammad Faraj (#31); Independent Candidates: Mohammad Daoud Abed al-Radaydeh (#3), Yousif Mohammad Awad Abu Omar (#4), Hanna Ilia Hanna Rashmawi (#5), Mahir Ibrahim Mustafa Assaf (#6), Bishara Saliba Sulieman Daoud (Abu al Balad) (#7), Omar Yousif Ali Abu Ghayatha (#10), Fouad Basil Hanna Riziq (#11), Sami Bishara Elias Awad (#12), Khadir Hasan Hussein Laham (#13), Makram Jamil Hanna Qumsieh (#14), Mohammad Shihadeh Abed al-Ta'mari (#15), Salem Mohammad Salem al-Thouaib (#16), Osama Na'em Odeh Moalem (#19), Walid Issa Ibahim al-Huraimi (#20), Isam Iskander Jeries Abu al-Zolof (#21), Jamal Mahmoud Abed Hajahjah (#22), Basim Ahmad yousif Abu Shammah (#23), Salim Khalil Ahmad Qasqas(#24), Sami George Tannas Abu Aiteh (#25), Yousif Aref Mohamad Hamad (#30), and Nasir Mohammad Ahmad Safi (#32); and Popular Struggle Front Candidate: Khalid Abdel Fattah Khalid al-Azzah (#8)

February 2006

February: Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdallah II of Jordan a ministerial economic conference was held for members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. During the conference, businessman Mr. Nassar Nassar (Abu Ali) from Beit Fajjar in Bethlehem was awarded the "Investor of the Year" prize for his contribution in investments in Palestine as well as encouraging investments and creating employment opportunities through investments.

February 6: Israeli bulldozers started working in the vicinity of Rachel Tomb, north of Bethlehem, in an attempt to start the final phase of the construction of the separation wall in the area which had been confiscated from Bethlehem residents for that purpose.

February 19: The long-awaited visit of the Tibetan Leader the Dalai Lama to Bethlehem on Sunday was cancelled after that the Palestinian Authority refused to welcome him in solidarity with the Chinese government stand against him for being a separatist. The visit—organized by the Bethlehem based Holy Land Trust and during which he was supposed to visit the Church of Nativity, the Omar Mosque on Manger Square, the Municipality, and the Azeeh refugee camp—was to take place during the Dalai Lama's visit to Israel.

March 2006

March 16: New notifications issued by the Israeli occupying forces regarding land confiscation in the Bethlehem district have been issued to a number of citizens who own land to the west of Bethlehem (Batir, Husan, Al Qabu, and Wad Fukin), and to the north of Hebron (Sourif) with a total area of 766 Dunums (766,000 square meters). These include the lands within Basin 3 of Awalajeh lands (known as Khalet Al Samak); Basins 6, 7, and 8 of Batir lands (known as Irq Al Jam', Al Dour, and Al Jiser); Basins 5 and 6 of Al Qabu lands (known as Al Izrawi and Sha'eb Al Ras); Basins 3, 4, and 5 of Wad Fukin lands (known as Al Basa, Al For, and Khirbet Safsin); and Basin 2 of the lands of Sourif (known as Al Jaras).

March 16: The Israeli military court in the detention camp of Ofar to the north of Ramallah sentenced Mohammad Al Nashash to 15 years in prison for allegedly participating in resistance activities.

March 17: The Israeli military court in the detention camp of Ofar to the north of Ramallah sentenced Rafat Jawabreh (Head of the Palestinian Special Forces Unit in Bethlehem) to 15 years in prison for reportedly leading the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (military wing of Fateh) in Bethlehem and for allegedly planning attacks on against Israeli targets. Jawabreh, 38, from Al Doha City (southwest of Bethlehem) has been wanted by Israel since the start of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000. He was arrested by Israeli occupying forces from his hide-out in Al Doha City, around two-and-a-half years ago.

March 18: The Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem commemorated the third anniversary of the martyrdom of the British peace activist, Rachel Corie, who was brutally squashed under the Israeli occupying forces' bulldozers in Gaza back in 2003. Corie, who was trying along with other foreign peace activists to protest the Israelis' demolishment of Palestinian houses in the north of the Gaza Strip by standing in front of the bulldozer, was intentionally crushed under the heavy machinery killing her instantly.

May 2006

May 15: Israeli military occupying forces entered the village of al-Khader (south west of Bethlehem) and brutally forced themselves into homes and harassing their inhabitants. At the same time, another force from the Israeli occupying military entered the village of Artas (adjacent to al-Khader) and, after one-and-a-half hours of home-to-home search, arrested a member of the Palestinian Preventive Police force whom the Israeli military claims is wanted by Israel for being a member in the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and for planning attacks against Israeli targets.

May 20: Israel started digging up a tunnel that connects Bethlehem with the western country-side villages of Husan, Battir, and al-Khader. The tunnel is supposed to pass under what is known as Highway 60 used by Israeli settlers commuting between Jerusalem and the settlements south of Bethlehem. This tunnel is intended to separate Palestinian and Israeli commuters from using the same road.

May 22: A Fateh Movement Conference was held in Beit Sahour during which key Fateh leaders, such as Mr. Hani al-Hasan and Mr. Al-Tayyeb Abdel-Rahim addressed the audience about the current situation.

May 25: The Israeli occupying military forces forcefully broke into the Bethlehem Archeological Olive Press Museum in the city located in the Giacaman olive press archeological building dating back to the 18th Century. Back in 1999 the olive press was renovated as part of the UNDP and Japanes Government aid to renovate archeological sites in Bethlehem in preparation for the year 2000 celebrations.

June 2006

June:

July 2006

July 5: Around 320 boys and girls from 19 refugee camps in the West Bank participated in a march organized by Badil (Center for Refugee Rights) in the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem.. The march called for the right of return.

July 14: The Ben Gurion Airport Authorities in Tel Aviv deported to the US the American Citizen from Palestinian origin, Siham Ismail Rahhal from Wad Rahhal (Bethlehem) along with her two children Dana (14 years) and Adam (7 years) after 15 hours of detention at the airport.