On February 21 2010, while visiting my birth home town of Beit Sahour, outside of Bethlehem, I joined a group of clergy from various denominations as well as scores of citizens of Beit Sahour for a prayer vigil at a piece of land that was about to be confiscated by the Israelis. The property was under the Jordanian control prior to the 1967 war and was evacuated by the Israelis and given back to the City of Beit Sahour. The city had planned to build a children’s hospital on it with the help of the United States government. Then the Israeli government decided to reclaim it.
While we were reciting the Lord’s prayer, soldiers as well as police and border patrol descended on us and ordered us to leave. I pleaded with them to allow us to continue our prayer which they answered with tear gas as you can see in the clip above. - Mina
