by Daoud Kuttab

The leader of the Church of England, archbishop Justin Welby made a solidarity visit to the Nativity Church, the birthplace of Christ, Bethlehem in Palestine November 16th. The archbishop of Canterbury and his delegation who are guests of the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem Hossam Naom also visited the Christmas Lutheran Church and heard from its pastor Reverand Munther Isaac about the story and meaning of “Christ in the Rubble” manger.
The visiting Anglican leader led the delegation into prayer, and candles were lit for the children of Gaza.
Dr. Isaac said that the archbishop then met with and listened to the plights and hopes of Palestinian youth, and clergy from Bethlehem. “A powerful moment was when we as clergy from Bethlehem prayed for the archbishop and his family and ministry.”

Dr. Welby and the delegation was accompanied by his Palestinian host visited the Tent of Nations project on Palestinian land. The Nassar family gave a brief of the difficulty in preserving their land from the attempts by Israelis to take it over and annex it to the nearby Jewish settlement.

The delegation also visited the Makhrour valley and met with another Palestinian Christian landowners, the Kissiyeh family. In the visits the British delegation and the accompanying media saw firsthand the impact of settlements to Palestinians.

Reverand Munther Isaac later said that he felt the high-level Anglican visit was genuinely touched by the visit. “He came to listen and show solidarity and pray with and for us. He listened a lot and he expressed as he heard the stories from the Palestinian Christian, clergy, youth and families facing settler threats and suffering from the Israeli occupation.

The British Anglican delegation along with the Bishop of Jerusalem are due to visit Jordan as well.