Conceding that "Israel, of course, must protect its security," Woodward nevertheless slams Israel for doing so. He singles out the security barrier separating the Christian village of Beit Jala from the Jerusalem neighbor of Gilo. Woodward fails to mention that Palestinian snipers had used locations in Beit Jala to shoot at Israeli men, women and children in Gilo. On my first trip to Israel, in 2002, I visited Gilo. The residents had indeed erected a concrete barrier to stop the bullets. On it, they had painted a mural of Beit Jala -- to remind them of the neighbor it had become too dangerous to look upon.
The Israelis I met in Gilo harbored no resentment against the Christians of Beit Jala. They knew who was -- and who was not -- doing the shooting. They knew, too, that the militants threatened and in some cases beat those who dared object to the presence of the snipers in their streets, stores and homes.
This leads to the larger issue Woodward neglects: the role of Islamist extremism and violence in causing the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem -- and from Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan and other countries of the Middle East.
Right now, it is from Gaza that Christians are fleeing fastest. Shortly after the Hamas takeover, Christian activist Rami Ayyad, 32, was murdered -- shot and stabbed by militants who had demanded he convert. That sent a message. As the International Herald Tribune recently reported, Christians in Gaza this year are too frightened to display Christmas trees and "whole families" are leaving, according to the Rev. Manuel Masallem, head of Gaza's Roman Catholic Church.
About all this, Woodward has not a word to say. Nor does he seem aware that, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Israel's Christian community has grown by 270 percent since the founding of the state in 1948.
Woodward acknowledges that he has not visited Bethlehem for seven years. For the kind of piece he has written, however, it's not necessary to report on the ground or even look up facts. All one has to do is go up to the attic, drag out the old allegations and plug them in.