Author: Varosian Antranik

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Jan 13 2007

Turkey’s Image – Part 1
Hans A.H.C. de Wit

Saturday , 13 January 2007

Branding of a country has become an important issue in the world of
today. Whether we like it or not the globalization trend enforces
countries to compete with each other.

Self supporting economies, which Turkey was until the beginning of
the 1980’s, are an anachronism today. For those who still believe in
that, look at Zimbabwe or North Korea and what it became.

Branding a country is not only for the attention, respect and trust
of investors, or for the hard valuation of the tourists, it must tell
the story about a country which respects and gains developments
throughout its social, political and economical decisions.

The image of a country is also made by the products which they sell
abroad.

Do we care about what these consumers think? Are they essential for
our image? Yes. And are Turkish Vestel, Beko or Arcelik brand names
in West Europe? No. In Poland? Maybe.

And finally, what are we expecting from the media and governments of
other countries: our neighbors and those friends and allies on the
other side of the oceans. Sure, Turkey has allies, hostile partners
and they see some countries as scrupulous traitors, but it doesn’t
matter how Turkey sees them, it matters how they see Turkey.

All their opinions go in one basket: in this case the basket of
Turkey’s Image.

How to handle this is called `perception management’.

Let me take you to the Famous Six; The Criteria: `How the others
perceive Turkey’.

The Criteria.

These criteria are not random but general indicators for every one of
us to understand when we talk about what `brands’ a country:

1) Export products; 2) Tourism; 3) Governance/liability; 4)
Investment climate; 5) Culture and Heritage, and last but not least:
6) the People.

Let’s start.

Export Products:

During the infamous `Cartoon crisis’, some groups in Muslim nations
decided to boycott Danish products. When the Armenian genocide bill
passed the French lower house, a boycott of French product was
announced unofficially in Turkey. Did the first boycott hurt Denmark?
Of course. Does it hurt Danish image in the world in general, no. The
countries which boycotted Danish products already had a biased
negative attitude towards the Danes. And the boycott of French
products didn’t hurt France at all. It is still one of the leaders in
the world regarding the finesses of life: food, life style fashion,
language, literature, culture etc. Although you don’t find these
aspects in the French ban lieu’s anymore. France’s image got a bump
but it’s still the number one destination in the world where tourists
are going. Turkey cannot change that.

But what about Turkey, which aims to boost it exports up to 100
billion USD in 2007. How many people abroad know that they buy
Turkish products? I know that companies such as Vestel and Beko
produce more than 80% of the Televisions sold in Europe, not under
their own brand names. I know that Turkey is making the most
beautiful yachts (especially wooden and retro yachts) and are often
displayed in brochures as Made in the Netherlands or Sweden.

We know that Turkey has plenty of skilled ICT labor. But is Turkey
considered as a nearby out-source country? No.

We know that Sabanci holding, Koc Holding, Zorlu holding etc. are
powerful conglomerates which do a lot of investments, R and D, have
their own universities and produce a lot through Joint Ventures or on
their own. But does anyone know outside Turkey all these names and
facts? No.

Is it not time for Turkish companies to grow up and to look at their
own strength, instead of looking what is Made in the World of Peter
Stuyvesant and Martini, the USA.

Produce and brand your own products abroad under the name Made in
Turkey. Yes, everybody knows Turkish coffee and their Belly dancers,
but `Made in Turkey’ is still rare and seldom used.

Tourism

Turkey’s tourism industry was booming the last years but dropped in
2006. According to the Turkish ministry for Tourism the main reasons
are the Cartoon crisis (strange, I thought this only hurt Denmark),
the bird flu (which is everywhere) and the World Championship
Football in Germany. All external factors.

But is it not a fact that Turkey lacks a way to promote itself? You
can enjoy for years the beautiful and original commercials on
international channels such as BBC world and CNN, the most watched
international channels.

Unfortunately, no `Turkey’ there. Yes, Egypt, a much poorer country
campaigns with commercials worth watching. Emerging and developing
countries such as: India, Romania, Croatia, Poland, Montenegro,
China, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, all with timed, original and
imaged spots. And don’t forget Greece’s hot commercials. And Cyprus’s
commercial: an Island For all Seasons – if there is no Northern
`Turkish’ Part.

Of course, tourist boards must spend money on `selling’ the country
around the

world. But not only through brochures with beautiful sea sides, sexy
beaches and nice nightclubs.

Turkey’s image as a holiday country is unfortunately still one of a
cheap holiday country.

And to show Turkey as a modern Western country which Mrs. Boyner of
TUSIAD tries to sell in Europe, will hurt Turkey’s real image: its
unfolded mysterious image, a mosaic of colors, smells and
atmospheres. Which must stay as it is!

And TUSIAS previous attempt to create a modern image though an ad,
several years ago, didn’t help either. It was more a campaign for
Prada, BMW, Mercedes: foreign brand names!

Governance

Is Turkey acting responsibly in the international scene, was the
first question which came up in my mind. Beside the hot issues like
the alleged Armenian genocide, Cyprus and the ongoing hostility with
some of Turkey’s neighbors, Turkey must withhold its
Turkish-egotistic stance and rhetoric to become a serious and
rational sparring partner.

Is Turkey reliable for peace and security in the region? For sure
most of the Turks will say that they protected Europe from communism.
They are right, but the international arena changed dramatically. And
the current situation in the Middle East is in fact a perfect chance
for Turkey to show its negotiating skills since its has good
relations with all countries. But somewhat, its image as a former
conqueror doesn’t help.

And do Turks trust their own government? Sad to say, in general: no.
Too many conspiracy theories are doing well in the national media.
Turks still tend to rely on their military. And that’s exactly what
gives Turkey the image of a non-democratic state. A country must be
governed by its institutions, not be a mighty military presence. Take
a look at Israel and you understand what I mean. A country which is
continually at war, surrounded by rocky regimes. But the country is
ruled by elected politicians, not by the army.

Regarding the EU: is Turkey ready to adjust to trends set out by the
EU? Otherwise leave the negotiating table. You can not change the EU
which is still in progress. You as a candidate member can only listen
to what has to be done and act accordingly. No need for nationalistic
rhetoric. It’s only harming Turkey’s image. Some `Turkey fatigue’ is
already rising within he EU on all levels.

And last but not least, in my opinion, the several coupes d’etat in
Turkey harmed Turkey’s image more than the movie Midnight Express,
which dehumanized the Turkish population at large. It’s time for
Turkey to go out from its own strength. Its half-time and a golden
goal is not yet scored.

Next week more fun stuff and Turkey’s ranking as a bonus.

End of Part 1
Hans A.H.C. de Wit – International Communication Manager
[email protected]

Source: Anholt Nation Brands Index powered by GMI (Global Market
Insite, Inc.)

The New York Times
January 12, 2007
Memo From Moscow
Belarus Learns That Days of Wine and Roses Are Over
By STEVEN LEE MYERS

MOSCOW, Jan. 11 – President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus
appeared to be the last leader in the old Soviet neighborhood to
realize that he was dealing with a different Russia.

For much of last year, he dragged out negotiations on new gas and
energy deals, assuming that pleas of solidarity and Slavic brotherhood
– encapsulated in a dusty treaty that a decade ago envisioned a
glorious Union State of Belarus and Russia – would avert a steep rise
in prices.

It did not, and now Belarus faces the economic and political
consequences of Russia’s newly assertive, hard-knuckled effort to
cement its position as an energy power.

President Vladimir V. Putin, who spent the first seven years of his
presidency supporting Mr. Lukashenko, despite what is widely reported
to be an intense personal dislike, at last made it clear that the
rules had changed.

When it comes to supplies of energy, cash is czar.

And it underscores how Mr. Putin, whose critics accused him of
dabbling in Soviet nostalgia as he centralized his own political
power, has consistently sacrificed political links to the former
Soviet republics in pursuit of a new strategy. What Mr. Putin is
creating in place of the Soviet empire of ideology is a new empire
based on energy reserves and pipelines and, to his loyalists here,
unrelenting market principles.

`We are still getting rid of some legacy of the Soviet Union,’
said Vyacheslav A. Nikonov, director of the Politika Foundation, a
research institute with close ties to the Kremlin. Prices are rising
for everyone, he added.`I don’ t know why Belarus should be an
exception.’

Indeed, it no longer is.

A day after Belarus agreed to drop a transit fee of $46 a ton that
prompted Russia to turn off for three days a pipeline that moved oil
across Europe, the crude oil started flowing again on Thursday
morning, as did the Russian profits that Belarus had hoped to share,
as it had for the last decade.

These new deals – which more than doubled the price Belarus pays for
natural gas and imposed an export duty on oil shipments – will
generate billions of dollars of added revenue for the Russian energy
giant Gazprom , as well as Russia’s state and private oil companies,
much as recent deals did with Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia.

Mr. Putin has long faced criticism for wielding the country’s energy
resources as a weapon of geopolitics – `tools of intimidation or
blackmail,’ as Vice President Dick Cheney put it last year. Gazprom’s
similar showdown with Ukraine a year ago appeared to many to be a
punitive measure against President Viktor A. Yushchenko’s tilt toward
the European Union and NATO.

The shutdown of the oil pipeline through Belarus revived those
criticisms, but Mr. Putin’s ministers could fairly say that they were
now beingconsistent in demanding market rates for its natural riches.

`When a country has a cheaper price compared to European
consumers,then Russia is accused of bribing them,’ Viktor
B. Khristenko, the energy minister, said this week. `But when we want
to shift to market prices, then we are accused of blackmail.’

What is striking is the degree to which officials in Mr. Putin’s
Russia used the dispute over energy to turn on Mr. Lukashenko. He is
an autocrat who has created a dictatorship in all but name, but he
enjoyed wide political support from lawmakers here – even if it was
driven in part by a fear of the emergence of a Western-oriented
alternative, as happened in Ukraine with Mr. Yushchenko.

Last March, after tainted elections in Belarus denounced as fraudulent
in Europe and the United States, Mr. Putin praised the vote as fair
and congratulated Mr. Lukashenko. Less than two weeks later, Gazprom
announced that it would demand that Belarus pay more for natural gas.

On Thursday, Vladimir V. Zhirinovksy, the flamboyant Russian
ultranationalist leader better known for his denunciations of the
United States, called Mr. Lukashenko a dangerous man. `Lukashenko is
a petty tyrant, and thistyranny should lead to his resignation and a
new presidential election,’ Mr. Zhirinovsky said in an interview on
the state-owned Mayak Radio.

The collateral damage, if not the intended target, of price war was
the Russia-Belarus union treaty. It was negotiated in 1996 between
Mr. Lukashenko and a weakened Boris N. Yeltsin when Mr. Yeltsin faced
a bruising re-election challenge from the remnants of the Communist
Party.

In Russia, it was viewed as a populist attempt to win over those
voters lamenting the decline of the Soviet Union. In Belarus, it was
viewed as a vehicle for Mr. Lukashenko to become the leader of the
newly unified nation, a notion that quickly became moot with the
emergence of a strong leader like Mr. Putin.

In 2002 he dismissed Mr. Lukashenko’s constant public reminders of the
treaty ‘s existence by offering, in essence, to absorb Belarus’s
provinces into the Russian Federation. The offer was not well
received. `Lukashenko does not want to be the governor of a Russian
province,’ Anatoly Lebedko, one of the Belarussian president’s
fiercest critics, said in a telephone interview from Belarus on
Thursday.

Since then, the two countries have repeatedly postponed deadlines to
establish the Russian ruble as a common currency and to draft a
constitution for the union, which officials now describe as little
more than an economic alliance. The union has a bureaucracy and a
budget, but few of its promiseshave been accomplished.

Andrei V. Sharonov, a deputy economic development minister, blamed Mr.
Lukashenko, suggesting that he kept alive the dream of a union only to
justify the subsidized gas and oil Russia was providing.

`When there is nothing but talk for many years and no deeds,
preferences become meaningless,’ he told Rossiskaya Gazeta, the
official state newspaper, ` and we are justified in putting all these
things on a strictly economic footing.’

Russia’s new power centers – Gazprom, the pipeline monopolyTransneft
and the state-owned oil giant Rosneft – will almost surely continue to
press ahead, buying more and more assets at home and abroad, expanding
the country’s energy network as long as the reserves hold out.

Still, some question the cost of Russia’s tactics. Garry Kasparov, the
former chess champion and an opposition leader here, said in an
interview as the New Year’s confrontation unfolded thatthe worsening
of relations with Belarus `might have unpredictable consequences for
everybody.’

`I’m not a big fan of Lukashenko, as you can guess,’ he said, `but if
our government spoils relations with everybody, there is something
wrong.’

Copyright 2007
The New York Times Company ()

OSKANIAN: YEREVAN READY TO EXPLOIT IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.01.2007 14:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will work, as was
supposed, on March of 2007, told Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian to a news conference in Yerevan. In his words, physically
the pipeline is ready, but it needs to be tested in order to eliminate
defects. "The gas pipeline will be exploited in time.

As to Iranian side statement that Armenia is not ready to exploit
the pipeline, I do not consider it right," Oskanian underlined.

Alongside, he stressed that during the last year the Armenian-Iranian
relations underwent new development.

The Armenian Foreign Minister reminded that Armenian President Robert
Kocharian had a working visit to Tehran on July. "The Armenian-Iranian
relations have regional importance, the main point of which is
Armenia’s joining to the transportation corridor ‘North-South’. In this
regard a meeting was held in Yerevan on September and the Armenian,
Georgian and Iranian Ministers of Energy participated in the meeting,"
Oskanian said.

He also underscored the uninterrupted work of Meghri custom-house on
the border of Armenia and Iran. In his words, talks are being held
on opening a RA consulate general in Tabriz.

DUTCH QUEEN TO VISIT TURKEY IN FEBRUARY, MARCH

Associated Press Worldstream
January 9, 2007 Tuesday 6:24 PM GMT

THE HAGUE Netherlands

Dutch Queen Beatrix will pay a state visit to Turkey next month to
underscore strong relations between the two countries, the government
information service said Tuesday.

The queen will be accompanied on the visit by her eldest son and
heir to the throne, Crown Prince Willem Alexander, and his wife,
Princess Maxima, who is pregnant with the couple’s third child.

The royals’ itinerary includes trips to Ankara, Istanbul and Kayseri.

No further details were released.

"This visit will affirm and strengthen the close relationship
between the Netherlands and Turkey," the government said in a brief
statement. "The two countries sustain active relations in many areas,
including agriculture, large city policy, criminal justice and police
cooperation, and culture and education."

Relations between the two countries were briefly strained late last
year, before Dutch parliamentary elections, when major parties the
Christian Democrats and Labor both struck ethnic Turk candidates off
their lists of potential new lawmakers for refusing to use the term
"genocide" to describe the killing of Armenians by Turkish forces
during World War I.

The killings of 1 million or more Armenians starting in 1915 has
been the subject of academic and political debate across Europe,
especially in view of Turkey’s application for EU membership.

Most European governments consider it a genocide. Turkey denies the
deaths resulted from systematic slaughter, saying estimates of 1.5
million dead are wildly inflated and that both Armenians and Turks
were killed in fighting during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

DEMARCATION OF THE ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN BORDER PROCEEDS EFFECTIVELY

ArmRadio.am
08.01.2007 17:40

The demarcation of the Armenian-Georgian border proceeds rather
effectively, acting press secretary of RA MFA Vladimir Karapetyan
told ArmInfo.

"The commissions have been working effectively, in the result of
which agreement has been reached on 110 km long sector. Considering
the volume of the work, the parties have agreed to continue the active
work in 2007," Vladimir Karapetyan reported.

To note, the length of the Armenian-Georgian border is 235 km.

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Dec 29 2006

GAS PRICES FOR PEOPLE CONSUMING LESS THAN 10THND CUBIC METERS A MONTH
DRIVEN DOWN

YEREVAN. December 29. /ARKA/. Armenian government decided at its
Thursday’s session to drive gas prices for those consuming less than
10 thousand cubic meters a month down from AMD 90thnd to 84thnd (VAT
is taken into account) per 1thnd cubic meter.
Industrial entities consuming over 10thnd cubic meters will have
their gas prices increased from $146.51 to $153.26.
Earlier, the government decided otherwise. It decided to earmark AMD
25thnd subsidies for 1 cubic meter to those consuming less than
10thnd cubic meters and $52.01 per 1 cubic meter for those consuming
over 10thnd cubic meters. The government subsidized $52.01 for
industrial enterprises consuming more than 10 cubic meters. M.V.-0–

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

ANTE LIAS CELEBRATES THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHAN

The Feast of Proto-Deacon and Proto-Martyr of the Christian Church, Saint
Stephan, was celebrated in the Antelias headquarters of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia on December 24. His Holiness Aram I presided over a special mass
conducted by the Seminary’s Dean, V. Rev. Fr. Shahe Panossian.

St. Stephan is primarily the feast of Seminary deacons and as such the
deacons had prepared a two-day special program to commemorate the memory of
this Proto-Saint.

An evening service was held in the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral on
December 22. The service was followed by an event in the Veharan during
which Seminary students performed readings from the Bible and Nareg. They
presented lectures on the life of the Proto-Saint and his Christian service.

His Holiness Aram I grabbed the opportunity to give Pontifical advice to the
Seminary students to become valuable national assets in the life of the
Church. He talked about the Seminary’s mission, the gratitude of alumni
towards this institution and the need to support it.

In the sermon he delivered during the Sunday Mass, the Seminary’s Dean
called on Seminary students to be the worthy followers of Saint Stephan’s
brave character and life of service.

Addressing the students during the event in the Veharan, the Pontiff talked
about the Seminary’s routine and the distinguished educational formation it
offers its students as compared to other educational institutions. The
Catholicos stressed on the greatness of becoming a witness for Christianity
by dedicating an entire life to its service, a devotion of primary
importance to the Catholicosate of Cilicia and its Seminary.

The Evening Mass on Friday was followed by a dinner, served by Seminary
students.

##
View photo shere:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

SERZH SARGSYAN TO RESOLVE ON HIS PARTICIPATION IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Yerevan, December 27. ArmInfo. The Secretary of the National
Security under RA President, RA Defense Minister, Serzh Sargsyan,
will resolve on his participation in 2008 Presidential elections
after the Parliamentary elections, he said in an interview to the
Public TV of Armenia.

"We shall see what are the results of the Parliamentary elections,
after which we shall make a decision. I am sure I have a right to
struggle, along with others, if I have such a desire and opportunity.

Our Constitution enables me to participate in the presidential
struggle. I have all the rights", the Minister said. However, the
difference between him and many others is that no position was ever
a self-purpose for him. "I have never strived to any position if the
interest of our Motherland was on another scale", S. Sargsyan said.

Commenting on the accusations of some Mass Media in the beginning of
the election campaign, the Minister reminded that he had earlier met
with the relatives of servicemen and visited the military units.

Moreover, the DM has promised to pompously celebrate the Army Day
and the anniversary of Shushi’s liberation.

DID IRAN AND ARMENIA KNOW ABOUT NIYAZOV’S DEATH TWO DAYS BEFORE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT?

Regnum, Russia
Dec 27 2006

Armenia and Iran’s foreign ministers announced on December 19 in
Tehran that a new pipeline connecting the countries will be put into
operation next spring instead of the end of this year as it had been
planned before. Today experts say that the real date of putting the
gas pipeline into force can be September 2007.

Before the visit of Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan to
Tehran, during which the explanation that seems to be invented in a
hurry was sounded that "the end of the year under Iranian calendar
falls on March," the sides had not once mentioned a possibility that
the previously announced terms could be changed. Since the moment of
signing an agreement between the two parties, which was on May 13,
2004, officials of the two countries used to say that the Iranian
gas would start coming to Armenia in the end of this year.

Thus, only eleven days before the three-year project was finished
the sides recognized that the time limits sounded by them were
unrealistic. What could be reason of such "late discernment"?

As experts believe, there can be several reasons that could affect
the time constraints and putting the gas pipeline into operation.

The first one could be untimely completion of construction works at
the pipeline.

However, as Vardan Oskanyan announced in Yerevan on the same December
19, "physically, the pipeline is ready, but tests have not been
carried out yet. The Iranian side intends to carry out those works
in a short time, and by the Iranian New Year the pipeline will be
launched." He also confirmed that "opening of the Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline was planned for December 26." His colleague, Energy Minister
Armen Movsisyan announced on December 22 that "final works on the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction will be finalized by the end
of the year, after that test will be held and the Iranian gas will
arrive in Armenia." Thus, taking into consideration the fact that
from the Iranian side the pipeline comes to the Armenian border,
which was reported by Iranian media, one can state that the process
of laying the pipeline cannot be cited as reason why terms of putting
the pipeline into operation was changed. According to Iranian media,
the Iranian section of the pipeline was ready by November 30, 2006.

The second reason cited is question of appointing the management
company.

Movsisyan gave quite irrefragable answer to the question. According to
him, ArmRosgazprom will exploit the pipeline, and High Voltage Networks
Company will be the owner of the gas pipeline. "It is economically
effective that a pipeline is exploited by a specialized company,
and in Armenia it is ArmRosgazprom. It is not ruled out that later
the 40-km gas pipeline will be put on balance of ArmRosgazprom as
enlargement of the Armenian government’s share in the company’s
authorized capital stock," Armenia’s energy minister said.

The third reason why the time limits for putting the Iran-Armenia
pipeline into operation could be frustrated might be a problem
of providing the gas for the pipeline, the problem of filling the
pipeline. As Armenian ministers pointed it out, the problem has a
technical nature. As it is known, mostly Turkmen gas was supposed to
be transferred via the pipeline. On December 21, two days after the
Armenian-Iranian news conference in Tehran, the world learned about
death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov. In this connection,
experts do not rule it out that the Iranian side was informed that
the Turkmenbashi was about to died or, which should not be excluded
either, that he had already died.

The gas pipeline joining Iran and Armenia is 700 mm in diameter,
its annual capacity is 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas Amount of
gas supplied to Armenia at the initial stage will total 1.1 billion
cubic meters, and since 2019 2.3 billion cubic meters. The contract
was signed for 20 years. To reach the announced amount, the Armenian
side is supposed to lay 197 km of pipe that will go via Kadzharan,
Sisian, Dzhermuk and Ararat. The treaty was envisages exchange of
gas for electric energy from Armenia.

The Daily Star – Lebanon
Dec 23 2006

How can the Arab Christians survive?

By Rami G. Khouri
Daily Star staff
Saturday, December 23, 2006

"A commandment of love" was the theme that the Latin patriarch of
Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, stressed when I asked him last week about
what Arab Christians should be doing to address the many challenges
and threats in the Middle East today. I was especially interested in
the role of Arab Christians because their plight is highlighted this
Christmas week, even as a delegation of United Kingdom church leaders
makes a timely Holy Land pilgrimage.

Christians experience the same pressures and challenges as the
majority Muslim population living under Israeli occupation, the
assault of Western armies, or the incompetent, autocratic
mismanagement of their own Arab political leaders. A strangled
Bethlehem, though, is likely to catch the attention of Western
citizens and church leaders more than a stressed Alexandria, Aleppo
or Casablanca. The four British pilgrims are the archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams; the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal
Cormac Murphy-O’Connor; the moderator of the Free Churches, the
Reverend David Coffey; and the primate of the Armenian Church of
Great Britain, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian.

The focal point of their four-day visit is a pilgrimage to the Church
of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Their trip and witness will help
Christians and other people of good faith around the world better
appreciate the impact of the Israeli occupation on all Palestinians,
including Christian communities.

Sabbah welcomed the pilgrimage and noted that, "at a time when our
communities in the two Holy cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are
separated by a wall and checkpoints, the visit of the churches’
ecumenical delegation is a reminder to us, to the Israelis and the
Palestinians, and to the world, that the pilgrims’ path of hope and
love must remain open."

Hope and love stand in sharp contrast to the Israeli colonization and
control policies in and around Bethlehem that have shattered the
physical, spiritual and economic integrity of the community, by
cutting off the built-up areas from thousands of hectares of
agricultural land and water resources. The main culprits are Israel’s
separation wall to fence in the Palestinians, and an associated
system of smaller cement walls, 27 Israeli settlements, and a network
of electric fences and apartheid-like "Jewish settlers-only" roads
and checkpoints, almost all built on land confiscated from
Bethlehem’s private owners. The result is a prison-like environment
for the people of Bethlehem, 70 percent of whom now live below the
poverty line. After Israel’s attacks and reoccupation of Bethlehem in
2001 and 2002, some 3,000 Christians emigrated, representing 10
percent of the local Christian population.

Leila Sansour, the Palestinian chief executive of the Open Bethlehem
project that works to preserve the city’s physical, spiritual,
demographic and economic integrity, wrote last week: "A UN report
into Christianity in Bethlehem predicts that our community will not
survive another two generations. We live from pilgrimages, and our
city is closed. We have traditionally stored our wealth in land, and
our land behind the wall has been seized. Our lives are intimately
bound up, economically and socially, with the Christian community in
Jerusalem, yet we are forbidden to enter that city, which lies only
20 minutes away."

When I met with Sabbah in Larnaca, Cyprus, last week, I asked him if
he saw a particular role that Arab Christians could and should play.
His reply was clear, and challenging: "My vision is that we
Christians, whatever are our numbers, are Christians in and for our
society, which is a Muslim Arab society. Christians have something
specific to give as Christians, because of their belief in Jesus
Christ and all the values that Jesus Christ taught us. This is an
obligation. Our commandment is a commandment of love, and it is shows
the way to build a society. Christian love is about accepting the
other or not accepting him. It is about building with the other or
refusing to build with him. All the Christian Arabs can bring to Arab
society this love as a power of cohesion within the society … to
love themselves and show how to live together with the Muslims who
are the majority in these societies."

He went on to say: "There must be a broad project, a social,
economic, political project so that people together can see how they
can prepare a country and homeland, and enrich every citizen so that
he or she feels at home, content and secure, without any fear of the
other. All citizens must have the same place and opportunities in
terms of their social and political rights."

In replying to a question of mine about whether Arab Christians could
play a role as bridges to the West, he answered: "We Christians can
be a true bridge through all the churches that are present in the
world. All of us together can have an impact. We have an obligation
to understand Islam for what it is, therefore we have the obligation
even to have alliances with Muslims, in order to build a new type of
society, and bring this as a model of coexistence to the West."

Love, indeed, seems worth a try. In that spirit, I say Merry
Christmas to all, and early Eid al-Adha and Happy Hanukkah wishes to
my Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters, hoping that all of us
together will respond to Michel Sabbah’s call for an ideology of love
to replace this time of war.

Rami G. Khouri writes a regular commentary for THE DAILY STAR.