Noticed that scenes in this video scroll right to left, not left to right, as I would tend to move the camera. Probably has to do with the fact that Arabic reads right to left. The scan of the message at the end works great for those who read the banner in Arabic, but has me seeing, “Christmas For Home Come.” But no matter how anyone backs into coming home for Christmas, it is a good and welcome move. Ask any parent or pastor if s/he is concerned about “why” a child or parishioner comes home for Christmas, and you will get a response that the fact that they came home is all that matters.
Ya gotta love the countdown to the tree lighting. When the crowd screams, “Wahid,” there is that Advent, expectant, “is it going to work?” moment – and then the cheer. For me, the real “Christmas cheer” is the one that we enjoy at Midnight Mass, as Christmas Eve becomes Christmas Day, “Today is born a Savior.”
The woman speaking in the video is the Mayor of Bethlehem. By Palestinian law the Mayor of Bethlehem must be a Christian! I guess that means that, if there were only one Christian left in Bethlehem, that person would have to be the mayor. Probably also true that, if you were the only person who would ever believe in Jesus and be saved, God would have been born anyway, just for your sake!
The Mayor of Bethlehem speaks some words in English at 2:58.
With Open Doors 
As much as there is to be sad about in this world, the groundswell we are seeing in people in repressed countries who are risking their lives to speak the truth, may God help them and all of us!!