ガザ地区キリスト教徒のクリスマスに暗い影、ベツレヘム訪問の許可下りず

【ガザ市ＡＦＰ＝時事】飾り付けが終わりキラキラと輝くツリー、ミニチュアのサンタクロース…ハナディ・ミサックさん（48）のアパートは、すっかりクリスマスを迎える準備ができている。だが、クリスマスの休日を家で過ごすのかと思うと彼女は悲しい気持ちになる。（写真はパレスチナ自治区ガザ地区の自宅でAFPの取材に応じるキリスト教徒のハナディ・ミサックさん）
　パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区に住むキリスト教徒のパレスチナ人数百人は、イエス・キリストの誕生を祝うため、イスラエルの占領下にある同自治区ヨルダン川西岸のベツレヘム訪問を許可するようイスラエル当局に申請した。ガザ地区にあるキリスト教系の学校で副校長を務めるミサックさんもその一人だ。
　教会関係者らによると、通常なら簡単に済む手続きが今年は非常に難しくなっており、許可が下りたのは５人に１人程度の割合だという。
　祝賀行事の開始に間に合わなくなり、ミサックさんはベツレヘム行きをあきらめた。「ベツレヘムへ行きたかったけれど、状況が許してくれなかった」とミサックさんはＡＦＰに語った。
　幅数キロ、長さ４０キロの狭く細長い土地に２００万人がひしめくように暮らすガザ地区全体で、キリスト教徒は１０００人余りしかいない。ガザ地区はイスラエルによって、ベツレヘムがある同じパレスチナ自治区のヨルダン川西岸とは切り離されており、ガザ地区とヨルダン川西岸を行き来するにはイスラエル当局の許可が必要とされている。
　ガザに住むキリスト教徒で、ベツレヘムやエルサレムで行われるクリスマス行事に出席するためにその許可を得られるのは毎年数百人だ。
　今年はイスラエル当局が許可について何ら発表していなかったため、教会やメディアが批判していた。許可を所管するイスラエル国防省の民政官事務所は２２日になって、「治安関連の評価に従って」一部には許可が下りると発表した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/24-13:00）

With a shining tree, tinsel and Santa miniatures, Hanadi Missak's apartment is all ready for Christmas, yet she still feels sad about spending the holiday at home.
The 48-year-old is one of hundreds of Christian Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who applied for Israeli permission to travel to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Church leaders say the normally straightforward process has this year been incredibly difficult, with only around one in five applications granted.
With time running out until the celebrations begin, Missak had given up on travelling.
I was hoping to go to Bethlehem, but the circumstances did not allow it, Missak, who is deputy principal at a Christian school in Gaza, told AFP.
There is the real celebration -- the prayers, decorations in all the streets and the church, she said.
The midnight mass is wonderful.
- 'Still hope' -
There are barely more than 1,000 Christians in all of Gaza, where two million people live crammed into a territory only 40 kilometres (25 miles) long and a few wide.
It is geographically separated from the West Bank -- the Palestinian territory where Bethlehem is located -- by Israel, and crossing between them requires hard-to-get Israeli permits.
A few hundred Gazan Christians have traditionally been granted permits to attend Christmas festivities in Bethlehem and Jerusalem each year.
This year, Israel initially didn't announce any permits, prompting criticism from church groups and media.
On Sunday, a statement from COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for the permits, said some would be granted in accordance with security assessments.
Gaza is ruled by the Islamist group Hamas, which Israel accuses of abusing the permit system to plan attacks against its citizens.
Wadie Abunassar, an advisor to and spokesman for church leaders in the Holy Land, told AFP Monday that out of 951 applications so far, 192 had been granted.
We still hope there will be more to come. We were promised by many Israeli bodies... but Christmas begins tomorrow, he said.
We are saying this is a basic human right that should be respected.
Missak said she had travelled to the West Bank multiple times before for Christmas and didn't know why the permit hadn't been granted this year.
COGAT did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the number of permits awarded or Missak's case.
- 'Try to make joy' -
AFP reached out to a number of Palestinians from Gaza who were able to leave the enclave, but none wished to speak out of fear they would jeopardise future chances of getting permits.
Nabil al-Salfiti and his wife Fatten were among those lucky enough to receive permits, but ultimately decided not to travel when their son's application was denied.
They also cited financial constraints for their decision.
Israel maintains a crippling blockade of Gaza it says is necessary to isolate Hamas.
Israel and other critics of the Islamist group, which along with its allies has fought three wars with the Jewish state, accuse it of persecuting minorities.
Local authorities in Gaza used to hold a large celebration for Christmas, but it was stopped after Hamas seized control in 2007.
People come offer us congratulations and we offer congratulations to them, Fatten said, but, he added, There is not much joy -- the real joy is in Bethlehem where Christ was born.
Despite not travelling this year, Missak is determined to enjoy Christmas.
Hanging on the wall in her apartment is a stitched Merry Christmas sign, while the bannisters are covered in fake holly.
Missak said Muslim friends and neighbours would pass by the house to take part in the festivities.
Despite all the misery in Gaza, I try to make joy and celebrate Christmas.