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Palestinian Christian Networked Activism: Reifying “Nonviolence” or Divining Justice?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

Amahl Bishara*
Affiliation:
Tufts University

Extract

For two years now, a new kind of Christmas service has taken place in the Bethlehem Chapel of the Washington National Cathedral. Located steps away from the celestial stained glass windows and great organ of the cathedral’s main nave, the Bethlehem Chapel’s vaulted ceiling and rows of stone columns have an intimate feel as the room fills with people and winter coats. The chapel has a material bond with its namesake, as its limestone foundation was imported from a Bethlehem quarry a century ago. These Christmas services renewed that relationship in a markedly twenty-first century way, as congregants in D.C. came together in prayer with their counterparts from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem by way of video simulcast. And, thanks to the wonders of webcasting, anyone anywhere with a speedy internet connection could join.

Type
Special Section: Culture Concepts in Political Struggle
Copyright
Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America 2009

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