Quote: "Accompanied by Christian church leaders from Jerusalem, the delegation made its way through the notorious checkpoint at the entrance to the town, which prevents all but a few Bethlehemites - who need special permits - from travelling and trading with neighbouring Jerusalem. The church leaders had planned to walk through the pedestrian checkpoint - an elaborate steel construction involving turnstiles, CCTV cameras, and gun-wielding soldiers. But at the last moment, the Israeli security forces diverted them through the less humiliating vehicle entrance point, causing camera crews waiting on the other side to rush to get pictures.

The Archbishop also criticized the wall that now encircles most of Bethlehem, commenting that it was the barrier that was causing the Christian population in Bethlehem to dwindle. He also stated that British policies in Iraq were putting the lives of Christians living in the Middle East at risk. 

Quote: "On Saturday, Williams clashed with the British government when he said the "shortsightedness" and "ignorance" of Britain's policies on Iraq were putting Christian communities in the region at risk. The Foreign Office issued a quick rebuttal, saying their suffering was caused by the "intolerant extremism" of those opposed to a democratic society.

It is Islamic persecution of the Christians in Bethlehem that is to blame for the low Christian population in the town. It's not the first time the Church of England has taken sides against the Jews. In February of this year, the Church voted to divest from Israeli firms operating in lands captured during the Six Day War, causing the former Archbishop Lord Carey to exclaim that he was "ashamed" to call himself an Anglican. You wouldn't think the One that Rowan Williams was coming to worship was born a Jew. Well according to the British Independent Newspaper, He was not.

Quote: "In two days, a third of humanity will gather to celebrate the birth pains of a Palestinian refugee in Bethlehem - but two millennia later, another mother in another glorified stable in this rubble-strewn, locked-down town is trying not to howl.

Luke 1:26-27
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Source Palestine News Network, Jerusalem Post, Independent