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The town of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem in Palestine.
PLANS are afoot for a twinning arrangement between Tralee and a Palestinian town.
Cllr Pa Daly brought forward a motion at the Tralee Municipal District meeting on Tuesday that the District formalise a twinning with Beit Sahour near Bethlehem in Palestine.
Council management said they will commence the twinning arrangement. Cllr Daly said he met people at a protest held in town some weeks ago in the light of 67 Palestinians being killed by Israelis while protesting at the border.
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“This town is 80% Christian and is near the Shepherd’s Field of Bethlehem,” said Cllr Daly. “It’s s relatively similar size to Tralee. They are very interested too in linking with the town. It would be a great sign of solidarity too with the people of Palestine, which has a history of colonisation and oppression.”
Beit Sahour is located east of Bethlehem under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority. The population of 12,367 is 80% Christian (most of them Greek Orthodox) and 20% Muslim.
There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual ‘Shepherds Field’ (where the Gospel of Luke says an angel announced the birth of Jesus), one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church and the other, the Catholic site, to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
