The election of Egypt’s president Muhammad Mursi momentarily
threw a spotlight on the long-forgotten Palestinians exiled to
Gaza after the Israelis’ infamous siege of the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank 10 years ago. Still
kicking their heels in Gaza the exiles called on Mursi to
continue efforts to end the squabble between political rivals
Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. They were optimistic
that the new Egyptian president would work towards easing
Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip and press for Palestinians
rights, including the right of exiles to return home. It is
expected Mursi will at least allow greater freedom to travel
across Gaza’s Rafah crossing into Egypt, the besieged enclave’s
only door to the outside world. How did the exiles find
themselves in the prison Gaza has become? In 2002 a young girl
from a refugee camp triggered events that led to a 40-day siege
of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This is probably the
oldest Christian church in the world, built