But I thought it was all the fault of the Jews and their ‘wall’ that the Christian population of Bethlehem was shrinking? At least, according to various bishops and others.

Walls are bound to drive Christians away – aren’t they? Unless, of course, they are in Belfast and called a Peace Line, Ethnic Interface or an Environmental Barrier. That sounds different from an ‘apartheid wall’, even though it looks like a pretty serious wall.

Now even the BBC is telling us the real reason given by Bethlehem Christians for their dwindling numbers. The Christian population of Bethlehem, formerly 80%, has shrunk to 15%.

Publicly Christians here insist there is no friction with the Muslim majority.

Earlier this year though the Islamist Hamas movement came to power.

And in private some say they now dress more conservatively. There have also been fights between Christian and Muslim families.

Father Majdi Syriani says the problem is not local, but global.

"The whole world is polarising around western Christianity and Islam," he says. "This is a true threat, not for me but the whole world."

"Bethlehem is the focal point. It's not because my Muslim people are threatening me. It's because the whole world is polarising. And it scares me."

Bethlehem's Christians are not just scared. They feel weak and squeezed.

So it’s not the fault of the Jews and their attempts to defend themselves from genocidal mass-murderers – and even some Christians are beginning to admit it more openly, it seems.