Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem

Oh, little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!

A wall is laid where tourists stayed, and tanks go rolling by.

And in thy dark streets shining no cheerful Christmas light.

The grief and fears of these sad years are met in thee tonight.

How silently, how silently, the world regards it all;

And now thy heart is torn apart by Israel’s ghetto wall.

They terrorize a people, a war crime and a sin;

Their winding fence can make no sense: revenge can still get in.

Oh, all you children of this world cast down the iron cage,

The walls of hate that separate and harden and enrage.

Equality and justice won’t come down from above;

In our own hands in every land lie hope and peace and love.