One of the most robust responses to the Iraq exodus came from The Times in an editorial, titled, "Christian Persecution," which lamented the limited choices facing Iraq's "embattled" Christian community whose roots were laid down "long before the arrival of Islam".

References to other examples of persecution of religious minorities in the Middle East, including in Bethlehem, gave the impression the problem is widespread:

For not only in Iraq are Christians facing new persecution. The Copts in Egypt are paying for the growing frustrations of the Muslim majority and political repression. Rising Islamist extremism has forced thousands to leave Bethlehem, once a Christian-majority town.

On this occasion The Guardian placed the events in Iraq is the broader context of Christian persecution across the Middle East, mentioning, if somewhat tentatively, the predicament of Christians in Lebanon and Egypt:

The exodus has sparked widespread concern among Christian communities elsewhere in the Middle East, such as Lebanon and Egypt, where they enjoy freedom, but are apprehensive about declining demographic balance.

When reporting Bethlehem, however, there was a wholesale omission on the part of the left-of-centre media to cover the issue of diminishing numbers of Christians in the once majority Christian town and to link this to well-established trends across the Muslim-majority Middle East.

The same articles hosting complaints about Israel stealing trade and blocking tourist access were silent about the fact that Christian inhabitants now constitute only one third of the town's population, down from three-quarters.

This represents a gaping omission by journalists who have devoted time to travel to the traditional birthplace of Jesus at Christmas time and cover Christian tourism to the town.

It cannot be that this is simply a case of a handful of UK articles failing to offer a fair and accurate picture of events in Israel-Palestine. These distorted reports from Bethlehem are served up every Christmas, in a well-established trend of unfairly painting Israel as the villain in a scenario which is the product of diverse factors, least of which is Israel.