Thursday, January 08, 2009

Bethlehem altar wine flows again

Bethelehem's Salesian made Cremisan altar wine is flowing again after Israeli authorities lifted restrictions on its export.

Della Shenton, of 5th Gospel Retreats, UK importers of the wine, said the Israeli authorities had given permission for truckloads of the wine to cross into Israel.

She said this crucial permission means that the wine can reach not only Israel but the port of Haifa, from where it is shipped into Europe.

The wine is made at the Cremisan winery in Beit Jala, a suburb of Bethlehem in the West Bank, by the Roman Catholic order the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Its customers include UK Catholic and Anglican parishes as well as university chaplaincies and religious houses.

Mrs Shenton said on December 4 a truck carrying 12,000 bottles of Cremisan wine was permitted to leave the West Bank and crossed the checkpoint "without delay".

She said the wine had continued to leave for Israel since then.

Although too late for the UK in time for Christmas, all the religious establishments in Israel had their wine delivered in time, she said.

Mrs Shenton, from Liskeard, Cornwall, who works for the Roman Catholic diocese of Plymouth, said: "At my meeting in Jerusalem on December 18 with an officer of the Israeli civil administration in the West Bank, we identified the critical seven week period for export to the UK between early October and the end of November when permission was not given for the wines to leave the West Bank.

"This has now been resolved.

"The Israeli authorities expressed to me their wish to help the Salesians and ensure that their wines reach the Christian Church in Israel and worldwide, and gave me strong assurances that they will see that this happens."

5th Gospel Retreats also imports a range of other Palestinian products to the UK.

Mrs Shenton said the imports helped the area by providing employment and protecting the livelihoods of farmers, craftsmen and women, the BBC adds.
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(Source: CTHN)