ABC News says "Israel to split Christ's birthplace with barrier". Actually, the security wall will project into Bethlehem around 500 meters (map here).

The reports on this in Jpost/Haaretz have already disappeared - which is an indication of how in Israel this was not regarded as a major event..

I'm fairly certain that I was once in the area that will be on the Israeli side of the fence. Two friends and I were on our way driving to the Herodian palace. One moment we were in Jerusalem; the next moment we were clearly in an Arab village. After driving about 100 meters or so we reached the IDF checkpoint at the edge of then-autonomous Bethlehem, where a soldier asked us if we were on our way to Rachel's tomb.

The rest of that (Oslo-era) day was also fairly unique: after we u-turned and eventually visited the Herodian palace, we began speaking to a couple who invited the 3 of us to come with them to the Haritun cave adjacent to Tekoa (and later on the site of a terrorist murder). Our new friends had maps as well as a handgun with them and spoke Arabic. The maps were outdated, so we soon were walking into the edge of Arab Tekoa. In a scene reminiscent of intifada footage, a group of 6-7 young men began to approach us. But our friend asked them (in Arabic) for directions to the cave and on we went down a hill. Then we passed a tent made from flour bags at the edge of the village, where an old woman insisted that we come in for tea. So we did.