No Christmas cheer in Bethlehem for second year amid war on Gaza
A priest walks in the empty Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, a day before Christmas Eve, 23 December 2023
Mosab Shawer reports in Middle East Eye on 25 December 2024:
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem marked a sombre Christmas for the second consecutive year in solidarity with Gaza, where the Israeli onslaught has killed 45,000 people in over a year.
No festive lights or Christmas trees were put up in the city as the holy day for Christians was limited to religious rituals and prayers. Manger Square, the centre of Bethlehem traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, was unusually quiet.
“Every year, there are scouts, a choir, decorations, a tree is raised, carols are sung, and celebrations take place,” Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox parish priest in Bethlehem, told Middle East Eye. “But this year, Christmas arrives in a sad and gloomy manner, without any signs of joy.”
The usual crowds of tourists and pilgrims were also absent, said Thaljieh. He added that the call from Bethlehem to Gaza this year is one of “patience, steadfastness, prayer, hope, and consolation”.
Munther Isaac, a Christian pastor from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, described the mood in the city as full of sadness and anger but also solidarity and steadfastness. “There is sadness and anger because of the complicity of the world in allowing the war on Gaza to continue.”
However, he said holding Christmas prayers was an important message of defiance. “Our determination to continue with Christmas, even without the tree and scout music, is our resistance,” Isaac, who has been outspoken against the war, told MEE.
“It is our way of saying that we are here, and we will not leave. The policy of the occupation is clear: it is to displace us. But we are determined to stay here.”