Bethlehem, the occupied West Bank city that Christians believe is the birthplace of Jesus Christ, marks another festive Christmas in the shadow of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
On Christmas Eve on Tuesday, the city was deprived of its usual Christmas spirit: neither lights nor a huge tree decorated the central Manger Square, no crowds of tourists and no marching youth bands that usually celebrate the occasion.
“This year we have limited our joy,” Bethlehem Mayor Anton Salman told the AFP news agency.
Prayers, including the Church of the Nativity’s famous midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarch, but the celebrations will be more strictly religious in nature than that festive celebrations the city once held.
Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual loud brass band. Some carried a sign that read: “We want life, not death.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian security forces set up barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Jesus is believed to have been born, and a worker cleared trash cans.
“The message of Bethlehem is always a message of peace and hope,” Salman said. “And in these days we also send our message to the world: peace and hope, but we insist that the world must work to end our suffering as a Palestinian people.”
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reported from Manger Square and said before the war the central hub was packed with people at Christmas.
“There would be lights everywhere. There would also be a central stage where songs and carols would be performed in preparation for this festive season,” she said.
In Bethlehem, Christmas wasn’t just a celebration for Christians – it was a national holiday in which Muslims and Christians alike “felt it was a chance for them to feel some joy while living under decades of military occupation,” he added them added.
Ibrahim said the city’s residents were “deeply pained” when they saw it Palestinians in Gaza The country has faced ongoing bombardment that has killed more than 45,000 people since October last year.
Blow to Bethlehem’s economy
The cancellation of Christmas celebrations is a major blow to the city’s economy, which is already suffering from restrictions under Israeli occupation, Ibrahim said.
Tourism accounts for an estimated 70 percent of Bethlehem’s income – almost all of which comes from the Christmas season.
Mayor Salman said that according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry, unemployment in the city was around 50 percent – higher than the 30 percent unemployment in the rest of the West Bank.
The number of visitors to the city fell from a pre-COVID peak of about 2 million visitors per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 visitors in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism.
Mohammad Awad, 57, has been selling coffee at the foot of the Omar Mosque, which stands directly opposite the city’s famous church, for more than 25 years.
“Business was good before the war, but now there is no one left,” the seller told AFP. “I hope that the war in Gaza ends soon and the tourists return.”
Israeli violence against Palestinians – both from settlers and military forces – has increased across the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out, but Bethlehem has remained largely calm.
Post-war restrictions have also left some 150,000 Palestinians unable to leave the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to shrink by 25 percent.
