Bethlehem was marking one other somber Christmas on Wednesday within the conventional birthplace of Jesus beneath the shadow of conflict in Gaza. The pleasure and cheer that sometimes descends on the Palestinian city within the occupied West Bank on Christmas have been nowhere to be discovered, per the AP: The festive lights and big tree that usually beautify Manger Square have been lacking. Throngs of overseas vacationers that normally fill the sq. weren’t anticipated and youth marching bands that collect every year to mark the vacation have been absent. Palestinian safety forces organized obstacles close to the Nativity Church, constructed atop the spot the place Jesus is believed to have been born, and a employee cleared rubbish bins.
“Always the message of Bethlehem is a message of peace and hope,” stated Mayor Anton Salman. “And nowadays, we’re additionally sending our message to the world: peace and hope, however insisting that the world should work to finish our struggling as Palestinian individuals.” The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a extreme blow to the city’s economic system. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s earnings—virtually all of it from the Christmas season. Salman stated unemployment is hovering round 50%—greater than the 30% unemployment throughout the remainder of the West Bank, in keeping with the Palestinian Finance Ministry.
The variety of guests to the city plunged from a pre-COVID excessive of round 2 million guests per yr in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 guests in 2024, stated a rep for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. While the conflict in Gaza has deterred vacationers and pilgrims alike, it has additionally prompted a surge of violence within the West Bank, with greater than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli fireplace and dozens of Israelis killed in militant assaults. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, assault that sparked the conflict, entry to and from Bethlehem and different Palestinian cities within the West Bank has been tough, with lengthy strains of motorists ready to cross Israeli army checkpoints. Restrictions have additionally prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, inflicting the economic system there to contract by 25%. (More Israel-Hamas conflict tales.)
