The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the .
The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists and jubilant youth marching bands that gather in the West Bank town each year to mark the holiday. Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square.
鈥淭his year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there鈥檚 just darkness,鈥� said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.
He said he always comes to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering, as he gazed at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the killed in the fighting in Gaza. Barbed wire surrounded the scene, the grey rubble reflecting none of the joyous lights and bursts of color that normally fill the square during the Christmas season.
The cancellation of is a severe blow to the town鈥檚 economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem鈥檚 income 鈥� almost all of that during the Christmas season.
With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.
Gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, although a few did once the rain had stopped pouring down. There were few visitors, however.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, when some people (in Gaza) don鈥檛 even have houses to go to,鈥� said Ala鈥檃 Salameh, one of the owners of Afteem Restaurant, a family-owned falafel restaurant just steps from the square.
Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. 鈥淣ormally, you can鈥檛 find a single chair to sit, we鈥檙e full from morning till midnight,鈥� said Salameh. This year, just one table was taken, by journalists taking a break from the rain.
Under a banner that read 鈥淏ethlehem鈥檚 Christmas bells ring for a cease-fire in Gaza,鈥� a few teenagers offered small inflatable Santas, but no one was buying. Instead of their traditional musical march through the streets of Bethlehem, young scouts stood silently with flags. A group of local students unfurled a massive Palestinian flag as they stood in silence.
鈥淥ur message every year on Christmas is one of peace and love, but this year it鈥檚 a message of sadness, grief and anger in front of the international community with what is happening and going on in the Gaza Strip,鈥� Bethlehem鈥檚 mayor, Hana Haniyeh, said in an address to the crowd.
Dr. Joseph Mugasa, a pediatrician, was one of the few international visitors. He said his tour group of 15 people was 鈥渄etermined鈥� to come to the region despite the situation.
鈥淚鈥檝e been here several times, and it鈥檚 quite a unique Christmas, as usually there鈥檚 a lot of people and a lot of celebrations,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut you can鈥檛 celebrate while people are suffering, so we are sad for them and praying for peace.鈥�
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel鈥檚 air and ground offensive against Gaza鈥檚 Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory鈥檚 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Oct. 7 on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.
The Gaza war has been accompanied by a , with some 300 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.
The fighting has affected life across the West Bank. Since Oct. 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the Israeli-occupied territory has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass military checkpoints. The restrictions have also prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians from exiting the territory to work in Israel.
Amir Michael Giacaman opened his store, 鈥淚l Bambino,鈥� which sells olive wood carvings and other souvenirs, for the first time since Oct. 7. There have been no tourists, and few local residents have money to spare because those who worked in Israel have been stuck at home.
鈥淲hen people have extra money, they go buy food,鈥� said his wife, Safa Giacaman. 鈥淭his year, we鈥檙e telling the Christmas story. We鈥檙e celebrating Jesus, not the tree, not Santa Claus, she said, as their daughter Makaella ran around the deserted store.
The fighting in Gaza was on the minds of the small Christian community in Syria, which is coping with a civil war now in its 13th year. Christians said they were trying to find joy, despite the ongoing strife in their homeland and in Gaza.
鈥淲here is the love? What have we done with love?鈥� said the Rev. Elias Zahlawi, a priest in Yabroud, a city about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Damascus. 鈥淲e鈥檝e thrown God outside the realm of humanity and unfortunately, the church has remained silent in the face of this painful reality.鈥�
Some tried to find inspiration in the spirit of Christmas.
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arriving from Jerusalem for the traditional procession to the Church of the Nativity, told the sparse crowd that Christmas was a 鈥渞eason to hope鈥� despite the war and violence.
The pared-down Christmas was in keeping with the original message of the holiday and illustrated the many ways the community is coming together, said Stephanie Saldana, who is originally from San Antonio, Texas, and has lived in Jerusalem and Bethlehem for the past 15 years with her husband, a parish priest at the St Joseph Syriac Catholic Church.
鈥淲e feel Christmas as more real than ever, because we鈥檙e waiting for the prince of peace to come. We are waiting for a miracle to stop this war,鈥� Saldana said.
Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press
