Bethlehem, the city in the occupied West Bank that Christians believe is the birthplace of Jesus Christ, marks another solemn Christmas under the shadow of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
On Christmas Eve on Tuesday, the town was bereft of its usual holiday cheer, with no lights nor a giant tree adorning its central Manger Square, no crowds of tourists, and no marching youth bands that otherwise mark the occasion.
“This year, we limited our joy,” Bethlehem mayor Anton Salman told the AFP news agency.
Prayers, including the Church of Nativity’s famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarch, but the festivities will be of a more strictly religious nature than the festive celebrations the city once held.
Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Some carried a sign that read, “We want life, not death.”
Palestinian security forces, meanwhile, arranged barriers near the Nativity Church, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, and a worker cleared rubbish bins.
“Always the message of Bethlehem is a message of peace and hope,” said Salman. “And these days, we are also sending our message to the world: peace and hope, but insisting that the world must work to end our suffering as Palestinian people.”
Journalist Nida Ibrahim said before the war on Gaza, the town’s central hub was filled with people on Christmas.
“There would be lights everywhere. Also, there would be a centre stage where songs and Christmas carols would be performed in preparation for this festive season,” she told Al Jazeera.
In Bethlehem, Christmas was not just a celebration for Christians – it was a national holiday where Muslims and Christians alike “felt it was a chance for them to feel some joy as they live under decades-long military occupation,” she added.
Ibrahim said the town’s residents were “deeply pained” to see the Palestinians in Gaza facing continued bombardment, which has killed more than 45,000 people since October last year.
Blow to Bethlehem’s economy
The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town’s economy, which is already suffering due to restrictions under the Israeli occupation, Ibrahim said.
Tourism accounts for an estimated 70 percent of Bethlehem’s income – almost all of it from the Christmas season.
Mayor Salman said unemployment in the town is hovering around 50 percent – higher than the 30 percent unemployment across the rest of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry.
The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of approximately 2 million visitors per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 visitors in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry.
Mohammad Awad, 57, has been selling coffee for more than 25 years at the foot of the Mosque of Omar, which stands directly opposite the city’s famed church.
“Business was good before the war, but now there’s no one,” the vendor told AFP. “I hope the war in Gaza will end soon and that tourists will return.”
Israeli violence against Palestinians – from both settlers and military forces alike – has surged across the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out, but Bethlehem has remained largely quiet.
Restrictions after the war have also prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to contract by 25 percent.