As Christmas returns to the city where it began, Bethlehem moves to reconstruct its tourism industry.
The annual Christmas tree lighting took place this weekend in Bethlehem. Thousands of people came to the city whose Manger Square is perched atop a line of hills south of Jerusalem. The historic square is bordered by a large mosque and the city’s Church of the Nativity. The Christmas tree, which towers over the square and is as tall as the church, was covered in lights with a red star on the top. A stage was erected, as in some years past, and there was singing, strobe lights, and festivities.
Christmas festivities have been largely cancelled over the last two years because of the war in Gaza. Hamas began the war on October 7, 2023. There was then pressure on Palestinian Christians to cancel their celebrations because of the war Hamas started. This isn’t the first time Hamas has sought to ruin Christmas. It has started a number of wars over the years, with the result that the Christians in Bethlehem are then told they have to cancel their holiday in “solidarity” because of the suffering caused by the conflict.
The interesting thing about Hamas’s wars that cause Christmas to be cancelled in the Holy Land is that Hamas never cancels Islamic holidays for its wars or the suffering it causes. For instance, Ramadan in 2024 continued as normal in Gaza. Israel was even pressured to have a kind of de facto ceasefire in March 2024 so that Gazans could have Ramadan as normally as possible. Christians had to cancel Christmas in Bethlehem for the Hamas war in Gaza, but for some reason, Ramadan got a month of peace.
Numerous media outlets covered the Christmas tree lighting event in Bethlehem this weekend. DW wrote, “Manger Square, long venerated as Jesus’ birthplace, came alive again after two quiet years marked by the war in Gaza. Thousands from across the occupied West Bank and Israel gathered for the Christmas tree lighting.”
Bethlehem has begun to see a return of international tourism after a two-year void due to the war in Gaza, reviving hopes for the recovery of the tourism sector and restoring the Christmas spirit that the city has been missing. (credit: WISAM HASHLAMOUN/FLASH90)
Christmas in Bethlehem returns as the city recovers tourism industry
The Associated Press had a longer article on the holiday. “After two bleak holiday seasons, families and vendors fill Manger Square again as Bethlehem cautiously rebuilds its tourism lifeline, even as West Bank tensions, checkpoints, and violence temper hopes for recovery and peace.”
The pilgrims and tourists have slowly returned to Bethlehem. However, there is still a lot of hardship in the city. “The unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, the mayor said. Poverty soared, and about 4,000 people left in search of work,” the report said.
The BBC reported that “for two years during the Gaza war, all public celebrations for Christmas were cancelled in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank – where Christians believe Jesus was born.”
The mayor of the city said, “It’s been a bad two years of silence; no Christmas, no jobs, no work,” according to Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati. “We’re all living here from tourism, and tourism was down to zero.” The BBC noted that people continue to make it seem that Christians celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem is “controversial.”
The article said “the mayor accepts that the idea of resuming celebrations was not without controversy, as suffering continues in Gaza – including for those in its tiny Christian community, many of whom have relatives in Bethlehem.” Note, that it’s never said that Ramadan or Eid al-Adha or any of the Muslim holidays being celebrated is “controversial.” Only Christian holidays are presented this way. No one tells Gazans or people in Jenin not to celebrate Islamic holidays. Those holidays are seen as fine. Christmas in the city where it began is “controversial.”
The war on Christmas after the Hamas attack in 2023 was not confined to Gaza and the West Bank. In Syria under the Assad regime, an ally of Hamas and Iran, the celebrations were also cancelled in 2023 in solidarity with the war. Arab News reported that in Syria, “Christmas cheer has deserted the streets of Syria’s cities, where the main churches have limited celebrations to prayers in solidarity with Palestinians suffering war in Gaza.” Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Mor Dionysius Antoine Shahda, said in 2023, “This year, the main square is almost empty, and no Christmas decorations are in sight.”
The attempt to cancel Christmas every year is not solely due to Gaza. In 2015, The Guardian noted that there was also pressure on Christians not to celebrate. ‘Lights and decorations have been limited to a few streets and an annual Christmas Eve firework display has been cancelled.”
In 2017, the authorities found a new reason to cancel Christmas. They claimed they had to cancel it because of the US decision to move the Embassy to Jerusalem. Note, Muslims were not asked to cancel their holidays; only Christians were pressured. Christians were told in the West Bank and Gaza to only do quiet prayers, no celebrations. In 2020 and 2021, there were more pressures on Christians to cancel events due to COVID. In essence, in the last decade, it appears Christians in Bethlehem have been pressured to cancel their holidays almost every year.