{"id":145537,"date":"2026-03-22T22:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/145537\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:14:21","slug":"shuttered-stores-cancelled-pilgrimages-can-bethlehems-christians-survive-another-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/145537\/","title":{"rendered":"Shuttered stores, cancelled pilgrimages: Can Bethlehem’s Christians survive another Easter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerusalem
RNS<\/a><\/p>\n

Every year before Easter, Elias Hazin\u2019s phone would ring with pilgrims booking trips to visit Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. This year, Hazin says, there have been only cancellations. The tourism industry in Bethlehem is \u201cbasically dead,\u201d said Hazin, co-owner of the Bethlehem Star Tours & Travel agency on Manger Square.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tourism to Bethlehem and surrounding areas has been deteriorating since the 7th October, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. According to one estimate<\/a>, Bethlehem was losing approximately $US2.5 million daily in tourism revenue in mid-2025, and unemployment jumped to 31 per cent. But the Iran war could be the final blow to Bethlehem\u2019s tourism industry \u2013 and to the already-dwindling Christian population as well, locals say.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A vendor stands in front of his shop near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank City of Bethlehem, on Monday, 23rd Nove,ber, 2020. Normally packed with tourists from around the world at this time of year, Bethlehem resembles a ghost town \u2013 with hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops shuttered by the pandemic. PICTURE: AP Photo\/Majdi Mohammed<\/p>\n

Almost every tourist hotel, restaurant and souvenir shop in Bethlehem is closed now, due to the Iran war. \u201cIf the residents who depend on tourism for their livelihood are unemployed, [that] affects everyone else in the community,\u201d said Hazin. \u201cThe truth is that people are only buying the necessities to keep them going as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anton Salman, who served as Bethlehem\u2019s mayor from 2017 to 2022 and 2024 to 2025, said that more than half of the area\u2019s 30,000 Christians work in the tourism sector, which has traditionally accounted for 70 per cent of the local economy. While thousands of tourists visited Bethlehem during the last Christmas season, thanks to the October 2025 Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the Iran war and widespread flight cancellations have scared away tourists.<\/p>\n

Since the 7th October attack and Gaza war, Salman said, he has seen many Bethlehem-area residents, both Christian and Muslim, emigrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey left because of a lack of security and a lack of work,\u201d he said. \u201cThey left in search of a better life and better opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trend is hitting the small, close-knit Christian community especially hard, given that it represents just one per cent of the West Bank Palestinian population. \u201cWe are fewer in number, so we feel the loss acutely,\u201d Salman said.<\/p>\n

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Hazin\u00a0used to employ\u00a0three people.\u00a0Now\u00a0he is down to one employee, whom he pays from his own pocket since his business\u00a0is losing money every month.<\/p>\n

The little business he has left is now tied to outbound travel \u2013 mostly Christians in the West Bank seeking a better future in Europe, the US and South America. \u201cThey want to secure a good lifestyle for themselves and their children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Overlooking Bethlehem in the West Bank on 31st May, 2018. PICTURE: RNS\/Dan Rabb<\/p>\n

Yousef Barakat, director general of the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, which has a pilgrims hostel, chapel and visitors centre, already instructed his son, who recently completed his university studies in the US, to remain there. Barakat now worries there is no future for his children in the volatile Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery two or three years we have a crisis. I think that even when this war ends, it will be very challenging for Christians to live here,\u201d he said, adding that he may himself emigrate in \u201ca few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lobby of the\u00a0Notre Dame\u00a0center,\u00a0a stately\u00a0edifice,\u00a0is once again empty, reflecting\u00a0the cancellation of every\u00a0Easter-timed reservation.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0had to send all the\u00a0employees\u00a0home.\u00a0All we have now is a\u00a0maintenance\u00a0crew,\u201d Barakat said.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Hazin is urging Christians around the world to support Holy Land Christians so they can remain in Christianity\u2019s oldest community. In addition to\u00a0purchasing\u00a0online\u00a0handicrafts created by artisans\u00a0that are now sitting in shuttered stores and workshops,\u00a0he\u00a0said he\u00a0hopes that Christians abroad will help local people create initiatives, such as small factories,\u00a0to\u00a0help them feed their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0are\u00a0not\u00a0asking for charity. We\u00a0are\u00a0asking them to\u00a0protect the Christians who\u00a0remain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jerusalem RNS Every year before Easter, Elias Hazin\u2019s phone would ring with pilgrims booking trips to visit Bethlehem,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,42863,66382,3954,30495,7803,5144],"class_list":["post-145537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-easter","tag-easter-tourism","tag-holy-land","tag-palestinian-christians","tag-tourism","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}