JERUSALEM \u2014 Following two years of subdued Christmas celebrations due to the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, this year the holiday will be celebrated in the Holy Land in all its splendor, especially in Bethlehem. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe tree is already up and employees are working 24 hours a day to prepare for Christmas,\u201d Bethlehem Deputy Mayor Lucy Talgieh told the Register. \u201cAfter five years of COVID closures and then the war, we want to celebrate.\u201d <\/p>\n
The festivities will include a tree-lighting ceremony at Manger Square, and the streets leading to the square and the Church of the Nativity will be full of decorative lights. A full-blown holiday gift fair and a Christmas Eve choir will both be back this year. The annual Christmas Eve Jerusalem-to-Bethlehem procession led by the Latin patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, which was so somber the past two years, is expected to be much more joyous. <\/p>\n
The decision to restore the traditional public Christmas celebrations reflects the hope that the war in Gaza may be nearing an end, which in turn offers encouragement to Holy Land Christians, especially in Bethlehem, who have been facing a dire economic situation. Bethlehem\u2019s fragile economy, and especially the local Christian community, are extremely dependent on pilgrimages. For the past century, the shops surrounding Manger Square, which sell beautiful hand-crafted mother-of pearl crosses and hand-carved Nativity scenes created by local Christian artisans, have supported entire extended families. <\/p>\n
During the COVID closures and the war, almost every shop was shuttered, and most of the artisans closed their studios, perhaps permanently, for lack of pilgrims and relied on the internet<\/a>. <\/p>\n Tourism was starting to recover from COVID closures when Hamas infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war with Israel. Overnight, virtually all foreign airlines canceled their flights to Tel Aviv, making it nearly impossible for visitors, including pilgrims, to visit<\/a>. Even those who managed to come were barred from the West Bank by Israeli security closures. <\/p>\n In December 2023, the bishops of Christian churches in Jerusalem jointly called on all Christian parishes to cancel their public Christmas celebrations and to instead collect donations for war victims. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are not living in normal times,\u201d the bishops wrote in the 2023 statement. \u201cTherefore, we, the bishops and heads of churches in Jerusalem, call upon our parishes to set aside unnecessary celebrations this year.\u201d <\/p>\n But a year later, the patriarchs and Church leaders admitted the restrictions had harmed local Christians. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile our intentions [last year] were good,\u201d Church officials wrote in a 2024 joint statement, \u201cmany around the world nevertheless misinterpreted this call to signify a \u2018cancellation of Christmas\u2019 in the Holy Land \u2014 the very place of our Lord\u2019s Holy Nativity. Because of this, \u2018our unique witness to the Christmas message of light emerging out of darkness\u2019 (John 1:9) was diminished not only around the world, but also among our own people.\u201d <\/p>\n