{"id":55159,"date":"2025-12-08T13:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/55159\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:03:10","slug":"bethlehem-christmas-tree-lit-up-for-first-time-since-gaza-war-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/55159\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem Christmas tree lit up for first time since Gaza war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas cheer returned to the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ as Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank lit up a tree for the first time since the war in Gaza began over two years ago.<\/p>\n

Covered in red and gold baubles, the Christmas tree standing metres away from the Church of the Nativity on Manger Square has become a symbol of hope.<\/p>\n

At the end of a two-hour ceremony, the tree was illuminated to cheers, its yellow lights twinkling and a bright red star on top shining against the clouded night sky irradiated by a luminescent, almost full moon.<\/p>\n

\"Bethlehem<\/p>\n

A drone view of Palestinians lighting up a Christmas tree in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Reuters <\/p>\n

The crowds lined with heavily armed police cheered following a prayer calling for peace, and fathers hoisted children onto their shoulders as a towering Christmas tree lit up Manger Square. It is the first time the city has held the usual celebrations since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a symbol for resilience,\u201d said 27-year-old Abeer Shtaya, who works at Al Zaytoonah University of Science and Technology in Salfit in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

She had travelled 100 kilometres with a group of the university\u2019s students because \u201cwe want to celebrate and be with our brothers and sisters in Bethlehem to enjoy this day.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s a message for the world that it\u2019s calm,\u201d Mike Shahen, 43, said at his ceramic store on the square, after a handful of visitors came in for purchases.<\/p>\n

\"Bethlehem<\/p>\n

A woman holding a child gestures as Palestinians light up a Christmas tree in Bethlehem. Reuters <\/p>\n

Thousands of people attended, including Christians and Muslims, and many who travelled from Palestinian territories and Israel — some from even further afield \u2014 to enjoy the festive spirit return.<\/p>\n

Nuns could be seen watching from one roof, while many families including small children filled balconies and roofs to catch a glimpse of the tree lit up. Sounds of laughter filled the air as many could not help but smile despite moments of rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event didn\u2019t happen for the last two years because of the war and it\u2019s quite emotional after two years of nothing but war and death,\u201d said 50-year-old Liyu Lu, who had travelled from northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Originally from China but now living in Israel for decades, she was with a group including Gary Lau, a travelling businessman and Christian staying in Jerusalem for the past couple of months.<\/p>\n

\"Bethlehem<\/p>\n

Palestinians light up a Christmas tree in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, West Bank, on Saturday night. Reuters <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing here, with the festivities, is something very nice and special,\u201d Lau, 51, said, adding he was \u201ctaking in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past two years, Bethlehem has celebrated Christmas in a more sombre manner, with no major public festivities.<\/p>\n

Christian pilgrims, especially from Asia, South America and eastern Europe have, however, slowly returned in the past few months.<\/p>\n

Fabien Safar, guide and director of Terra Dei which organises pilgrimages to the Holy Land, said a few small groups would come for Christmas this year and he already saw some bookings for 2026.<\/p>\n

Safar expected a real recovery in 2027 but \u201cthis obviously depends on how the situation evolves\u201d in Gaza and Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Pilgrims \u201cremain afraid because there\u2019s no official end to the war\u201d in Gaza, Safar said, adding they were also worried about the situation in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

But it has all taken a toll on Bethlehem, which had only just cheered the return of tourists in 2022 after the Covid pandemic, before the war in Gaza broke out. Bethlehem\u2019s economy relies almost completely on tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cCovid was bad but nothing like the last two years,\u201d said Shahen from the ceramic store.<\/p>\n

Many visitors from Israel and the Palestinian territories spent hours on the road to reach Bethlehem including musician Lu.<\/p>\n

She woke up at 6 am to get a bus at 7 am with a large group. They arrived at 12:30 pm, she said, without any trouble.<\/p>\n

War isn\u2019t the only reason for Bethlehem\u2019s woes.<\/p>\n

While a shaky ceasefire holds in Gaza, Palestinians hope the festivities are a step toward a more peaceful future in a region shaken by tragedy. \u201cIt\u2019s not like it was before the war,\u201d 30-year-old Juka said. \u201cBut it\u2019s like life is coming back again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christmas cheer returned to the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ as Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank lit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,5527,11173,5439,456,30611,30612,526,5382,15272,453],"class_list":["post-55159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-christmas","tag-first","tag-for","tag-gaza","tag-lit","tag-since","tag-time","tag-tree","tag-up","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55159","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=55159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}