{"id":69590,"date":"2025-12-24T15:36:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/69590\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T15:36:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:36:06","slug":"christmas-celebration-returns-to-bethlehem-as-locals-see-signs-of-life-returning-despite-gaza-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/69590\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas celebration returns to Bethlehem as locals see signs of life returning despite Gaza war"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, West Bank \u2014 Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem\u2019s Manger Square<\/a> on Christmas Eve as families heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the\u00a0Israel-Hamas war\u00a0returned on Wednesday, overlooking a parade of scouts playing songs on bagpipes.<\/p>\n

The city where Christians believe Jesus was born\u00a0cancelled Christmas celebrations\u00a0for the past two years<\/a>. Manger Square had instead featured a nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year\u2019s celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for \u201ca Christmas full of light.\u201d<\/p>\n

People are going to Bethlehem\u2019s Manger Square on Christmas Eve to boost holiday spirit amid the Israel-Hamas war. AP<\/p>\n

Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza\u2019s tiny Christian community, where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. Among the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,\u201d he told thousands of people, Christian and Muslim.<\/p>\n

Despite the holiday cheer, the impact of the war in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is acute, especially in Bethlehem, where around 80% of the Muslim-majority city\u2019s residents\u00a0depend upon tourism-related businesses, according to the local government.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of people celebrating were residents, with a handful of foreigners in the crowd. But some residents said they are starting to see signs of change as tourism slowly returns.<\/p>\n

Loss of tourism devastates Bethlehem<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return of normal life here,\u201d said Bethlehem resident Georgette Jackaman, a tour guide who has not worked in more than two years.<\/p>\n

She and her husband, Michael Jackaman, another guide, are from established Christian Bethlehem families that stretch back generations. This is the first real Christmas celebration for their two children, aged 2 1\/2 and 10 months.<\/p>\n

Palestinian scout bands parade at the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be where Jesus was born. AP<\/p>\n

During the war, the Jackamans pivoted to create a website selling Palestinian handicrafts to try to support others who have lost their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

During the Gaza war, the unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati\u00a0said earlier this month.<\/p>\n

A visitor from France, Mona Riewer, said that \u201cI came because I wanted to better understand what people in Palestine are going through, and you can sense people have been through a very hard time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although friends and family cautioned her against coming due to the volatile situation, Riewer said being in Bethlehem helped her appreciate the meaning of the holiday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cChristmas is like hope in very dark situations, a very vulnerable child experiencing harshness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Despite the Gaza ceasefire that began in October<\/a>, tensions remain high across much of the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s military continues to carry out frequent raids in what it says is a crackdown on militants.\u00a0Attacks by Israeli settlers\u00a0against Palestinians have reached their highest level since the United Nations humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.<\/p>\n

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, center, arrives at the Church of the Nativity. AP<\/p>\n

The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Bethlehem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to attend midnight Mass for the first time in two years, the mayor said.<\/p>\n

As poverty and unemployment have soared, about 4,000 people have left Bethlehem in search of work, the mayor said. It\u2019s part of a\u00a0worrying trend for Christians, who are leaving the region in droves.<\/p>\n

Christians account for less than 2% of the West Bank\u2019s roughly 3 million residents. Across the Middle East, the Christian population has\u00a0steadily declined\u00a0as people have\u00a0fled conflict\u00a0and attacks.<\/p>\n

Catholic clergy walk in procession next to the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday. AP<\/p>\n

The beginning of a return to normal life<\/p>\n

Fadi Zoughbi, who previously worked overseeing logistics for tour groups, said his children were ecstatic to see marching bands streaming through Bethlehem\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n

The scouts represent cities and towns across the West Bank, with Palestinian flags and tartan draped on their bagpipes, drummers spinning mallets adorned with pompoms. For the past two years, the scouts marched silently as a protest against the war.<\/p>\n

Irene Kirmiz, who grew up in Bethlehem and now lives in Ramallah, said the scout parade is among her favorite Christmas traditions. Her 15-year-old daughter plays the tenor drum with the Ramallah scouts.<\/p>\n

But her family had to wake up at 5 a.m. to arrive in time for the parade and waited upwards of three hours at Israeli checkpoints. The drive previously took 40 minutes without the\u00a0checkpoints that have increasingly made travel difficult\u00a0for Palestinians, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very emotional seeing people trying to bounce back, trying to celebrate peace and love,\u201d Kirmiz said.<\/p>\n

The Israeli Ministry of Tourism estimates 130,000 tourists will visit Israel by the end of December, including 40,000 Christians. In 2019, a banner year for tourism before the pandemic, the tourism ministry said\u00a0150,000 Christian tourists visited\u00a0during Christmas week alone.<\/p>\n

During the previous two years, the heads of churches in Jerusalem\u00a0urged congregations to forgo\u00a0\u201cany unnecessarily festive activities.\u201d They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas\u2019 spiritual meaning and called for \u201cfervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, West Bank \u2014 Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem\u2019s Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,7600,5527,5060,5061,441,3766,301],"class_list":{"0":"post-69590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news","11":"tag-christianity","12":"tag-christmas","13":"tag-hamas","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-israel-hamas-war","16":"tag-palestine","17":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69590","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=69590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}