{"id":70297,"date":"2025-12-25T11:24:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T11:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/70297\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T11:24:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T11:24:22","slug":"how-bethlehem-is-celebrating-christmas-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/70297\/","title":{"rendered":"How Bethlehem is celebrating Christmas this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) \u2014 At midnight on Christmas Eve, the words of the traditional hymn \u201cThe Night of Christmas\u201d will ring out in the tiny grotto in Bethlehem\u2019s Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the night of Christmas, war is buried, On the night of Christmas, love is born,\u201d a local choir sings each year during the midnight service. As they rehearsed ahead of this year\u2019s service, many choir members said the words echoed with deeper meaning following the ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds us that no matter the difficulties, the darkness, there is always a light and that hope is always alive,\u201d said Joseph Hazboun, the conductor of the lay choir made up of local Catholics.<\/p>\n

For the past two years, as the war in Gaza dragged on, Christmas in Bethlehem has been a somber affair, without the traditional festivities and decorations and music. But this year, families are flocking again to Manger Square, signaling hope about the fragile ceasefire and providing a much-needed economic boost to Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

On a recent visit, Manger Square was crowded and buzzing with festive lights, a Christmas market, and music shows for children.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see the town come alive again,\u201d said Zoya Thalgia, a resident of Bethlehem. \u201cEveryone\u2019s happy, everyone\u2019s coming out to celebrate, no matter religion, no matter their stance, everyone is here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IsraelPalestinians watch performances in Manger Square in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahmoud Illean)APBethlehem\u2019s economy and spirit have been strained by war<\/p>\n

Christmas and religious pilgrims have always been a prime economic engine for Bethlehem. Around 80% of the Muslim-majority city\u2019s residents depend upon tourism-related businesses, according to the local government. During good times, their earnings ripple out to communities across the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967 that has long struggled with poverty.<\/p>\n

But during the Gaza war, the unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month. And in previous years, as an act of protest, some churches created Nativity scenes with Jesus as an infant surrounded by rubble and barbed wire.<\/p>\n

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

Israel\u2019s military has said it is cracking down on militants in the territory and carrying out frequent raids. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank this year reached their highest level since the U.N. humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006.<\/p>\n

\"IsraelPalestinian vendors wait for clients in Manger Square in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahmoud Illean)APThe endurance of Christianity in the Holy Land<\/p>\n

Odette Al Sliby, a Bethlehem resident, has sung in choirs since she was seven years old, but she said few things compare to being able to sing in the grotto at the midnight Mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very holy, the place and the atmosphere and the songs and the words,\u201d she said. Singing those songs is a message of hope, she said, and a reminder to Christians of the significance of endurance. \u201cAs Christians in the Holy Land, there is a big message of being here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Christians account for less than 2% of the West Bank\u2019s roughly 3 million residents, a presence that has been shrinking.<\/p>\n

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

Across the Middle East, the Christian population has steadily declined as people have fled conflict and attacks.<\/p>\n

Hazboun said he will pray this Christmas that the Christian population of Bethlehem and of other areas in the region important to Christianity don\u2019t shrink any further.<\/p>\n

The return of Christmas festivities across the West Bank, including a Christmas market in Ramallah thronged with visitors, is a much-needed break for local children, said Hazboun.<\/p>\n

While Palestinians in the West Bank are still devastated by the images coming out of Gaza, lighting the community Christmas tree in Bethlehem\u2019s Manger Square for the first time in two years earlier this month provided a boost of much-needed holiday joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to pray for peace. This is the land of peace, it\u2019s the land where the Prince of Peace was born, and we continue to pray and hope that one day we all will enjoy peace,\u201d Hazboun said.<\/p>\n

\"IsraelPalestinians pose for the pictures with performers in Manger Square in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mahmoud Illean)AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) \u2014 At midnight on Christmas Eve, the words of the traditional hymn \u201cThe Night…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-70297","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"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70297","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=70297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}