BETHLEHEM, West Bank.- Thousands of people flocked to Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eveas crowds of families, music and decorations brought a much-needed boost to the Christmas spirit after two dark, war-torn years.
He gigantic Christmas tree that was missing during the war between Israel and Hamas He returned on Wednesday and led a parade of hundreds of smartly dressed Boy Scouts playing familiar Christmas carols on bagpipes.
the city where Christians believe Jesus was born Because of the Gaza war, we have canceled Christmas celebrations for the past two years and held low-key celebrations with few decorations, lights or festive events.
The Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballathe main Catholic leader in the Holy Land, began Christmas celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and called for “a Christmas full of light.”
“After two years of darkness, we need light,” said Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, as he crossed the dividing wall that separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem.
When he arrived at Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he brought greetings from the small Christian community in Gaza, where he celebrated a Christmas mass on Sunday. But amid the devastation, he also felt a desire to live and rebuild.
“We all decided together to be the light, and The light of Bethlehem is the light of the world“ he told thousands of people, Christians and Muslims, who gathered in the square.
Despite the festive atmosphere on Wednesday, The impact of the war in the West Bank, the territory occupied by Israel, is acuteparticularly in Bethlehem, where, according to the local government, 80% of the city’s Muslim-majority residents depend on tourism businesses.
The vast majority of people celebrating Wednesday were local residents, with just one Handful of foreignersIt’s mixed in quantity.
But some residents said they are starting to see small signs of change as domestic tourism slowly returns, hopefully heralding the return of international visitors the city relies on.
“Today is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return to normal life here,” said Georgette Jackaman, a Bethlehem resident and tour guide who has not worked in more than two years. “People are desperate, but after two years everyone wants to celebrate.”
She and her husband Michael Jackaman, another unemployed leader, come from established Christian families in Bethlehem that have been established for generations. It is the first real Christmas for her two children, aged 2 1/2 and 10 months.
During the war, the Jackamans began setting up a website to sell Palestinian handicrafts to support others who had also lost their livelihoods.
Christmas and religious pilgrims have always been an important economic factor for Bethlehem. During the Gaza war, the city’s unemployment rate rose from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month.
“People are still afraid to come visit,” Georgette Jackaman said. “But when people come here, we can breathe a little bit of the world, even if we live with restrictions.”
“I came because I wanted to better understand what people in Palestine are going through, and you can feel that people have been going through a very difficult time,” said Mona Riewer, a physiotherapist from France.
Although friends and family abroad had warned him not to come because of the precarious situation, Riewer said he did so Staying in Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas helped him understand the meaning of the holiday.
“Christmas is like hope in very dark situations, a very vulnerable child experiencing hardship,” he said.
Despite the ceasefire that began in October Tensions remain high across much of the West Bank.
The Israeli military says it continues to carry out frequent raids against militants. Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have reached their highest level since the UN Humanitarian Office began collecting data in 2006. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.
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 on Wednesday evening for the first time in two years, the mayor said.
Since poverty and unemployment increased during the war by approx The mayor said 4,000 people had left Bethlehem in search of work.
This is part of a worrying trend for Christians leaving the region in droves.
Christians make up less than 2% of the approximately three million inhabitants of the West Bank, a number whose share is decreasing. Across the Middle East, the Christian population has been steadily declining as people have fled conflict and attacks.
But on Wednesday, many were looking forward to celebrating Christmas again in the birthplace of Christianity.
AP Agency
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