Under the influence of the war, the Christmas ceremonies have begun in Bethlehem. The celebration takes place without pilgrims and festival lights. The midnight mass in the Church of the Nativity is also likely to take place in a subdued mood.
With the entry of the Catholic leader into the Holy Land, the Christian Christmas ceremonies began in Bethlehem in the West Bank in the early afternoon. Led by around 50 scouts, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, walked through the streets of the city to the Church of the Nativity. This year, instead of musical instruments and drums, the young people carried banners with slogans such as “Peace for Gaza” or “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Palestinians in Bethlehem are calling for a stop to the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
In the morning, Pizzaballa, as the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, completed the traditional Christmas procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. However, he was accompanied on the car journey by only a few believers and a few Franciscans. As every year, the procession began at the Jaffa Gate in the historic Old City of Jerusalem and ended at the Church of the Nativity.
No Christmas decoration
Because of the war in the Gaza Strip, this time the church services and Christmas celebrations will take place in a simple and quiet manner. This time, Christmas celebrations throughout the Holy Land are limited to liturgical services. Outdoor celebrations have been canceled.
The heads of the churches in Jerusalem had already decided in November that there should be no Christmas decorations in the Holy Land because of the war in the Gaza Strip. However, church leaders rejected further calls for Christmas to be canceled entirely because of the mourning for Gaza. According to the Latin Catholics, the Orthodox celebrate their Christmas according to the old Julian calendar on January 7th, the Armenians two weeks later.
“Today Jesus would be born in the rubble of Gaza”
The city of Bethlehem forgoes festive lighting, a Christmas tree and loud music. On the edge of the forecourt there is a nativity scene with black figures, which is based on a war and escape scene in Gaza, as residents explained. On the facade of the mayor’s office hangs a large banner with the inscription: “Palestine gave Jesus to the world. Give Palestine freedom and justice.”
At a short rally before Pizzaballa’s arrival, Mayor Hanna Hanania called for peace and solidarity from the international community with Bethlehem. This is a year of mourning because of the war in Gaza. As in the time of King Herod, innocent children are being murdered today. “If Jesus were born today, he would be born in the rubble of Gaza.”
Abbas also invited
In the church, under whose altar there is the grotto in which, according to tradition, Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago, midnight mass will also be celebrated this Christmas (11:30 p.m. local time). As usual, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also invited.
In a Christmas message, Abbas expressed hope that the Christian festival would bring an end to the deaths in the Gaza Strip. He emphasized that the Palestinians continue to fight for their right to their own and sovereign state.
Hardly any pilgrims and tourists on site
Unlike last year, this year at Christmas the people of Bethlehem are largely among themselves. Police and journalists made up the overwhelming majority of visitors to Krippenplatz. Because of the global travel warnings, hardly any foreign pilgrims and visitors came to Bethlehem this time. In addition, access from Jerusalem to the small town ten kilometers away has been practically sealed off since October 7th.
The social situation in the city is very tense due to high unemployment. The shops selling souvenirs and wood carvings that would be crowded in normal times are closed. A few streets further on, life is largely normal in the souk.
In the Holy Land, Christians only form a very small minority: around 1,000 Christians live in the Gaza Strip, out of a total population of around 2.2 million. In Israel, Christians make up almost two percent of the approximately ten million citizens. In the West Bank it is around 1.5 percent of the approximately 3.2 million Palestinians. In Bethlehem too, Christians are now in the minority at almost 30 percent.