Because of the war, Israel has severely restricted access to Bethlehem. Neither pilgrims nor tourists are allowed to enter the city. Bethlehem is economically dependent on visitors, especially at Christmas.
Where the huge, colorfully hung and illuminated tree usually stands in the middle of the central square in Bethlehem, there is nothing: no tree, no lights. Some young people do their rounds on the mopeds. There is no trace of a pre-Christmas mood in the city where, according to tradition, Jesus was born.
Jad Soulieman looks at the empty space and shakes his head. “I’m disappointed. We don’t have a Christmas tree this year. That’s incredibly sad,” he says. Children came every year because of the tree and the lights. “They were playing here and looking forward to Christmas. There’s nothing to celebrate this year.”
“The entrances to Bethlehem are closed”
Sad – that’s the word you come across most often when walking through the old town of Bethlehem. That’s how people in the city feel. The situation is also frustrating for Christians in Palestine. Khouloud Daibes was born in Bethlehem. She is a Christian and was the Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities. Most recently, she lived in Germany as the Palestinian ambassador for almost ten years.
She criticizes Israel for recently restricting access to the city. “The entrances to Bethlehem are closed. This means that Christian Palestinians from Jerusalem, from the surrounding area, from Ramallah and from Nazareth cannot celebrate in Bethlehem this year,” she says. Tourists couldn’t come to Bethlehem either.
Bethlehem thrives on tourism
There is a yawning emptiness in the Church of the Nativity, where long queues of visitors usually stretch into the square. The pilgrim groups are missing. The economic impact is hitting people in the city particularly hard. Because Bethlehem thrives on tourism, especially during the Christmas season.
There is work going on in Jack Giacaman’s workshop. But only one carver is busy. He carefully sands the nativity figures smooth. Jack Giacaman sells nativity scenes and biblical figures made from olive tree wood. He makes 80 percent of his sales at Christmas. This year everything is different.
Giacaman says he has prepared 600 large Christmas nativity scenes, but so far he has only been able to sell a few of them. Some online orders have been received and should now be shipped. “But even here we are now subject to stricter controls. There is hardly any way to ship our goods.”
“There is no work anywhere”
The shelves in Giacaman’s crib shop, which has been run by the family for generations, are full. But the customers are missing. After the hard years during the Corona pandemic, the war in Gaza and the lack of tourists and pilgrim groups hit him particularly hard. But he’s not the only one.
“Bethlehem depends on tourists – restaurants, souvenir shops, the olive wood workshops. There is no work anywhere,” explains the craftsman. The market seems to have been swept empty. Nothing works. “I don’t think you can make a dollar in Bethlehem. People can’t afford basic things anymore.”
Taxi driver Osama waits in vain for passengers at the central square. He knows nothing will change anytime soon. He has only one wish: “I hope so much that the war will end soon. For Israel and Palestine. I want peace. All of us here pray that there will be peace soon.” This is the message of peace from Bethlehem, which has rarely been as important as this year.
Julio Segador, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, December 19, 2023 7:55 a.m