It’s a different Christmas in Bethlehem. The war in the Middle East overshadowed the celebrations. The manger area in front of the Church of the Nativity also reflects its effects and the suffering associated with it.
The square in front of the famous Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem would actually be festively decorated at this time. With a large illuminated Christmas tree. Christmas – that would normally be a tourist magnet, with lots of visitors, festive parades and loud music.
But this year everything is different, says Father Rami Asakrieh, the Catholic priest of Bethlehem:
Thousands of people in Bethlehem from all over the world. The festivities, lights and decorations, the Christmas tree, the music of the Boy Scouts. This year the bishops decided not to do that – as a sign of solidarity and a prayer for peace. Quite simply, without music and all that. We’re not canceling Christmas, just the events outside on the street.
A crib amidst rubble
Because there is war in the Middle East. And because most Christians in the Holy Land are Palestinians, there is a lot of solidarity with the suffering population in the Gaza Strip.
A slightly different Christmas nativity scene was set up on the manger square in Bethlehem: rubble can be seen there, barbed wire and in the middle Mary and Joseph with a wrapped child.
Munther Isaak, pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, came up with the idea. There’s a small version of a nativity scene in his church – and out here it’s a large landscape of rubble, says Isaak: “It’s about what Christmas looks like in Palestine today. Children under the rubble, displaced families.”
But that is also the true Christmas message, says the pastor: “When Jesus was born, he lived under an occupation. The families became refugees, they went through a lot. This monument says that, tragically, 2,000 years later, people are still under an occupation Occupation, under the yoke of empires, and that they still cry out for justice.”
“This war must stop”
At the time of Jesus the Romans were the occupiers, now it is the Israelis – that’s how many people see it here. Seen in this way, the rubble nativity scene of Bethlehem is an image that appeals to many. For Pastor Isaak, Christmas with glitter and a Christmas tree is out of the question in this winter of war: “How can you have a Christmas tree when your friends, your relatives are experiencing a genocide. The Christians here and the Christians in Gaza are very connected. And we are worried their lives. They can be killed at any moment. And that is our message: This genocide must stop, this war must stop.”
Prayers instead of big parades
George Zeineh also came to see the baby Jesus in the rubble. He is there every year. After all, he has been a member of the Boy Scouts for more than 60 years. There is usually a big parade at Christmas and he always goes along with it.
Now Zeineh is also talking a lot about the war and that the Palestinians should finally have their own state. He doesn’t talk about the Hamas terror of October 7th. His Christmas will also be very different this year. “I will celebrate by praying. And I pray to Jesus to stop the war in Gaza. And the suffering of our people there,” says Zeineh.
There will still be Christmas mass in Bethlehem in the evening. Added to this – as always – is the Latin Patriarch. He announced that he wanted to emphasize in his sermon that even after the deepest night, another day will come. So there is reason for hope.
Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, December 24th, 2023 6:53 a.m