The scene of a devastated Christmas nativity scene symbolizes the plight of Christ’s family – and of today’s Palestinians.
Bethlehem, occupied West Bank — This year Bethlehem is dark and quiet. There is no Christmas tree and there are no Christmas lights or tourists to see them.
Instead, Jesus’ hometown – which is in the middle of a war zone – celebrates Christmas with a powerful and poignant message: solidarity with Palestine.
The Grotto of the Holy Family is a sculpture that depicts a heartbreaking picture: a bombed-out version of the traditional Grotto of the Nativity, which many Christians believe is where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is today the site of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The new mural draws a comparison with the journey of Christ and his family, when they had to flee Bethlehem under an oppressive ruler to Egypt, before returning to Nazareth two millennia ago.
Surrounded by rubble and barbed wire, the Virgin Mary embraces the child Jesus, while Joseph embraces him to offer him comfort. On one side of the family, the wise men hold out a white shroud. On the other side, the fourth shepherd carries a bag, a symbol of Palestinian displacement.
Angels, suspended around the rubble, represent the souls of children victims of massacres on Palestinian land throughout history: the murder of children in Bethlehem by Herod at the birth of Jesus; various colonial attacks against the Palestinian people and their ancestors; and the current massacres perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.
Around the scene, multilingual signs call for a ceasefire and an end to the massacre against the Palestinian people.
Hana Hanania, mayor of Bethlehem, said the sculpture aims to highlight the suffering of Palestinians everywhere. Churches, clergy and civilians in Gaza are bombed and a blockade is imposed on the West Bank, notably in Bethlehem.
The sculpture, with its political, religious and national symbolism, draws a comparison between what happened more than 2,000 years ago and what is happening today, she said. Just as Christ was tortured and children killed by King Herod, today children and women are being massacred in a clear act of genocide.
The roof of the cave is a geographic map of Gaza. Its shape, associated with the representation of an explosion, forms a star, inspired by the star of Bethlehem which led the wise men to the birth of Jesus. It conveys a message of hope.
Artist Tarek Salsaa explained that the scene cannot fully express the immense destruction and systematic genocide against the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation. What Palestine is going through today is reminiscent of the years of colonialism, with all its allies throughout the ages and different historical eras, he added.
“Christmas is approaching this year and we find ourselves in the most difficult and difficult circumstances, a result of what our people in the besieged Gaza Strip and in all towns, villages and camps in the West Bank and Jerusalem are enduring due to The Israeli aggression continues against our people, said Rula Maayaa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Palestinian Authority.
“As we launch this symbolic initiative in Bethlehem… our people are confident that the Christmas message, sent by the messenger of peace, will triumph over injustice and tyranny,” Maayaa said.
We are in a constant state of mourning, especially during the days of mourning for the martyrs, said Father Ibrahim Feltz, deputy guardian of the Holy Land. “We did not witness such a scene in the square, and we did not see the city in this state. Bethlehem has never been so sad before.