Bethlehem- The siege and stranglehold on the city of Bethlehem, where the Church of the Nativity is located, is intensifying, while the Gaza Strip has been subjected to Israeli aggression and a war of genocide for more than 78 days, prompting Christian communities to cancel their Christmas celebrations.
The city of Jerusalem, where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is located, is also experiencing a severe militarization and a siege of the Old City in a way that hinders the movement of Christians there.
Christian sects that follow the Western calendar around the world celebrate Christmas on Sunday, December 24th, while sects that follow the Eastern calendar celebrate on January 7th.
The municipalities of Ramallah and Bethlehem and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism announced the cancellation of this year’s celebrations, at a time when official data indicate a lack of internal and external tourism due to the Israeli siege. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the occupation surrounds Bethlehem with 46 iron gates, closes 30 streets with dirt barriers, and its forces are stationed. A few barriers are partially open.
Message to the world
The Christian thinker, founder and president of Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, Mitri Al-Raheb, says, “The Christian churches and the municipality of Bethlehem announced the cancellation of all celebrations related to Christmas.” He added in his interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “It is not possible to celebrate at a time when Gaza is being exposed to unprecedented aggression.” And systematic ethnic cleansing, in light of the assassinations of children and the killing of women, and settlement activity that is spreading like a cancer in the Palestinian body in the West Bank.”
The doctor continued, “All Palestinian cities are under siege, and there is a state of lack of peace in our holy land. Christmas is a holiday of peace, but Palestine lacks peace, justice, and freedom. Therefore, celebrations are limited to religious rituals, which are important at this time to give people hope and strength.”
The Palestinian thinker compares the birth of Christ to the children of Gaza, adding, “The message of birth is a Palestinian message par excellence. The Jerusalemite family was forced to leave their city of Nazareth in northern Palestine, and go to the south, where Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus Christ, the Child of the Cave, was in a manger (basin), where they had no place.” At home,” he explained, “This is the condition of many of our children in Gaza, who are born today in tents and in the open.”
He goes on to draw an analogy: “In the Christmas story, we hear about the tyrant King Herod (74 BC – 4 BC) who ordered the killing of the children of Bethlehem, and this is what Netanyahu does to the children of Palestine.”
The monk added, “The Christmas story is an expressive Palestinian story that confirms that God is with truth and justice, and our people in Gaza and the West Bank, and against aggression.” He said that the message of the Christians of Palestine to the Christians of the world is, “Bethlehem gave the world Christ, and the world must give Palestine justice and peace.”
Zero occupancy
Spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Grace Qumsiyeh, points out that Palestinian cities in the West Bank, including the city of Bethlehem, have been living under a tight siege since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, “as it prevents anyone from entering or exiting.”
Qumsiyeh stated that Israeli air traffic has almost stopped, “which means no tourists from abroad will arrive, foreign incoming tourism will stop, and the city will be without tourists or pilgrims.”
He continued, “An atmosphere of sadness and pain hangs over the souls of believers, who are waiting for Christmas as a glimmer of hope and an opportunity to pray for peace in the world.” He added that “Christmas this year comes in a very sad circumstance as a result of this aggression against Gaza, and therefore the decision of the churches in Palestine was “By limiting it to religious ceremonies and canceling celebrations.”
Compared to 2019, when conditions were fairly stable, the media spokesman says that Bethlehem received about 3.5 million tourists, while in 2023, with the beginning of the return of tourism with the end of the Corona (Covid-19) pandemic, it received about 2.3 million tourists.
As for the current year, he pointed out that expectations were about 3.5 million tourists, of whom about 2.5 million tourists arrived, and he expected about a million tourists to arrive in the last three months of the current year, but the occupation’s aggression completely stopped the tourism movement.
He pointed out that the occupancy rate of hotels in Bethlehem, with a capacity of about 10,000 beds, was 100% under normal circumstances, but today it is 0%, which cost the tourism sector about 2.5 million dollars per day.
Press coverage: “Pastoral Council of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Ramallah: We condemn and denounce the visit of the heads of the Christian churches in Jerusalem to the president of the occupation, under false pretexts and shameful excuses, in light of the Israeli massacres against our people and the shameful global silence. These meetings and others like them do not express us and have nothing to do with us, and we demand … pic.twitter.com/CvGXzK3UhL
– Quds News Network (@qudsn) December 22, 2023
Denunciation and denunciation
The Pastoral Council of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Ramallah on Friday denounced the meeting of the heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday, a meeting held periodically every year before Christmas and New Year.
The Council added in its statement, “In light of the massacres that violate the rights of our Palestinian people in Gaza, and the shameful global silence, the heads of the Christian churches in Jerusalem are visiting the Israeli president in his office, under false pretexts and outrageous excuses.”
The Council continued, “We, as the Pastoral Council of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Ramallah, and as part of the authentic Palestinian people, who fought and are struggling to liberate their country and its capital, Jerusalem, denounce and denounce such meetings that do not express us, and have nothing to do with us.”
The number of Palestinian Christians is estimated at about 2.3 million people, the absolute majority of whom reside outside Palestine, of whom only about 45,000 live in the territories occupied since 1967, including 40,000 in the West Bank, 4,000 in Jerusalem, and about a thousand in the Gaza Strip, while about 114,000 reside within the territories. The 48th.