Bethlehem marks a bitter Christmas for the second year in the shadow of the Gaza war Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Bethlehem, a city in the West Bank considered by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, celebrates another solemn Christmas under the shadow of the extermination of the Israeli people in Gaza.

On Tuesday before Christmas, the city did not have its usual holidays, no lights or a big tree decorating the central area of ​​Manger Square, no crowds of tourists, and no marching youth group to mark the occasion.

“This year, we have toned down our joy,” Bethlehem mayor Anton Salman told AFP news agency.

Prayers, including the famous Nativity Sunday mass at midnight, will still be held in front of the Patriarch of the Latin Catholic Church, but the celebrations will be more religious than the traditional celebrations of the city.

Palestinian spies march silently through the streets, away from their usual brass marching band. Others carried a sign that said, “We want to live, not die.”

On the other hand, Palestinian security forces set up barricades near the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the place where Jesus is believed to have been born, and a worker was removing trash cans.

“Always the message of Bethlehem is a message of peace and hope,” said Salman. “And these days, we also send our message to the world: peace and hope, but we insist that the world must work to end our suffering as Palestinians.”

Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Manger Square, said that before the war, the square was full of people at Christmas.

“There would be lights everywhere. There will also be a stage where Christmas carols and songs will be played in preparation for this holiday season,” he said.

In Bethlehem, Christmas was not just a Christian celebration – it was a national holiday where Muslims and Christians alike “felt like it was their chance to feel joy after living under military rule for decades”, he added.

Ibrahim said that the residents of this city are “very sad” to see Palestinians in Gaza continue to be bombed, which has killed more than 45,000 people since October last year.

Blow up the economy of Bethlehem

The cancellation of Christmas celebrations is a major blow to the city's economy, which is already suffering from restrictions under Israeli employment, Ibrahim said.

Tourism accounts for about 70 percent of Bethlehem's income – almost all of which comes at Christmas time.

Mayor Salman said unemployment in the city has increased by 50 percent – more than the 30 percent unemployment rate in the entire West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Finance.

The number of tourists to the city has dropped from a pre-COVID high of about two million visitors a year in 2019 to less than 100,000 visitors in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism.

Mohammad Awad, 57, has been selling coffee under the Mosque of Omar, directly opposite the city's famous mosque, for more than 25 years.

“Business was good before the war, but now there is nobody left,” a shopkeeper told AFP. “I hope the war in Gaza will end soon and the tourists will return.”

Israeli violence against Palestinians – from both settlers and soldiers alike – has extended to the occupied West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, but Bethlehem remains largely silent.

Post-war restrictions also prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the area to work in Israel, causing the economy to shrink by 25 percent.