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It is not one more Christmas. Not here or anywhere. As in much of the world, Christian families in the Holy Land will today be forced to celebrate separately, in their homes and in the context of one of the worst crises they have ever experienced.
“Sadness” was the word that was heard the most today among the religious and political figures who circulated through the streets of Bethlehem, decorated with as many Christmas lights as police checkpoints, who seek to enforce the harsh restrictions that apply throughout the territory West Bank to curb the pandemic.
These same streets today received multiple groups of Palestinian “boy scouts” who, to the chords of their bagpipes, drums and bugles, managed, at least for a few hours, to get the merchants and residents out of the nightmare in which they are plunged for months.
The main ceremony was concentrated in the Manger Square, located in front of the Basilica of the Nativity and which was surrounded by numerous fences to avoid what they imagined would be a large concentration of people, something that finally did not happen.
In contrast to the thousands of pilgrims who year after year congregate in the square and crowd into the souvenir shops, this time it was only a few hundred Palestinians, mostly families, who braved the cold and rain, donned their masks and left their houses towards the center of the celebrations.
Some for the mere fact of leaving the house, many to breathe a little of the festive atmosphere and others to give a joy to the children, who did not have to wait in line to take selfies in front of the huge Christmas tree and found open field to chase the children. feet of the Nativity.
“Christmas is Christmas, and it is very important for us to celebrate it here in Bethlehem, with or without tourists,” Amjad, owner of the local religious iconography closest to the Basilica, explained to Efe, who acknowledged not having sold a single product in all day while he watched as the coffee and shelled corn stalls in the plaza filled with customers looking for something hot and cheap.
“The local inhabitants do not have money to eat, imagine if they are going to buy Christmas objects,” he said with the same gesture of resignation that all the merchants in the city have made since March, when Israel, which also controls the borders of the Palestinian territories , prohibited tourists from entering the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
In this climate there was the arrival of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who, like every year, made his symbolic pilgrimage from the Holy City to the Nativity.
With a smile, which was more evident in his eyes than in his mouth covered by a black mask, Pizzaballa walked along Calle de la Estrella, the main artery in the center of this West Bank city, under heavy rain after crossing the Israeli military checkpoint , and was received in the Basilica by the representatives of the different Christian confessions and by a small group of lively faithful, whom he wished a merry Christmas.
“It is incredible to see how these people, although not many, took to the streets to try to replace pessimism with positive energy,” Anita, a Belen resident who came to the square with her husband and children, said in dialogue with Efe.
“Even if it is only for a little while, but we cannot continue living in this darkness and negativity,” he added, referring to the unemployment of almost 40% that plagues the city.
“A mixture of sensations,” he said, before returning to his family, taking the last photos in front of the tree, gathering the children who were running around and going back to his house, to the confinement and the scant reality that he describes, and of the that everyone seeks to flee, even for a little while, even during Christmas.
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