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Christmas is usually the busiest time of the year in Bethlehem. But this year, international visitors are conspicuous in their absence, paving the way for a quiet celebration that’s more about religion than gifts, a city priest awaits.
The Christmas tree outside the Church of the Nativity lights up the winter darkness in Bethlehem.
The traditional fir was lit in early December. But like in many other parts of the world, the pandemic has muted the Christmas mood, and the large crowds of visitors who often flock to Bethlehem this year are just a memory.
The city, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is designated in the Christian faith as the place where Jesus was born. And both locals and pilgrims often gather around the Christmas tree outside the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the cave where various Christian communities believe that Jesus was born.
But this year, it was the fate around the Christmas tree, which Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh lit at a distance from his office in Ramallah. The Palestinian Health Authority recommends extensive restrictions during celebrations to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurants must close at 9pm throughout Christmas.
The West Bank, home to some 2.7 million Palestinians and 400,000 residents, has recently registered more than 1,000 new COVID cases a day.
Christmas is often a busy time for the many merchants who live in Bethlehem as a place of religious pilgrimage. But now foreign visitors are being detained by the virus and the crisis in the hotel industry is a fact.
The hotel typically has 80 employees throughout the year and receives additional staff at Christmas. But now only four people work to keep basic functions up and running, which means costs but not revenue when rooms are empty.
But while the lack of visitors is devastating for entrepreneurs, Father Rami Asakrieh sees flashes of light. Now locals don’t have to elbow their way into the Church of the Nativity, but the pandemic has provided a unique opportunity for solemn worship, he says.
“Sometimes more than half a million people come to visit the Church of the Nativity during this period,” he told the AFP news agency.
This year, the Christmas Eve Mass, which is considered the most important event of the year in the church, will be closed to the public. Not even a representative of the Palestinian Authority arrives in Bethlehem on December 24, which according to Asakrieh has never happened before.
– I think this Christmas will be different because people are not busy with the external manifestations of the holiday, he says and refers to the gifts that for many have become synonymous with Christmas.
– Now people have the time and the obligation to focus on what is essential … the theological spirit of Christmas. Less business, more religion.
Belen
Bethlehem is a city located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, about ten miles from Jerusalem.
According to the Christian faith, Bethlehem is the city where Jesus was born and therefore has become a religious place of pilgrimage. Belén is a commercial center for agricultural products of the region and has a tourist and artisan industry.
A crypt in the Church of the Nativity is listed as the birthplace of Jesus.
Source: Nationalencyklopedin
