‘We feel sad’: Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, marks sombre Christmas Eve amid Gaza war

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, Palestinian Christians held a sombre Christmas vigil in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Saturday (Dec 23) where they once believed Jesus was born. This comes as Palestinians in the biblical place of Jesus Christ’s birth have this year decided to forego Christmas celebrations in solidarity with the Gazans as the war rages on.

The decision to tone down the Christmas festivities amid the ongoing war was taken last month in solidarity with Palestinians.

‘We feel sad’

The normally bustling Bethlehem on Christmas Eve was compared to a ghost town, on Sunday (Dec 24) as festive lights and Christmas tree decorated the city’s Manger Square were missing and so were the thousands of tourists who gather each year to mark the holiday.

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Typically, pilgrims go to the reputed location of that stable in Bethlehem’s Byzantine-era Church of the Nativity, where most Christmases are joyful displays of lights and trees in Manger Square. Instead, the city marked Christmas with candle-lit hymns and prayers for peace in Gaza.

This year a Nativity scene in Manger Square showed a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the hundreds of children killed in the fighting in Gaza. The scene was also surrounded by barbed wire, the grey rubble in contrast to the joyous lights and bursts of colour that normally fill the square during Christmas.

“This Christmas comes to Bethlehem in a different shape. Nowadays Bethlehem, as any other Palestinian city, is in mourning. We feel sad,” said town mayor Hanna Hanania, lighting a candle in Manger Square.

“This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there’s just darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years, as quoted by the Associated Press.

He also spoke about always coming to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering.

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The city was almost deserted, with few worshippers around and no Christmas tree as the church leaders decided to forego “any unnecessarily festive” celebrations, in solidarity with Gazans.

People ofBethlehem

Christians make up around two per cent of the population across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, according to Protecting Holy Land Christians, a campaign organised by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, and a few members from Gaza.

The West Bank has also witnessed a surge in violence since the beginning of the war on October 7 with at least 300 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

“My son asked me why there’s no Christmas tree this year, I don’t know how to explain it,” Ali Thabet who lives with his family in Al Shawawra, a Palestinian village near Bethlehem tells CNN.

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He told the American media outlet that they would visit Bethlehem each Christmas “because our relationship with our Christian brothers is a strong relationship.”

He added, “We join them in their celebrations, and they also join us in our celebrations. But this year’s holiday season is very bad.”

(With inputs from agencies)