With no Christmas tree or decorations adorning the Church of the Nativity, revered because the birthplace of Jesus Christ, vacation cheer was absent within the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution metropolis of Bethlehem on Tuesday.
In central Bethlehem, the Terra Sancta Scout Troop, donning pink scarves, marched down the primary buying avenue the place distributors had been promoting nougat and shawarma.
The candy sound of kids singing Christmas carols crammed the air, a pointy distinction to sombre messages on the banners they held: “We would like life, not dying”, and “Cease the Gaza genocide now!”
For the second 12 months in a row, Christmas festivities in Bethlehem are overshadowed by the warfare.
A big Christmas tree often stands in Manger Sq., reverse the Church of the Nativity which is constructed atop a cave the place Christians imagine Jesus was born greater than 2,000 years in the past.
However like final 12 months, Bethlehem’s municipality had determined to go for modest celebrations out of respect for Palestinians struggling in Gaza.
For Christians within the Holy Land, who quantity about 185,000 in Israel and 47,000 within the Palestinian territory, prayer can supply solace and hope for a greater future.
“We’re going to hope and ask God to finish our struggling, to provide this a part of the world the peace that we anticipate, the peace that Jesus delivered to the world,” mentioned Anton Salman, the mayor of Bethlehem.
Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem who led mass in Gaza on Sunday, shared an identical message of hope as he ready to preside over midnight mass in Bethlehem.
“I simply arrived yesterday from Gaza. I noticed every part destroyed, poverty, catastrophe,” he mentioned.
“However I additionally noticed life – they don’t hand over. So you shouldn’t hand over both. By no means,” Pizzaballa added in a speech outdoors the Bethlehem Peace Middle, a cultural venue.
“We’re stronger, we belong to mild, to not darkness,” he mentioned, standing beside a Palestinian flag. “Subsequent 12 months, we wish to see the largest Christmas tree ever.”
