Bethlehem glows again

Seasonal celebrations returned last weekend to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, when the coloured lights on the massive Christmas tree blossomed for the first time since Israel launched its Gaza war over two years ago. Covered in gleaming red and gold baubles, the tree stands tall near the Church of the Nativity on Manger Square.

Thousands of Christians and Muslims attended the ceremonial lighting of the tree, including many who travelled from across the Palestinian territories and Israel. There was also a sprinkling of tourists who were ready to brave the Israeli-occupation to celebrate the advent of Christmas. The festivities were limited to singing hymns and listening to choirs performing Christmas carols while Palestinians seized rare moments of joy despite Israel’s assaults in the West Bank and the carnage in Gaza. Pope Leo XIV sent a message assuring resident that he “carries Bethlehem in his heart and prayers and is working for an end to Palestinian suffering.” He called on Palestinians in Gaza “not to give in to despair.”

The Gaza war had caused cancellation of two years’ of celebrations. This was a hard blow to Bethlehem as the town’s economy depends on tourism, particularly the surge of visitors who normally arrive during this holiday season. The town has just managed to recover from the covid pandemic which had wiped out tourism between Jan. 30, 2020 – May 5, 2023.

The Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce has organised bus trips for Palestinians from cities inside Israel to boost local tourism and expects a wave of 3,000 visitors a day after Dec. 20.

In recent years, Israel has encircled Bethlehem with an eight-metre concrete wall, gates and check points which cut off the town from Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied West Bank, restricting movements for residents and visitors. This also limits access to land, jobs, and services for Palestinians. This has forced Palestinians to use a small and limited number of roads to exit or enter the town as well as the Bethlehem governate. In concert with the military, illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinians with the objective of driving them from their land and build more Israeli settlements to squeeze Palestinian communities.

Since 1950 Bethlehem’s Christian population has dramatically fallen from 86 per cent to around 10 per cent as Muslims have been forced out of nearby villages and by land seizures for Israeli closed military areas and three dozen settlements. Christian families that have lived in Bethlehem for hundreds of years are being compelled to leave as their land in Bethlehem is also systematically confiscated, homes are bulldozed and the construction of new hospital is banned. To make room for Israeli settlers, Israel’s wall has cut off dozens of Palestinian families from their farmland and Christian communities from their churches. Western Christian countries encourage Palestinian Christians to emigrate from the West Bank, including Bethlehem, who have joined relatives in Australia, Europe, and the US.

Nevertheless, Bethlehem’s artisans who make olive wood and mother-of-pearl artifacts, shopkeepers, and hoteliers have clung to the town despite its precarious economy. They form a special branch of the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, abuse, and expulsion.

The little town of Bethlehem has not been a peaceful city since Israel seized the West Bank from Jordan in 1967 and completed the occupation of Palestine. In December 1995, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem and the town fell under the military and administrative control of the Palestinian Authority in accordance with the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But this did not confer peace and security.

During the second Palestinian intifada (2000–2005), the West Bank became a combat zone. In early 2002 the Israeli army besieged the Church of the Nativity, where dozens of Palestinian fighters had sought refuge. The siege lasted 39 days and drew the international press, including this writer who camped out within view of the church. This forced the Israelis to hold their fire. However, after several Palestinians were killed when trying to move between the church and the convent where there was food, an agreement was reached to exile 13 of the fighters to foreign countries. That December, Christmas festivities were held in Bethlehem with marching scout bands and a mid-night service in St. Catherine’s Catholic church which I attended. Since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat – who normally was present at this mass – was penned up in his walled compound in Ramallah, a black-and-white keffiyeh was laid on his chair.

The town became the birthplace of Jesus two thousand years ago when his parents, Mary and Joseph, were forced to journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, their birth city, to pay taxes to the Roman occupation. According to tradition, they found no room at inns, so they took shelter in a stable where Jesus was born and laid in a manger. Since there was a prediction that a new king would be born in Palestine, Rome’s satrap Herod ordered all male babies to be killed, forcing Jesus’ family to flee to Egypt.

The Romans had built a pagan shine on the site where the Church of the Nativity was constructed in the fourth century after Christians has attained a majority in the province. During the 12th century Bethlehem welcomed European social and ecclesiastical influences that prompted foreign pilgrims to visit Christian holy sites who donated to the church and did business with local merchants. In 1100, the Crusader King Baldwin succeeded in having Pope Pascal II establish a Roman Catholic bishopric in Bethlehem where the Orthodox clergy had held sway. Clerical bickering and political insecurity followed as Palestine was ruled by Christian Rome, Muslim Egypt, Ottoman Turkey, Britain, Jordan, Israel, and finally the Palestinian Authority which has been cornered and immobilised by Israel’s latest war on the West Bank and Gaza

Photo: Reuters