In the city of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Christmas has always been synonymous with festivities, colorful decorations, sumptuous food, and bustling markets.
Christian communities in the city, which is a major pilgrimage destination for Christians for being the birthplace of Jesus Christ, adorn their homes and alleys and flock markets for shopping.
This year, however, a pall of gloom has descended on Bethlehem amid the Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip as well as the occupied West Bank.
Christian communities in Bethlehem as well as in the Gaza Strip have decided to cancel the annual Christmas festivities in solidarity with the victims of the occupying entity’s unbridled aggression.
Streets in Bethlehem wear a deserted look and markets are also mostly closed these days. The usual hustle and bustle associated with Christmas celebrations is missing in the birthplace of Jesus.
As the death toll in the besieged coastal territory tops 20,000, most of them children and women, both Palestinian Muslims and Christians are in grief and no mood for traditional festivities.
Reverend Isaac Munther, a Palestinian pastor of a Lutheran church in Bethlehem, addressing his congregation earlier this month with the figure of Jesus Christ in a keffiyeh, said Christmas is the “radiance of life from the heart of destruction and death.”
“If Christ were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble. I invite you to see the image of Jesus in every child killed and pulled from under the rubble, in every child struggling for life in destroyed hospitals, in every child in incubators,” Pastor Munther said, surrounded by rubble.
“Christmas celebrations are canceled this year, but Christmas itself is not and will not be canceled, for our hope cannot be canceled,” he hastened to add.
Last week, Pope Francis slammed the Tel Aviv regime for committing terrorism against Palestinians in Gaza, after an Israeli sniper killed two women at a Catholic church in Gaza where they had taken refuge.
“Some say, ‘This is terrorism. This is war.’ Yes, it is war. It is terrorism,” the head of the Catholic Church said, urging people not to forget people suffering from the Israeli war.
His statement came after an Israeli attack on the Holy Family Parish in Gaza.
An estimated 1,100 Christians live among 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip, and an additional 50,000 live in the occupied West Bank, notably in Bethlehem and East Jerusalem.
Both Muslims and Christians have come under ferocious attacks in Gaza since October 7, and many mosques and churches have been vandalized or destroyed by the regime's warplanes.
In late October, an Israeli airstrike targeted the complex of the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza and the third oldest in the world, killing at least 16 people, including 10 from one family.
In a statement at the time, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate condemned the bombing, stressing that "targeting churches and its affiliated institutions, in addition to the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored."
It came weeks after an attack on an Anglican Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza, founded in 1882 and managed by the Episcopal Church in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
Reverend Mitri Raheb, the president of Dar al-Kalima University, speaking to Democracy Now on Friday said he has not experienced “so much sadness” in his entire life.
“You don’t have a Christmas tree in Bethlehem. There are no tourists coming, because of the war. And the people are not up for celebrations, because our people in Gaza, but not only our people in Gaza, also our people in the West Bank, we’re experiencing apartheid, colonization by Jewish settlers,” he said.
“These are the Christmas gifts of Israel for the Christian community in Gaza. And I fear that this is the end of the Christian presence in Gaza.”
In November, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem had urged Christians to avoid “unnecessarily festive activities” and donate Christmas funds for humanitarian aid for Gaza.
The churches and municipality of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank also announced the cancellation of Christmas festivities, restricting the annual events to church services, devoid of celebrations.
“At this time every year, we prepare to decorate the city in celebration of Christmas, to welcome the holiday with joy and love. However, today, instead of bringing smiles to the faces of our children, we mourn for them,” it said in a statement.
“Instead of giving them holiday gifts, we can't even send humanitarian aid to them (in Gaza) while they are under bombardment, war, and destruction.”
In solidarity with the Palestinian Muslims and Christians and in protest against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, Christian communities in many countries have announced they will cancel this year’s festival.
“Jesus was a Palestinian revolutionary! This #Christmas, ask yourself ‘What would Jesus do?’ Would he be in the #Resistance,” wrote David Miller, London-based Press TV show host, on his X handle.
Mangingisada, a Philippines-based activist, in a social media post, urged his friends and followers not to wish him Christmas this year.
“As a Christian, I will not accept any fake greetings from terrorist Israelis. I want an end to bombings and killings in Gaza and the West Bank. I want an end to the apartheid and illegal occupation,” he wrote.
Aditya Chakrabortyy, a writer for Guardian, in a post on X, said the world cannot ignore what is unfolding in the besieged Gaza Strip amid the Israeli regime’s bombings.
“When we celebrate the birth of a child in Bethlehem on what is today the West Bank and are supposed to ignore the killing of 10,000 children in Gaza,” he wrote.
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