A somber Christmas vigil in Bethlehem as bombs fall on Gaza
Palestinian Christians held a Christmas vigil in Bethlehem on Saturday in a somber mood, singing hymns by candlelight and praying for peace in Gaza instead of the usual celebrations at the place where they believe Jesus Christ was born.
Bethlehem is central to the Christian tradition about the life of Jesus, according to which he was born in a stable because there was no room for his parents in the inn, and then placed in the humblest of beds, a manger for animals.
And more than two thousand years later, pilgrims flock to the site of that fabled stable at the Byzantine-era Bethlehem Church of the Nativity, where there is usually a joyous Christmas display of lights and decorated trees in Nativity Square.
But not this year, as Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 20,000 people, according to health officials in Gaza, an enclave ruled by the radical Islamist movement Hamas. Also in mourning is the majority Palestinian population in Bethlehem in the other Palestinian enclave of the West Bank (from the Jordan River) which is also considered by the international community to be occupied Palestinian territory by Israel in the 1967 war.
This year, Palestinian Christians have decided to celebrate without the big tree, the usual centerpiece of the Christmas celebration in Bethlehem, because the massacre is taking place just 50 kilometers away. Instead of the usual manger, as Christians call the traditional display of figurines representing the holy family, churches in Bethlehem this year put up mock-ups of destroyed buildings and barbed wire in solidarity with Gazans.
“Bethlehem is a message. It is not a city, it is a message of peace to the whole world. From this holy place we convey a message of peace…stop the war, stop the bloodshed, the killings and the revenge,” Father Ibrahim Faltas said at the vigil.
Christians make up about 2 percent of the population across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, according to Christians for the Protection of the Holy Land, founded by church leaders in Jerusalem, and there is a smaller and smaller proportion of Christians in Gaza as well.
The war sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli towns that Israel says killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, turned away most of the expected foreign tourists hoping to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem.
When church leaders gathered in Bethlehem in early December to mark the beginning of Advent (in Roman Catholic tradition, the term marking the coming of Jesus), the normally crowded streets and squares were sparsely populated in an already somber mood and festive experience.
“This Christmas in Bethlehem is different. Today, Bethlehem, like every other Palestinian city, is in mourning. We are sad,” said Mayor Hana Hanania, lighting a candle in Nativity of Christ Square.
