Bethlehem – After two years marked by brutal Israeli military violence in Gaza, Bethlehem, the Palestinian city revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, is cautiously welcoming the Christmas season once again.
Yet Israeli restrictions on movement, economic hardship, and ongoing violence continue to weigh heavily on Palestinian Christian communities.
Once representing up to 12% of the Palestinian population before the founding of Israel, according to 1946 census data, the Christian community has faced a sharp decline. Today, it does not exceed 1% of the Palestinian population.
The question of whether Christmas should even be celebrated this year amid the ongoing war on Gaza had preoccupied Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth, the heartlands of Christianity.
Israel’s war on Gaza – labelled a genocide by the United Nations – has continued despite the October ceasefire, with at least 400 Palestinians killed since it was brokered. Last week, a 29-day-old baby died from hypothermia, with Gazans lacking the most basic items for survival amid Israeli restrictions on vital aid.
For the past two years, Palestinian Christian communities largely refrained from public celebrations, viewing festive displays as inappropriate amid the widespread devastation in Gaza.
As a result, Christmas decorations and markets largely disappeared from the streets, both in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with the atmosphere marked by silence and mourning. Pilgrimage sites resembled ghost towns, and even Israeli military checkpoints were unusually empty.
This year, however, a small number of tourists have begun to return, and the local community in Bethlehem has once again erected a Christmas tree and a Nativity scene in front of the Church of the Nativity – the oldest church in the Holy Land. In Beit Jala – a Palestinian town adjacent to Bethlehem with a predominantly Christian population – a large Christmas tree was also assembled.
“The grief is, of course, still present, as our friends and families in Gaza continue to suffer from the destruction of their homes and the added harshness of winter,” Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox priest based at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, tells The New Arab.
“Our brothers and sisters in Gaza are largely living without permanent shelter. Their tents have been flooded, and they are also lacking food,” Thaljieh adds, noting that he remains in regular contact with the Greek Orthodox community in Gaza.
Palestinian Christians fragmented by Israel’s occupation
Before the war and the Covid-19 pandemic, Christians in Gaza were still able to apply for permits from Israeli authorities to travel to Bethlehem and celebrate Christmas together with fellow believers.
That possibility no longer exists. “Some of our brothers and sisters used to visit us every year, which meant we knew them personally,” Father Thaljieh says. “However, most of them have been killed during the course of the war.”
Reconciling the devastation in Gaza with Christmas festivities in Bethlehem has not been easy for the Greek Orthodox priest.
Within his own parish, there is a debate over whether public celebrations should take place while just a few kilometres away, Gaza’s population continues to endure inhumane conditions. With Orthodox Christmas in January approaching, Father Thaljieh says he cannot celebrate wholeheartedly.
“There can be no real joy when there is no real peace,” he says. At the same time, he adds, it is important to show that Palestinian Christians are not without hope. That sense of faith, he believes, is more likely to be conveyed if people begin returning to Bethlehem once again.
For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including those living in Bethlehem, travelling to Jerusalem and Israel remains far from straightforward. To visit the holy sites of the monotheistic religions, Father Thaljieh requires a permit from the Israeli authorities – one that has become significantly harder to obtain since the war began.
Palestinians who live in Jerusalem or hold Israeli citizenship, such as 30-year-old Nadine from Nazareth, face fewer restrictions and are generally able to travel to the West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, in violation of international law.
Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have fewer freedoms in their own homeland than visitors holding international passports.
“I am starting to see some tourists again in Nazareth, but there are far fewer than there used to be,” Nadine tells TNA.
Due to the atmosphere created by the devastation in Gaza, she spent last Christmas in Jordan. Since Israel’s war began, she adds, the holiday no longer feels the same.
Bethlehem’s businesses in crisis
“Compared to around six years ago, there are still very few visitors in Bethlehem,” says 23-year-old Nikolo, who was born and raised in the city. “Before the war and before Covid, the number of visitors was much higher.”
Nikolo comes from a Palestinian Catholic family with a long tradition of woodcarving. Both his father and grandfather practice the craft, shaping olive wood into religious figures and well-known biblical scenes such as the arrival of the Three Wise Men.
However, with tourism stagnating, the work has become barely viable. Without visitors to purchase the carvings, traditional crafts like these can no longer provide a sustainable livelihood. As a result, many residents of Bethlehem and other Palestinian cities have been forced to seek alternative work in recent years – including Nikolo’s father.
When asked about the hardships facing Christians, Salameh, who is part of Bethlehem’s Greek Orthodox community, says all Palestinians face oppression.
.“There is no distinction between Muslims and Christians here. We are all suffering from the occupation, whether we are Muslim or Christian,” he told TNA.
Salameh has relatives in Gaza. Three months ago, one of them, an active member of the Christian community, was killed. He is currently unable to contact his remaining relatives due to the poor internet connection there.
Most Palestinian Christians endure similar uncertainties, fragmented across Israel’s territorial divides and unable to worship freely in the birthplace of Christianity.
While Bethlehem and other Palestinian cities may be celebrating Christmas again this year, any joy is offset by ongoing hardships in the West Bank, and a sorrowful acknowledgement that the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza has yet to cease.
Elias Feroz studied Islamic religion and history as part of his teacher training programme at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. Elias also works as a freelance writer and focuses on a variety of topics, including racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, the politics of history, and the culture of remembrance
Follow him on X: @FerozElias
Edited by Charlie Hoyle