Bethlehem, West Bank. Bethlehem's Manger Square is a ghost parking lot. The surrounding streets are nothing but ruins of houses. In the center, the Church of the Nativity, venerated as the birthplace of Jesus Christ and visited by more than a million pilgrims each year, is virtually empty.
The only sign of life is the ringing of bells for a mass that no one will attend. One of the holiest cities in Christendom is in deep and painful mourning.
“We’ve never seen Bethlehem like this
,” says Father Issa Thaljieh, the church’s Greek Orthodox pastor, as other priests mutter prayers in the background.
Typically, shortly before Christmas, the central square of the occupied West Bank is crowned by a dazzling tree, near a monumental Nativity scene. Boy and Girl Scouts sing Christmas carols in English and Arabic.
Thousands of visitors from around the world would flock to the city in a huge line to visit the grotto and pay tribute to the place where Jesus is said to have been born. But this year, with a devastating war raging in Gaza, there is none of that. The Israeli military has also closed the main checkpoint at the entrance to Bethlehem, citing security reasons to prevent access to the city famous for many Palestinians.
And so, Christmas is canceled.
"We can't celebrate when so many of us feel sad and frightened by what's happening in Gaza
," says Father Thalijeh. He expresses concern for his parishioners in the tiny besieged enclave, who are now gathering, trembling with fear, in the Catholic and Orthodox churches of Gaza City, under the heaviest Israeli bombardment in recorded history.
“This year, we said: it's better to come together, to unite in prayer… we can't celebrate. All we can do is send a message, the same one that has come out of here since Jesus was born, one of peace and love.”
