Again no room in Bethlehem inns as tourists return from the pandemic

There is no room at the inn in Bethlehem again as the city recovers from coronavirus restrictions.

Tourism is the economic lifeblood of the occupied West Bank city, and the pandemic has kept visitors away for the past two years.

But this year they are back, with up to 120,000 tourists visiting the traditional birthplace of Jesus during Christmas week alone.

Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maayah said: “We celebrate Christmas with pilgrims from all over the world.”

Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday afternoon for the Christmas party at Mangerplein.

Marching bands beating drums and playing bagpipes paraded through the area, and foreign tourists strolled around taking selfies with the city’s big Christmas tree behind them.

Cool gray weather and the occasional rain shower couldn’t dampen the mood.

Daisy Lucas, a 38-year-old Filipino who works in Israel, said it was a dream come true to celebrate the holidays in such an important place.

“It’s so overwhelming to walk through the places of the Bible as a Christian,” she said.

“This is the birthplace of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, that is a hit on my bucket list.”

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, arrived from Jerusalem through a checkpoint in Israel’s separation zone in the West Bank.

“We live in very difficult challenges,” he said, citing the war in Ukraine and a recent wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. “But the Christmas message is a message of peace.”

He added: “It is possible to change things. We will be very clear on what to do and say to uphold the importance of unity and reconciliation between all.”

Pizzaballa walked through Manger Square waving to well-wishers.

He later celebrated Midnight Mass at the nearby Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Billions of Christians ushered in the holiday, ending a turbulent year marked by conflict and violence in many parts of the world.

In war-ravaged Ukraine, the glittering lights normally scattered across Kiev’s Sophia Square are missing due to restrictions and blackouts.

Instead, a simple tree decorated with blue and yellow lights barely breaks the darkness of the square.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko called it the “Tree of Invincibility”.

In the United States, a ferocious winter storm continued to engulf much of the country, bringing blinding blizzards, sleet, flooding and life-threatening cold, wreaking havoc on vacationers.

The current reality was visible in Manger Square, where banners with images of Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid were prominently displayed.

The veteran inmate died of cancer at an Israeli prison clinic last week after serving some 20 years behind bars over his conviction for the deaths of seven Israelis.

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