Tourism returns to Bethlehem for Christmas, the land where Jesus was born

With the pandemic over and tourists returning to the city, the Palestinian city of Belenwhere Jesus was born according to Christian tradition, today celebrated the Good night with a parade, to the rhythm of drums and bagpipes from Palestinian bands, Arab dances and carols, with the assistance of thousands of faithful.

The parade ended with the entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity, built on the manger where Jesus was born, of the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballawho led the traditional Christmas Eve pilgrimage from Jerusalem to Bethlehem every December 24.

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Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, will officiate tonight at 11:30 p.m. (21:30 GMT) in the Catholic Church of Santa Catalina, adjacent to the Nativity, the midnight mass, but before he had to cross the Israeli concrete wall that separates Bethlehem on foot from the Holy City, a few kilometers away.

A Christian pilgrim touches the wall while others wait in line at the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on December 24, 2022. (Photo by EFE/ATEF SAFADI) (ATEF SAFADI/)

”We live in difficult times but the message of Christmas is always a message of peace”, said Pizzaballa after crossing the wall about the war in Ukraine and the growing violence in the West Bank, which this year reached an unprecedented peak since 2006 with 170 Palestinians killed in violent episodes with Israel.

Palestinian Christians of Bethlehem

The governorate of Bethlehem, in area A of the occupied West Bank -controlled by the Palestinian Authority-, is home to the highest concentration of Christian Palestinian population, more than 33,000 people, and is the center of the Christmas festivities in Palestine, both for locals and for Christian pilgrims from all over the world.

”It was my dream to celebrate a Christmas in Bethlehem, where it all happened. I wanted to come last year but it was impossible because Israel closed the borders due to the omicron variant. In the end we were able”, says the excited Mexican Mariela Ramírez, 52, who visits the Holy Land for Christmas as part of a trip organized by a Catholic institution in her country.

The Christmas celebrations this year in Bethlehem have recovered the influx of tourists and pilgrims after a two-year pause due to the covid-19 pandemic and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism expects to receive more than 100,000 visitors on these dates, to close 2022 with a total of 700,000.

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The hotel occupancy rate is around 80%, still below 2019 levels, but reservations for the beginning of 2023 augur good news for tourism in Bethlehem, the main source of income for the city and the majority of its inhabitants. although Israel -the gateway for tourism also for Palestine- is taking over the Christian tourism sector to a large extent with tours throughout the Holy Land in which Bethlehem is a one-day stop.

Although he also complains about the pressure from Israel to “steal” the business, Ahmad Odeh is happy because the arrival of between 100,000 and 120,000 visitors at this time, a good sign of recovery for the sector and in particular for his sales business. of religious souvenirs carved in olive wood.

A nun prays in the Grotto of the Church of the Nativity the day before Christmas, in Bethlehem, West Bank, on December 23, 2022. (Photo by EFE/EPA/ATEF SAFADI)

”The pandemic has been more devastating to us than the violence or the wall. We have been in occupation for more than 50 years and we have survived, but covid-19 almost forced us to close. For almost two years not a single tourist or pilgrim arrived, that means zero income“, summarizes.

Abbas’s message

On the occasion of Christmas, the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, sent a congratulatory message to the Palestinian people last night, in which he promised to continue “refuting the false Zionist narrative” and any “racist measures aimed at erasing the Palestinian national identity” in defense of their “Christian and Muslim heritage”.

”Palestine is celebrating with the rest of the world the glorious occasion of Christmas, the birth of Christ, messenger of love and peace. In this celebration we raise the flag of Palestine, we light Christmas trees, accompanied by choirs and beautiful religious hymns, scout parades and our children participate from Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to the rest of the homeland and in exile.“Abas said.

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Abbas celebrated the message this week from the heads of the Jerusalem Churches -Greek-Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, among others- in which they accused Jewish extremist groups of perpetrating “continuous attacks on churches, intimidating Christians, attempting to expel them and seize their property”.

The Palestinian leader also expressly congratulated Christmas to the Palestinian exile, habitual destination of the depleted local Christian community, which represents only 1% of the population of the occupied Palestinian territories -compared to 25% in 1948 or 12% in 1967- due to to the high emigration of its members in search of a better life and the Israeli pressure to Judaize the holy places of the Holy Land.

Source: Elcomercio