The biblical city of Bethlehem celebrated a Merry Christmas on Saturday, with thousands of descendants in the classic birthplace of Jesus as he recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Tourism is the economic engine of this West Bank city, and for more than two years, the pandemic has kept foreigners away.
This year, visitors are back, hotels are full, and merchants have reported thriving businesses as the holidays approach. Although the numbers have reached pre-pandemic levels, the return of tourists has obviously boosted morale in Bethlehem.
“We are celebrating Christmas this year in a very different way than last year,” Palestinian Authority Tourism Minister Rula Maayah said. “We celebrate Christmas with pilgrims from all over the world. “
Throughout the day, many other people strolled through Manger Square for Christmas Eve celebrations. Brass bands playing drums and bagpipes marched through the area, and foreign tourists walked and took selfies with the city’s tall Christmas tree.
The gray and cool weather, accompanied by an occasional downpour, barely cooled the spirit, many other people headed to the department stores and restaurants to warm up. By nightfall, the crowd had cleared.
Daisy Lucas, a 38-year-old Filipino who works in Israel, said it’s a dream come true to celebrate the holiday in such a vital place.
“As a Christian walking in the Bible, it’s so overwhelming,” he said. “As a Christian, this is an accomplishment on my to-do list.
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, arrived from Jerusalem through a checkpoint at the Israeli security fence in the West Bank.
“We are living through very complicated challenges,” he said, pointing to the war in Ukraine and a recent wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. “But the Christmas message is a message of peace. “
“It’s imaginable to replace things,” he added. We will be very transparent about what we want to do and what we have to say to maintain the importance of unity and reconciliation among all. “
Pizzaballa walked through Manger Square, greeting supporters before heading to the Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Jesus was born for Christians. Later, he was to celebrate midnight Mass.
Today’s truth was visual in Manger Square when banners displaying images of Palestinian terrorist Nasser Abu Hmeid were prominently displayed, days after he died of cancer at an Israeli criminal clinic after spending some 20 years behind bars.
Abu Hmeid, 51, was a founding member of the terrorist group Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party. He had been serving several life sentences since 2002, after being convicted of the deaths of seven Israelis. the time when the Palestinian intifada or uprising opposed Israel in the early 2000s.
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