According to Newsweek's December 24, Bethlehem canceled Christmas to show support for Palestinians in Gaza.
Even Bethlehem's time-honored Christmas tradition has not been immune to the deadly fighting in Gaza, the report said.
Last month, local leaders in Bethlehem decided to cancel all communal Christmas celebrations. According to the Associated Press, the decision was made in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues.
The city of Bethlehem** has set up an artwork called "Nativity Under the Rubble" in Manger Square, replacing the Christmas tree decoration. The artwork depicts the birth of Jesus inside a destroyed building. It is intended to symbolize the struggles and sufferings faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Bethlehem, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is considered the birthplace of Jesus, and is usually crowded with foreign tourists in December, the report said. Previously, the streets were full of vendors with festive decorations and ** ornaments and festive statues.
According to the Associated Press, the artwork was provided on the 23rd by former Palestinian Tourism Minister Lula Maya and Bethlehem Mayor Hana Hananiyeh. Hananiye said that the displacement of Palestinian families was like that of Jesus, Maria and Joseph fleeing from King Herod.
This is to tell the world that while the whole world is celebrating Christmas, Bethlehem is not. Lula Maia said.
On December 24, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo** published an article entitled "Sad Christmas in Bethlehem". The article writes that it is Christmas without joy, without Christmas trees, without choirs and without pilgrims. The church of the Church of the Rites was empty. The shops are in a state of ruin, with almost no decoration and few cars in sight. The tall gray wall that Israel forcibly erected in this part of the occupied West Bank nearly two decades ago filters the traffic heading for Jerusalem. In a church, a miniature nativity scene depicts the baby Jesus lying in the ruins that automatically recall the tragic scenes of Palestine under Israeli bombs in the Gaza Strip.
I don't remember ever looking so empty, never like this. On Christmas days last year, more than 4,000 pilgrims bent down the humble laneway leading to the Church of the Nativity every day. The number of pilgrims today is zero, and it will continue to be so. My store** religious objects, especially the nativity scene carved in olive wood, is located in the manger square, and the store may not have seen customers in two months. Ronny Tabash, 42, said he was chatting with several police officers from the Palestinian National Authority and unemployed taxi drivers to pass the time. Many small shops remain closed, as are quite a few hotels and restaurants. For them, what has traditionally been the most lucrative time of the year has become a test of crisis.
"Our city is accustomed to receiving an average of nearly 30,000 pilgrims from the beginning of December to the weeks after Orthodox Christmas on January 7 of the following year," said Mayor Hannah Hanania, 44, "Our city is accustomed to receiving an average of nearly 30,000 pilgrims," the article wrote. But these days, the number of pilgrims does not exceed a few hundred. This is a disaster, especially if you consider that more than 70% of our economy depends on religious tourism. Without money, the festival is poor and hopeless, because the situation is still very difficult. (Compiled by Wang Diqing, Su Jiawei).