Tourists return to Bethlehem for Christmas after three years of pandemic [VIDEO]

In connection with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the next arrival of tourists in the city, the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was born, December 25 Goodnight with a parade, to the rhythms of drums and bagpipes of Palestinian orchestras, Arabic dances and hymns, with the assistance of thousands of believers.

The parade ended with the entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity, built on the birthplace of Jesus, by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, who led the traditional pilgrimage Goodnight from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, will be serving Midnight Mass at Santa Catalina Catholic Church adjacent to Christmas tonight (2130 GMT), but before doing so he had to cross the Israeli concrete wall dividing Bethlehem on foot from the Holy city, a few kilometers away.

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

Palestinian Christians of Bethlehem

governorate belemArea A in the Palestinian Authority-controlled occupied West Bank has the largest concentration of Christian Palestinians, over 33,000, and is the center of the Palestinian Christmas celebrations for both locals and Christian pilgrims from all over the world.

“My dream was to Christmas in belemwhere it all happened. I wanted to come last year but it was not possible because Israel closed the borders because of the micron option. In the end, we were able to do it,” says excited 52-year-old Mexican Mariela Ramirez, who is visiting the Holy Land on Christmas as part of a trip organized by a Catholic institution in her country.

Christmas celebration this year in belem they have restored 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, and 700,000 by the end of 2022.

Hotel occupancy is around 80%, still below 2019 levels, but early 2023 bookings bode well for tourism in belemthe main source of income for the city and most of its inhabitants, although Israel – the gateway for tourism to Palestine as well – is largely taking over the Christian tourism sector with tours of the Holy Land, in which Bethlehem is one of the day’s stops.

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

“The pandemic has been more devastating for us than the violence or the wall. We have been under occupation for over 50 years and have survived, but COVID-19 almost forced us to close. For almost two years, not a single tourist or pilgrim has come, which means zero income, ”he sums up.

Abbas’ message

On the occasion of ChristmasPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent a congratulatory message to the Palestinian people last night, promising to continue “refuting the false Zionist narratives” and any “racist measures aimed at erasing the national identity of Palestine” in defense of its “Christian heritage and Muslims.”

“Palestine, together with the whole world, celebrates the glorious event of Christmas, the birth of Christ, the messenger of love and peace. On this holiday, we raise the Palestinian flag, light the Christmas trees, Christmasaccompanied by choirs and beautiful religious hymns, scout parades and our children from Jerusalem and belemtowards the rest of the country and in exile,” Abas said.

This week, Abbas celebrated a message from the heads of the Jerusalem churches—Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Syrian, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and others—in which they accused Jewish extremist groups of committing “continuous attacks on churches, intimidating Christians, trying to drive them out and seize their property.”

The Palestinian leader also directly congratulated Christmas into Palestinian exile, a common destination for the emaciated local Christian community, which makes up only 1% of the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territories—compared to 25% in 1948 or 12% in 1967—due to the high emigration of its members in search of a better life and Israeli pressure on the Judaization of the holy places of the Holy Land.

(As reported by EFE)

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Fernando Carvallo selects information and shares his vision of national and international news. sign to our Las cosas newsletter, as they should be reading your daily columns.