World News Islamic Violence Dampens Christmas Celebrations in Bethlehem
Islamic Violence Dampens Christmas Celebrations in Bethlehem
Rlgrimes 12/25/2015
Crowds were much smaller at Manger Square in Bethlehem for Christmas Eve Celebrations.
Every year at this time, the Christian faithful from around the world on descend on the biblical city of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations at the traditional birthplace of Jesus. But this year thanks to the unrest of the Palestinians and their attacks on innocent persons, the celebrations are not what they normally are. The festivities have by months of Palestinian sponsored terrorist attacks.
This year, the fighting cast a pall over the celebrations. Crowds were thin and hotel rooms were empty. While the annual festivities in Bethlehem’s Manger Square went on, other celebrations in the city were canceled or toned down.
“There’s lights, there’s carols, but there’s an underlying sense of tension,” said Paul Haines of Cornwall, England, who arrived in Bethlehem following a four-month trek from Rome. Bethlehem has been a focal point for clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters during a three-month wave of Terror attacks that has gripped the region.
The city was quiet on Thursday, although violence raged elsewhere in the West Bank. Israeli authorities said three Palestinian terrorists were killed as they carried out or tried to carry out stabbing or car-ramming attacks against Israeli security personnel, and a fourth Palestinian terrorist was killed in clashes with Israeli troops, a Palestinian hospital official said. Two Israeli security guards and a soldier were wounded.
Lisette Rossman, a 22-year-old student from Albuquerque, New Mexico, said the violence made her think twice about visiting a friend studying in Jerusalem. She said she was glad she made the trip because “it was one of my dreams to come here.”
Since mid-September, Palestinian terrorist attacks, mostly stabbings and shootings, have murdered 20 Israelis, while Israeli fire has put down 124 Palestinians, among them 85 said by Israel to be terrorist attackers. The rest were killed in clashes with Israeli forces. Israel accuses Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence.
“We’re in Bethlehem celebrating Christmas, celebrating the birthday of our lord Jesus Christ. This is the birthplace of the king of peace, so what we want is peace,” said Rula Maayah, the Palestinian tourism minister.
In the evening, several thousand people crowded into Manger Square, admiring the town’s glittering Christmas tree and listening to holiday music played by marching bands and scout troops. Palestinian vendors hawked coffee, tea and Santa hats. Young children sold sticks of gum. But at 9 p.m., traditionally a bustling time of the evening, there were few tourists to drink local wine sold on the square or to eat freshly fried falafel.
As the festivities got underway, Miral Siriani, a 35-year-old publicist from Jerusalem, said she was relieved to get a break from three months of tension that has included numerous attacks in her city. “I feel safe in Bethlehem,” she said.
In recent years, Bethlehem had enjoyed a relative calm and thousands of revelers and pilgrims poured into Manger Square each Christmas. But vendors and hotel owners complained of sagging business this Christmas season. Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian official, said hotel bookings were down 25 percent from last year, which itself was weak following a war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip several months earlier.
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Some Palestinians hoped holiday cheer would replace the gloom. Said Nustas, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, rang a Christmas bell on a narrow asphalt street as he prepared to deliver gifts from a toy store to children nearby. “The situation is what it is, a war and intifada,” Nustas said. “But God willing, we’ll overcome it and celebrate.”
Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal led a procession from his Jerusalem headquarters into Bethlehem, passing through a military checkpoint and past Israel’s concrete separation barrier, which surrounds much of the town. Israel built the barrier a decade ago to stop a wave of suicide bombings. Palestinians say the structure has stifled Bethlehem’s economy.
In Bethlehem, Twal wished “peace and love” for all. But given the history of the region, that is something that is very unlikely to happen anytime in the near future.
Read more at
http://universalfreepress.com/2015/islamic-violence-dampens-christmas-celebrations-in-bethlehem/
