Belén is in mourning. Local authorities across the West Bank have suspended Christmas celebrations due to the Gaza war. And in the same place where neighbors and tourists usually gather around this time of year, its Manger Square, today there is wind, cold, pouring rain, silence, and a nativity scene with a baby Jesus among rubble and concertinas in the that stands out a symbolic kefia.
The more than 20,000 deaths in the strip are very present.
The celebration, an essential source of income for many Palestinians, peters out. Worshipers light candles and pray outside the Church of the Nativity, but there is neither the usual Christmas tree nor the festive lights. Today only religious rites will be maintained.
The traditional parade of marching bands that accompanies the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem on his way on foot to Bethlehem to celebrate mass will be lackluster this year. Since the Hamas massacre of October 7 against Israel and the beginning of the war in the strip, access to Bethlehem and the other Palestinian cities in the West Bank has been and is difficult.
