Bethlehem awaits Christmas pilgrims
Hotels stand nearly empty one day before Christmas eve, and residents complain holiday atmosphere ‘can barely be felt’. Business owners hope tens of thousands of Christian tourists will flood city, won’t run into security obstacles at entrance. IDF: Israel easing restrictions out of recognition of city’s importance
The Palestinian government budgeted USD 50,000 to ornament the city in advance of the holiday. However, the Bethlehem municipality, suffering from a long-term fiscal crisis, decided to use the sum to pay out withheld workers wages to put an end to the workers’ strike – at least for the holiday period.
Until Saturday municipal workers, including sanitation officials, were on strike, and the municipality hoped the meager sum would make city employees resume their jobs, at least temporarily.
A Santa Claus tries to inspire holidy spirit (Photo: AFP)
In the meantime, almost all the city’s hotels stand empty, and like the other business owners in the town, hotel owners impatiently await the expected arrival of tens of thousands Arab Christians from all over Israel and abroad.
The IDF said that it would ease entry restrictions into Bethlehem for Arab Israelis during the holiday, and Bethlehem residents hoped no obstacles would arise to spoil their last hopes for some holiday spirit.
'No holiday cheer'
Residents said that even at the height of the intifada, after IDF operation Defensive Shield and the prolonged siege of the Church of the Nativity, the atmosphere was much more festive. A Palestinian resident of the city said to Ynet, “You can barely feel the holiday. The political and economic situations don’t lend themselves to holiday cheer.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is slated to be the guest of honor at the midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity. A large number Arab Israeli and West Bank diplomatic officials are also expected to attend the mass, as in previous years.
Despite the lacking Christmas atmosphere, Bethlehem residents hope that as the eve of the holiday nears, the town will be flooded with tens of thousands of pilgrims and visitors from Israel and worldwide.
Security restrictions
Meanwhile, the humanitarian organization Machsom Watch appealed to the Civil Authority in the names of 110 Christian Arab Israelis who have been barred entry into holy sites for security reasons. The 110 include doctors, hospital workers, and housewives. Machsom Watch claims that “this is a group of law-abiding citizens that don’t know why they’ve been labeled a security threat.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Aviv Feigel, head of the District Co-ordination and Liaison for Bethlehem said in response, “From a tour I took of the city with a few of my commanders, I can tell you with certainty that this year the city was decorated most festively and more decorously than in previous years. The city was cleaned and is ready to host the thousands of pilgrims expected to arrive starting tomorrow.”
Feigel added, “Israel is greatly easing restrictions for the Christmas holiday, out of recognition of the importance of Bethlehem to the Christian world. We will allow all Christian believers to enter the city, whether they are tourists or Israeli Christians. Whoever arrives in a private vehicle will have no trouble entering the city.”
Liron Milstein contributed to the report
