The war in Gaza claimed another symbolic victim on Sunday: the joyous annual procession of children marching through Bethlehem.
With Christmas celebrations in the city of Jesus’ birth canceled due to the conflict, video of this year’s once-bustling Christmas parade with the Boy and Girl Scouts shows children completely calm as they walk through Bethlehem, or Beit Lechem, located in what is now Israeli territory. Occupied West Bank, carrying banners urging peace.
A group of Palestinian Girl Scouts could be seen holding banners that read: “We want life, not death” and “Peace for Gaza and its people.”
Instead of being greeted by countless spectators as in previous years, only photographers and guards with the scouts could be seen on the streets.
The children’s march is part of the famous Patriarch’s Procession, which leads the Roman Catholic patriarch’s journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to imitate the one Joseph and Mary made on Christmas Eve.
The Bethlehem march includes the patriarch’s arrival at the Church of the Nativity, where the Christmas installation is now covered with a tarp and surrounded by debris and barbed wire.
Palestinian scouts join the silent procession in Bethlehem carrying banners calling for peace in Gaza. AFP via Getty Images The march was silent, without instruments or music, unlike previous years. AFP via Getty Images
The solemn celebration in Bethlehem is just the latest blow to a city that normally welcomes tens of thousands of visitors from around the world at this time of year.
The religious center is now struggling to maintain its economy during the war between Israel and Hamas, which has sparked a new wave of violent incidents across the West Bank.
Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Hanania, who boasts that the city receives at least 1.5 million visitors a year, said tourism has completely stopped since the war began, the New York Times reported.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, greets the scouts and officials who joined the quiet Christmas celebrations. AFP via Getty Images The march of the explorers is part of the famous Patriarch’s Procession, which imitates the journey of Joseph and Mary from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. AFP via Getty Images
The lack of tourists has taken its toll on local businesses, and hotel manager Rony Fakhouri, 27, told the Times that the Dar Al Majus hotel has lost about 100,000 shekels, or $27,000.
He added that while the guesthouse usually hosts at least 200 people during the holidays, it has only had 12 guests since the war began.
The decline in visitors also cost Fakhouri his second job as a night shift manager at another hotel, something that didn’t even happen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Christmas installation in front of the Church of the Nativity features covered figures, standing among rubble and surrounded by barbed wire. REUTERS
Jack Issa Juqman, 52, who has been making wooden statues and carvings of Jesus since he was a teenager, has seen a similar effect in the shop his family has run for about 200 years.
“We already had to lay off nine employees,” Juqman told Al Jazeera of his once-busy workshop.
The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, which monitors developments in Bethlehem, estimated that the economy would take a hit of about $200 million this year, with at least 60% of the losses directly affecting Bethlehem.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn