War within the Middle East: Nobody in Bethlehem is within the Christmas spirit | EUROtoday

Bethlehem within the West Bank thrives on Christmas tourism. But as a result of conflict, he’s now lacking for the second yr. Residents despair of the financial penalties – and worries about kin in Gaza.

Everyone in Bethlehem in all probability is aware of the Afteem restaurant. Here, in Manger Square not removed from the Church of the Nativity, yow will discover the very best falafel within the metropolis. In winter, guests crowd into the vaulted cellar. There is hummus, kebab and contemporary mint lemonade right here. Now as a substitute of Christmas carols and the noise of meals, there may be solely a vacuum cleaner roaring by way of the room.

The 120 chairs presently stay principally empty, complains proprietor Jaqueline Salameh. “Bethlehem thrives on olive wood, the Church of the Nativity and Christmas. But we are not in the Christmas spirit.” Only within the nook is a tree with purple balls. For the youngsters, she says. Otherwise there may be only a lonely string of lights hanging from the ceiling.

Many in Bethlehem are unemployed

Bethlehem’s streets are in any other case overcrowded. Pilgrims come right here to see as soon as of their lives this place within the Holy Land – the place the place, in line with biblical custom, Jesus was born. But folks from all around the world have stopped coming for the second yr. The conflict within the Middle East has introduced tourism to a standstill. And due to this fact crucial supply of revenue.

Half of the folks within the metropolis presently haven’t any work, says Salameh. A household can not afford to go to the restaurant. Only generally folks will decide up a falafel pita for 2 euros.

More and extra individuals are leaving the realm

Salameh’s household enterprise is an establishment within the previous city, for locals and vacationers. The restaurant has been round since 1948. Now income has fallen by 80 %, she says. The staff gave up half of their wages in order that issues might proceed.

Many Palestinians within the occupied West Bank are like them. During the conflict, the unemployment charge right here rose to virtually 35 %, in line with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Due to growing impoverishment and an absence of prospects, an increasing number of individuals are leaving the realm.

No Christmas tree, hardly any prospects

The temper outdoors, within the sq. in entrance of the Church of the Nativity, can also be depressed. Otherwise every part right here is festively embellished, there’s a massive tree and Christmas stalls. Now solely a handful of distributors promote espresso and corn on carts. They hardly have any prospects both. Cars are parked in disarray.

The sight makes Elias Boulus unhappy. The younger man belongs to the Shepherd Scouts, a gaggle of drummers from the city of Beit Sahour simply east of right here. At Christmas they normally go by singing and drumming – alongside the trail that Mary and Joseph are stated to have taken again then. But the pageant can also be canceled.

Thoughts concerning the folks of Gaza

“This shouldn’t be a parking lot,” he stated. “But that’s the result of the war. We live from one day to the next.” He says he additionally has household in Gaza, like most individuals right here. It scares him how little a life counts. How are you presupposed to have fun festivals there when individuals are ravenous and dying? Two kin have been killed in an air raid on a church, and one other died as a result of he didn’t discover assist in the hospital in time. These days he typically goes to the Church of the Nativity to consider her.

It’s only a few steps to get there. Inside, the scent of incense wafts from vessels on the ceiling. Except for a safety guard, there isn’t a one else within the church. Boulous takes a candle and climbs down the steps to the start grotto. A star on the bottom marks the place Jesus’ manger is claimed to have been. Otherwise every part is crowded right here and you may stand in line for hours. Now just one nun kneels in prayer on the chilly stone.

Silence within the Church of the Nativity

“Now I have the place to myself and come much more often than usual,” says drummer Boulous. “When I feel hopeless, I find hope here. I can block out what else is going on.”

Suddenly there may be pleasure within the sq. in entrance of the church. A rocket from Yemen flew over the West Bank in direction of Tel Aviv. But nobody right here is comfortable about it, says Abud, who sells souvenirs in a small stall not removed from the church. He in any other case advertises scarves and shawls as presents for the household. Handmade Palestinian ones, he emphasizes. But the reporters have been the primary prospects in his retailer for ten days.

Nobody comes besides journalists

“Things have been getting worse for us since October 7, 2023,” he says. The vacationers believed it was too harmful to return right here. Many of his colleagues have already given up their enterprise. He additionally works part-time as a metropolis information, however final yr he solely had two teams of tourists. “Fifty or 60 families live from working in the hotels alone,” he says. But now nobody besides journalists would come.

At the tip of the day he bought a single scarf.