Bethlehem is shaping up for a dismal Christmas: most of the inns are closed, the shepherds are likely to be under lockdown and there are few visitors from the east, or anywhere else.
Just 12 months ago, the Palestinian town was celebrating its busiest festive season for two decades, amid a sustained drop in violence and a corresponding surge in the number of pilgrims and tourists.
But hotels that were adding new wings in 2019 are now shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nevertheless, town leaders say the traditional birthplace of Jesus will go ahead with its celebrations, aware that the world’s eyes are upon it at this time of year.
“Bethlehem is going to celebrate Christmas. And Christmas will not be cancelled,” said Mayor Anton Salman, as workers behind him erected a huge Christmas tree in Manger Square.
“This Christmas from Bethlehem there will be a message of hope to the whole world, that the world will recover from this pandemic.”
The newly-appointed Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Monday sought to rally the Holy Land faithful, saying that preparations had already started.
His fellow Franciscan friar Father Francesco Patton, the Custodian of the Holy Land, launched the seasonal celebrations on Saturday, presiding over a service in a near-deserted Church of the Nativity.
“This Christmas will be less festive than usual as there will be restrictions, I suppose like any other part of the world,” Pizzaballa said in an interview with a Catholic news service.
Read the article in the Riverine Herald (AAP Newswire).