Religious tourism by Christians in Bethlehem has collapsed, because of foreigners’ fear of the ongoing violence in Judea and Samaria, and worries over rockets launched into Israel from Gaza. Unemployment is up for two reasons. First, the number of religious tourists has dropped from two million in 2019 to 100,000 in 2024. Second, Israel has for security reasons drastically reduced the number of Palestinians it allows to work inside the Jewish state, and that includes workers from Bethlehem. A report on the increasing despair of Christians in Bethlehem, who were 85% of the population in 1947 and are only 10% today, can be found here: “‘We may face extinction’: Bethlehem’s clergy sound alarm on exodus and extremism amid ongoing war,” by Giorgia Valente, The Media Line, December 26, 2024:
Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ, marked a subdued Christmas, overshadowed by the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the devastating local economy. For the second consecutive year, the city’s Christian community faced a bleak holiday season, with rising fears about the survival of one of the world’s oldest Christian populations.
Friar Ibrahim Faltas, Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, told The Media Line, “This has become an open-air prison. On top of the conflict in Gaza, people here have been struggling for 15 months without income, with restricted mobility, and no change in sight.”
A good dhimmi, Friar Faltas dutifully repeats the Palestinian claim that they live “in an open air prison.” This is false. The people of Bethlehem are free to move about everywhere in Judea and Samaria, and even in Israel proper,, though the jobs that some of them used to have in Israel are now off-limits for security reasons, and will remain so until the Gaza war ends and Hamas terrorists are suppressed in Judea and Samaria.
The streets of Bethlehem reflected this despair. Many shops were closed, no festive decorations were present, and a few young children persistently distributed candies and small souvenirs to passersby with the goal of earning some money.
Groups of locals walked slowly toward Manger Square in front of the Church of the Nativity. Despite the lack of tourism, the square looked packed, given the huge number of foreign press and security forces on every corner
The foreign press were there only to write reports on “Christmas in Bethlehem,” and will leave once the holiday season is over. The increased presence of security forces, who were brought in to protect those journalists from all over the world, will leave at the same time, and Manger Square will revert to its nearly-empty condition.
Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets at noon, departing from the usual raucous brass band procession. At the end of the march, Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa addressed the crowd beside a picture of two Gazan children.
“Despite the current suffering you are facing on every front, we stand with you. Do not surrender; do not be afraid because you are the light in this darkness. This has to be the last Christmas like this,” he declared.
Munther Isaac, senior pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christian Church in Bethlehem, spoke of the importance of resilience. “One year ago, I had the idea to represent the ‘Christ in the rubble’ to show the suffering Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring. This sent a message to the world that Christmas is much more than a recurrence; it is a way to remember who still lives here under oppression and their fight for survival,” he said to The Media Line….
Munther Isaac, a senior Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem, wants to win the favor — or at least to decrease the hostility — of the Muslims in the city. He wanted to show the “suffering Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring” at the hands of the wicked Israelis. He doesn’t dare to show what is really the problem for Christians in Bethlehem, and for Christians in Gaza, too, where their numbers have plummeted since Israel withdrew in 2005, from 5,000 to fewer than 1,000 Christians in the Strip. That problem is, of course, their Muslim neighbors, who make life so unpleasant, difficult, and even, at times, physically dangerous for Christians in Bethlehem and in Gaza. After all, those Muslims know that while they are the “best of peoples” (Qur’an 3:110) the Christians are “the most vile of created beings (98:6).
Tony says
Israel must ban make Islam, its Mosques, its Schools, and any Muslim organization illegal because they teach, fund, and promote terrorism, violence, and discrimination against Non-Muslims. Islam is basically a Terrorist, Criminal Gang Enterprise. Allah in Qur’an 49:15 says, “Surely the believers are only those who believed in Allah and his messenger. They do not doubt, and they performed jihad with their MONEY AND THEIR LIVES for the sake of Allah. Those are the truthful.” Allah in Qur’an 8:12 says, “When your lord revealed to the angels: ‘I am with you so make firm those who believed[Muslims]. I will cast a terror into the hearts of those who became infidels[Non-Muslims]. So strike above their necks(decapitation), and strike off(chop off) every finger from them.’”
Siddi Nasrani says
They all tell me that “Islam” is a religion of peace ?
No Islam,- Know peace.
Know Islam,- No peace.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Does any Christian from outside the region – even the most anti-Semitic of them – really think that Bethlehem is welcoming of Christians? I’d like to see even the Candace Owens or the Jackson Hinkles actually dare to go to Bethlehem, and describe how welcome they’re made to feel by the local muslim gangs there
somehistory says
Jesus Christ, the One Whom these preachers claim as their “Lord,” said, “By their fruits you will recognize them.”
And He also said, ‘Blind guides is what they are. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into the pit.”
He also spoke about what He will say to them. “Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
mozlums….including those in Bethlehem….are intent on wiping out the populations of Christians and Jews and any other people who do not bow to their beast. To work with them, to work for them, to support them in this goal, is just as evil as what the mozlums are doing. It’s evil “fruit.” It’s “the blind leading the blind.”
It’s a “working of lawlessness.”
Claiming Christianity won’t be sufficient. Christ is not fooled and God is ‘not to be mocked.’
rick says
As long as there are stupid Christians like Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa who hates Jews as much as do the Palestinian Muslims do, there is hope for Hamas, hope for terrorism and pain for both Israel and Palestinians in general because Israel must do what it has to in order to protect Jews from the evil of Islamic Jihad. The views of Palestinian leaders today is the same as they were in 1948 and 1929. There is little to no change. If Israel falls asleep as it did on Oct. 7th they will use that to kill, rape, torture and destroy Jews physically. Words from “Christian” leaders in Gaza and in Palestinian Arab sectors only work to continue the hate and violence of Palestinian terrorists. They must know that. And thus they are accomplices to the past and the future terrorism and violence that has and will occur. These so called Christians are on the wrong side of History and there is blood on their hands.