PHOTOS: The Faithful Flock to Bethlehem to Celebrate Christmas After 2 Years of War

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Christ after two years of turmoil in the war-torn Holy Land. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the Israel-Hamas war returned on Wednesday for the Christmas Eve festivities.

The city where Jesus was born had cancelled Christmas celebrations for the past two years. Manger Square instead had featured a nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic religious leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year’s celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.”

WATCH Christmas Eve Celebrations in Bethlehem:

Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza’s tiny Christian community, where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. In the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild.

“We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,” he told thousands of people, both Christian and Muslim.

Despite the holiday cheer, the impact of the war in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is acute, especially in Bethlehem, where around 80% of the Muslim-majority city’s residents depend upon tourism-related businesses, according to the local government.

The vast majority of people celebrating were residents, with a handful of foreigners. But some residents said they are starting to see signs of change as tourism slowly returns.

‘Hope in Very Dark Situations’

“Today is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return of normal life here,” said Bethlehem resident Georgette Jackaman, a tour guide. She and her husband, Michael Jackaman, another guide, are from Christian Bethlehem families that stretch back generations.

This is the first real Christmas celebration for their two children, aged 2 1/2 and 10 months.

During the war, the Jackamans pivoted to create a website selling Palestinian handicrafts to support others who lost their livelihoods. The unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month.

A visitor from France, Mona Riewer, said that “I came because I wanted to better understand what people in Palestine are going through, and you can sense people have been through a very hard time.”

Friends and family cautioned her against coming due to the volatile situation, but Riewer said being in Bethlehem helped her appreciate the meaning of the holiday.

“Christmas is like hope in very dark situations, a very vulnerable child experiencing harshness,” she said.

Despite the Gaza ceasefire that began in October, tensions remain high across much of the West Bank.

Israel’s military continues to carry out raids in what it calls a crackdown on militants. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have reached their highest level since the United Nations humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Bethlehem.

As poverty and unemployment have soared, about 4,000 people have left Bethlehem in search of work, the mayor said. It’s part of a worrying trend for Christians, who are leaving the region in droves. Christians account for less than 2% of the West Bank’s roughly 3 million residents.

The Beginning of a Return to Normal Life

Fadi Zoughbi, who previously worked overseeing logistics for tour groups, said his children were ecstatic to see marching bands streaming through Bethlehem’s streets.

The scouts represent cities and towns across the West Bank, with Palestinian flags and tartan draped on their bagpipes. For the past two years, the scouts marched silently as a protest against the war.

Irene Kirmiz, who grew up in Bethlehem and lives in Ramallah, said the scout parade is among her favorite Christmas traditions. Her 15-year-old daughter plays the tenor drum with the Ramallah scouts.

But her family had to wake up at 5 a.m. to arrive for the parade and waited upwards of three hours at Israeli checkpoints. The drive previously took 40 minutes without the checkpoints that have increasingly made travel difficult for Palestinians, she said.

“It’s very emotional seeing people trying to bounce back, trying to celebrate peace and love,” Kirmiz said.

During the previous two years, the heads of churches in Jerusalem urged congregations to forgo “any unnecessarily festive activities.” They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas’ spiritual meaning and called for “fervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land.”

Other Middle East Events Mark the Faithful’s Resilience

Santas were everywhere as the traditional parade returned to Nazareth in northern Israel, revered by Christians as the place where the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary she would give birth to Jesus.

The hilltop town filled with children. Some starred in live Nativity scenes, and others lined the route waiting for floats and candy under a bright, warm sun.

On the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, hundreds of congregants planned to return for Christmas Masses at a Greek Orthodox church where a suicide attack killed 25 people in June. On Tuesday, they gathered to light a neon image of a Christmas tree in its courtyard.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story, including AP journalists Abby Sewell in Beirut and Ariel Schalit in Nazareth, Israel.