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Bethlehem was preparing for Christmas with people from all over the world. Then Israel suddenly closed its borders again.
Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born according to the Bible, was preparing for Christmas for the first time in two years with visitors from abroad. At the beginning of November, Israel finally reopened its borders – not even for four weeks, then “Omikron” came. A disaster for the sixty percent of the population who make a living from tourism.
Midnight Mass 2019: the world was still fine then
Almost one and a half million pilgrims and tourists came to Bethlehem over Christmas 2019. On Christmas Eve the Church of the Nativity was full to bursting, but no one suspected that the last hour for the Christmas hype in Bethlehem had struck at that time.
Legend:
Bethlehem is one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage sites. Because of «Omikron», the hoped-for streams of tourists will not come this year.
ZVG
On March 5, 2020, the first seven corona cases in the occupied Palestinian territories were discovered in Bethlehem: the Palestinian Autonomous Government declared the emergency. Since then, the city, with around 30,000 inhabitants, has been largely cut off from the outside world.
«No soul, just cold, loneliness and fear»
“The city looks like the grotto of Jesus’ birth,” says the parish priest, Father Rami Asakrieh, meaning: empty and cold. On the Website of the Bethlehem parish it also says: “Bethlehem is closed and seeks compassion and grace.” Christmas was already a year ago, says Father Rami. “There was no soul, just cold, loneliness and fear of the pandemic and its consequences,” says the clergyman. God knows, Corona is not Bethlehem’s first crisis.
Experienced many crises in 2000 years: but none like this one
«We experienced the bloody Palestinian uprising, war, earthquake, epidemic: but the situation was never like it is now. More people died than in the other disasters, ”says Father Rami.
In the Palestinian Territories, almost 5,000 people have died of Corona since the beginning of the pandemic, several hundred of them in Bethlehem. Poverty has increased even more in this already poor city. There are hardly any alternatives to tourism, and Bethlehem has no industry. For two years now, instead of work, there has only been hopelessness and despair in this industry, the pastor notes.
Christmas wish: hope
Many are looking for work in Israel, but that is not easy, says Father Rami. «Bethlehem is enclosed by a wall. If you want to go out, you need a permit. Israel is very restrictive with permits and only gives them to people who have been vaccinated against Corona three times. “
Legend:
All kinds of souvenirs are for sale in the historic streets of Bethlehem. The shops are unlikely to attract any customers again.
ZVG
Despite the hardship: because of this, more people don’t come to church, as one might suspect in a crisis, says Father Rami. “Believers deepen their faith during this time, and non-religious people may want to pray. But when you cannot feed your children, it is difficult to be spiritually strong. “
Father Rami says that the people of Bethlehem really only wanted one thing for Christmas: hope. Father Rami tries to give this to his congregation: Bethlehem is decorated, and the Christian and Muslim population enjoy it equally. And: after all, Bethlehem has the grotto of the birth – the place where hope for Christianity was born more than 2000 years ago.