West Bank: Bethlehem celebrates despite the presence of the Omicron variant

Published on : 12/24/2021 – 7:32 PM

In Bethlehem’s Manger Square, the few Santa Claus hats and the sound of drums remind us that today is a day of celebration. But the crowd is sparse because again this year, the coronavirus is spoiling the festivities on December 24.

According to Christian tradition, Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus and usually sees thousands of tourists and foreign pilgrims flock to Christmas. But the city of the occupied West Bank must once again be content with celebrations in a select committee, Israel, which controls access to Palestinian territory, having closed the borders to limit the spread of the Omicron variant.

“It’s so different from other years, when it was crowded,” said Kristel Elayyan, who came from Jerusalem. “‘Oh my god, a foreigner!’, We say to ourselves now when we meet one,” smiles this Dutch woman married to a Palestinian.

Christmas in the age of the coronavirus is an “interesting experience” and “pleasant”, she admits, but it should not become a habit. “For a city like Bethlehem, which depends entirely on tourism, the pandemic has been extremely difficult. We can’t wait to see tourists again.”

Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maayah is delighted that this year, “thanks to the vaccines”, Bethlehem is celebrating again after a confined 2021 edition.

But while they normally sell out in December, the city’s many hotels are virtually deserted these days. Some businesses, although it is the most important day of the year, did not bother to open on Friday.

In the Basilica of the Nativity, visitors have the chance to be able to meditate almost alone in the cave where Jesus was born.

“Surreal,” admits Hudson Harder, a 21-year-old American student. “Selfishly, we say to ourselves that it’s great to see this place so empty”, confides the young man, who hopes to be able to pass a head to the midnight mass, although this one is by invitation only.

“But on the other hand, we feel sorry for the stores, for the money they lose,” he continues. “It’s rather tragic.”

“Worse than war”

A few meters from the basilica, Popes John Paul II and Francis await customers in the front of a souvenir shop. Inside, Victor Epiphane Tabache celebrates his 57^e Christmas behind the counter of the small trade which is teeming with wooden figurines and nativity scenes.

For him as for many traders questioned by AFP around the Place de la Mangeoire, “there is nothing to say about Christmas”.

“Only the Boy Scouts give the impression that it’s party time,” he says wearily, as the drums, trumpets and bagpipes resound in their parade.

“The situation is difficult”, explains the man who survived the pandemic only thanks to the export of his merchandise, which no customer came to buy. “We have lived through the Intifadas (Palestinian uprisings), the wars. But the coronavirus is worse.”

Outside, Maram Saeed takes a family selfie in front of the large tree decorated with red and gold balls.

For this Christian from Jerusalem, it is a day of joy after many days of depression.

“But it’s not yet a usual year, we still fear the worst, we are still afraid of the Covid,” she said.

The coronavirus, “it’s worse” than conflicts, she abounds.

“In a war, we know the enemy. With the Covid, we are talking about a very small enemy that we do not see”, she sums up.

With AFP