Christmas in Bethlehem celebrated under the shadow of Israel's war in Gaza

Faith leaders and residents in Bethlehem are grappling with how to mark the festive holiday while fellow Palestinians continue to be killed.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — In the little town of Bethlehem, Christmas this year is barely a whisper.  

Palestinian scouts paraded through the streets but without their traditional instruments of drums, horns and bagpipes. There was no jubilant countdown to the lighting of the Christmas tree in the main square. In fact, there is no Christmas tree at all. 

Bethlehem is facing its second bleak Christmas since the outbreak of the war in Gaza — leaving faith leaders and residents grappling with how to mark the festive holiday while fellow Palestinians continue to be killed.  

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrated mass in Gaza City on Dec. 22.Omar al-Qataa / AFP via Getty Images“Bethlehem is the capital of Christmas. It’s supposed to be the best time of the year. None of that is happening because we’re mourning,” Rev. Munther Isaac, the pastor of Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, told NBC News.  

Next to the altar where Isaac delivers sermons is an unusual Nativity scene: For the second Christmas in a row, the baby Jesus is wrapped in a keffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, and nestled on a pile of rubble. It serves as a reminder of the thousands of Palestinian children killed in Israeli strikes during the war, Isaac said. “We see Jesus in every child pulled from under the rubble in Gaza.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/christmas-bethlehem-israel-war-gaza-palestinians-rcna185317

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