(RNS) — After two somber and muted Christmas seasons, the city where Christ was born is preparing to celebrate again. The Palestinian town of Bethlehem, a symbol of hope for Christians worldwide, will light its Christmas tree in Manger Square on Saturday (Dec. 6), signaling not only the start of the holiday season but the resilience of a people determined to reclaim joy after years of grief.
The ceasefire in Gaza, brokered by the United States in October, has not halted Israeli attacks on Palestinians, nor has it eased the suffering in Gaza or the West Bank. Yet Bethlehem is choosing to celebrate. According to centuries-old protocols observed by Holy Land religious communities, the city will host three Christmas observances: Dec. 25 for Western churches, Jan. 7 for the Orthodox Christians and Jan. 18 for Armenian Christians. Scouts will march, choirs will sing and midnight Masses will once again fill the Church of the Nativity.
Bethlehem’s decision has encouraged other Palestinian towns to join in. From Beit Jala and Ramallah to Nablus and Zababdeh, streets and churches are being decorated in a collective attempt to invite spiritual reflection and restore the bonds of the community.
Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati said that Christmas in Palestine is “a deeply spiritual act — a time for peace, solidarity and compassion for those who continue to suffer,” and that the lighting of the tree represents “a strong reaffirmation of community, unity and faith.” Former Mayor Anton Salman adds that this year’s festivities express Palestinians’ determination to maintain hope “amid ongoing adversity.”
Samir Hazboun, head of the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, emphasized that the celebrations unite Muslims and Christians alike in a spirit of national solidarity.
Archbishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem said the world should remember that, despite a lull in active fighting, suffering and oppression persist. “Yet hope endures,” he said. “Christmas embodies the values of peace, love and brotherhood.”
Palestinian scouts march during the Christian Orthodox Christmas Eve celebrations at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/ Nasser Nasser, File)
Beneath the lights and carols, the reality on the ground is grim. Unemployment in Bethlehem has soared to 31%. Tourism — normally the city’s economic lifeline — is actually costing the city roughly $2.5 million every day. In 2022, Bethlehem welcomed 1.5 million visitors; today, the industry teeters on collapse. Hotels and workshops operate at a fraction of capacity. Families that once relied on pilgrimage-related income fear bankruptcy.
If economic hardship were the only struggle, the situation would be dire enough. But the last two years have also seen an alarming escalation in Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence.
On Nov. 25, Gov. Mohammad Taha Abu Aliya, whose jurisdiction covers 10 cities in the West Bank, including Bethlehem, told journalists that settler attacks, land confiscations and military incursions continue “unabated,” even as global attention shifts elsewhere. The governor appealed directly to Pope Leo XIV, global church leaders and world governments to protect the historic city, criticizing muted international responses to the constant violence, while praising journalists for documenting both occupation and resilience.
“Bethlehem is a window to Palestine,” he said.
Just south of Bethlehem lies Beit Sahour, home to the Shepherds’ Field, where the Gospel of Luke says angels appeared to shepherds to tell them about the birth of the Christ child. There, the danger is even more immediate. The town’s mayor, Elias Iseed, recently sent an urgent letter to world and church leaders warning of an Israeli plan to build a new settlement on the town’s lands — an “act of dispossession,” he writes, that would “terrorize” a peaceful, predominantly Christian community.
A map of Beit Sahour and Shdema Base, red, near Bethlehem in the West Bank. (Image courtesy of Peace Now)
The targeted area is part of Area C, under full Israeli control. It includes the locally popular Osh Ghurab park and recreation grounds, already overshadowed by a military post. Establishing a settlement there, Iseed warns, “will disrupt our entire community” and push residents toward forced migration. He cites United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs figures documenting 757 settler attacks since January — a 13% increase from last year.
The Israeli group Peace Now confirmed that tractors arrived overnight on Nov. 20 and caravans were installed by morning to create a new outpost called “Shdema.” The site had once been allocated for a Palestinian children’s hospital. Settler pressure halted that project years ago. Now the same settlers claim the land for themselves.
“The new outpost is intended to choke the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour and block its development,” Peace Now said, noting that it has filed a police complaint demanding an investigation.
In this context, Bethlehem’s Christmas tree becomes more than a decoration. It is a proclamation of life, resistance and national identity. As children gaze at its lights and choirs sing in many languages, Bethlehem insists on the right to celebrate, to exist, even while surrounded by walls, checkpoints and expanding settlements.
Christmas here is not escapism. It is defiance. A declaration that joy will not be extinguished, that faith survives occupation and that hope belongs not only to those with power, but to those who persevere.
As the tree is lit and carols echo across Manger Square, Bethlehem sends a message to the world: Peace requires justice. The angels’ proclamation 2,000 years ago — spoken to shepherds from the nearby fields of Beit Sahour — still calls out today: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth.”
The question now is whether the world will listen.
(Daoud Kuttab is the publisher of Milhilard.org, a Christian news site dedicated to communities in Jordan and Palestine, and the author of “State of Palestine NOW.” Follow him on X @daoudkuttab. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)
