Politics Mar Bethlehem Festivities
Banners declaring "No land, No future, No Christmas trees" hung alongside a meager display of holiday lights and streamers Wednesday in Bethlehem's Manger Square, where misery from three years of violence forced politics onto the Christmas Eve scene.
Like most Palestinian towns and cities, Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, has been battered by three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, leaving behind destroyed, pockmarked buildings and a battle-scarred population.
The low-key festivities began with the arrival of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, the highest-ranking Catholic official in the Holy Land.
His motorcade was preceded by an hour-long parade of Palestinian youths in scout uniforms, marching to the beat of drums and wail of bagpipes.
Sabbah was to officiate over midnight Mass in St. Katherine's Church next to the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where Jesus is believed to have been born.
Economically shattered by the violence, the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority cut its Christmas decoration budget this year, making decorations sparse in Manger Square, home to the fortress-like Church of the Nativity.
A life-size Santa doll overlooked the square, attached to a lamppost as if it were hanging from a gallows.
Bethlehem residents complained that with the hardships brought about by the violence and Israeli military measures, there was little to celebrate.
Signs of these troubles were everywhere.
Banners calling for Israel to stop building a West Bank barrier were prominent. The structure, meant to keep Palestinian attackers out of Israel, dips deep into the West Bank. Palestinians strongly oppose the barrier, saying it is an illegal seizure of land they claim for a state.
The barrier — a series of concrete walls, trenches, razor wire and fences — would divide parts of Bethlehem and separate the town from nearby Jerusalem, leaving thousands bitter and angry.
Munir Karake, 42, a Bethlehem Muslim who celebrates Christmas with his Romanian Christian wife, said the "atmosphere feels better than last year, but still pretty bad."
"Our lives are tied to politics," Karake said, brushing off the many banners and enormous picture of Yasser Arafat overlooking the square. "We're not pushing politics onto Christmas. Politics is pushing itself on us on this holiday, like it does on every aspect of our lives."
For the third year in a row, Arafat was absent from the celebrations.
The veteran Palestinian leader had attended Christmas Eve celebrations every year after Israel turned the town over to Palestinian control in December 1995. But since the current round of violence erupted, Israel has prevented Arafat from making the 12-mile trip from his battered West Bank headquarters.
Just as it has been since fighting erupted, Bethlehem remained nearly barren of tourists and pilgrims this year.
Just a few thousand people gathered in the cold in Manger Square to watch the annual procession into the Church of the Nativity. Only a few hundred foreign tourists were in the crowd, a far cry of the tens of thousands that thronged the square each year before the current wave of fighting broke out.
Christmas Eve used to be the peak of business for many Bethlehem shopkeepers. On Wednesday, half the shops in an arcade lining one side of the square were closed.
"We don't have pilgrims, no tourists, nobody," said Bethlehem resident Elias Abu Akleh, 52, standing in the middle of the sparsely populated square. "For whom are they going to open? The local people don't buy souvenirs."
The town's economy, heavily dependent on tourism, has collapsed. Workshops are closed, unemployment is high, income has dropped dramatically and poverty is becoming the norm.
More concerned with present problems than biblical reminiscence, Bethlehem residents allowed Israel's security barrier to become the unofficial theme of this year's celebrations.
"Don't convert Bethlehem into a ghetto" and "The wall strangles the birthplace of Jesus" read banners overlooking Manger Square.
A group of Palestinians carried signs against the barrier the length of Manger Square. Christmas "gives us an opportunity to tell the world, 'we are suffering, please help us to stop this wall,"' said Hazem Azza, 24, a university student.
Other political issues were also visible.
Hours before procession, relatives of 26 Palestinian gunmen who were expelled after holing up in the church during a month long standoff with Israeli forces in May 2002 gathered to demand the return of their loved ones.
A child with a Santa Claus cap held a picture of her father and a Palestinian flag.
Khalil Abu Nijme, 38, whose brother Khaled was banished to Italy, sat in front of the church as Christmas carols blared over loudspeakers.
"Although I am a Muslim we celebrate Christmas. This is a celebration for all Bethlehemites, but this celebration has become political, because this is our life," Abu Nijme said.
The political emphasis dismayed Mahran Tawwil, 19, a student from nearby Beit Sahour. "We came here to celebrate Christmas, not to deal with other problems," he said.