Christians mark Christmas in Bethlehem amid violence

Pilgrims celebrated Christmas in the town where tradition says Jesus was born on Thursday (Dec 24) but festivities were subdued against a backdrop of violence in the Holy Land and a growing militant threat across the Middle East.

The mood in Bethlehem has been dampened by a three month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that shows no signs of relenting.

The celebrations in Manger Square will continue through the Christmas period, but other festivities in Bethlehem were canceled or scaled down. “We are in Bethlehem celebrating Christmas, celebrating the birthday of our lord Jesus Christ”.

“This year, we witnessed more churches around the world supporting the call for recognition of the State of Palestine, and an increasing number of Christian groups campaigning to divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation of our land”, Abbas said.

They listened to holiday music played by marching bands and scout troops.

Israel argues that the wall, which is considered illegal by the International Court of Justice, has been a key part of halting suicide attacks by Palestinian terrorists against Israeli civilians.

Violent protests and a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks targeting Israelis since October have killed 129 on the Palestinian side, 19 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

In recent years, Bethlehem had enjoyed a relative calm and thousands of revelers and pilgrims poured into Manger Square each Christmas.

Hotel owners and vendors in Bethlehem have complained this holiday season of lagging business from travelers coming to the city for Christmas celebrations.

Khader said the Latin Patriarch’s annual procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas eve had gone ahead this year, as it had done during even through the Second Intifada.

“We need to celebrate because celebration is a kind of steadfastness”.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal leads a Christmas midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 25, 2015.

Twal, who let a cleric read his statement, called for peace in the region before starting the mass.

The situation in Israel is tense, with soldiers visible on many streets, a huge security wall separating out the Jewish settlements from the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and regular check-points to cross.

In his homily, Twal expressed sympathy for the plight of Palestinians, Syrian refugees and “victims of all forms of terrorism everywhere”, according to a transcript issued by his office. Among them is Dunia al-Hawareen, who brought her baby daughter to the manger display at the foot of the Bethlehem tree, holding the child up so she could see the baby Jesus.

He hoped the Christmas celebrations this year would bring a message “of hope for all inhabitants of the Holy Land” and allow the church to “share joy with those who are suffering”.

Heavily armed soldiers patrolled outside the city’s iconic Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores, still doing a brisk last-minute Christmas trade though notably less crowded than usual.