Cities around the world hold low-key Christmas Eve celebrations amid conflict

On December 25, 2024By Littum

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another gloomy Christmas Eve Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the shadow of war in Gaza.

The jubilation that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week was nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that usually adorn Manger Square were missing, as were they crowd of foreign tourists.

Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass band. Security forces set up barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built on top of the place where Jesus is believed to have been born. A young boy was holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them.

Palestinian scouts carry placards reading “Peace for Gaza and its people” as they march during Christmas Eve celebrations at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognized by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Tuesday. December 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Scouts line up during the traditional Christian procession towards the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix )

The cancellation of Christmas parties is a serious blow to the city’s economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income – almost all of it from the Christmas season. The number of visitors to Bethlehem fell from a pre-COVID high of about 2 million a year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism.

ONE wave of violence in the West Bankwhere more than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis have been killed in militant attacks, has largely halted tourism. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the dead are civilians and how many are fighters.

Since the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that sparked the waraccess to and from Bethlehem and other West Bank cities has been restricted, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the Israeli economy to contract by 25%.

IN the assault on October 7 in southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe about 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic priest in the Holy Land, noted the closed shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better.

“This must be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where tens of thousands would normally gather.

Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas fair in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they had been displaced in the church since the war began last October with barely enough food and water.

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, is received by the local community as he crosses an Israeli military checkpoint from Jerusalem for Christmas Eve celebrations at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognized by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Tuesday, December 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

“We hope that next year on the same day we will be able to celebrate Christmas in our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman who prayed for the war to end. “We don’t feel happy.”

Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the approximately 14 million inhabitants spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the US State Department.

Nigerian worshipers pray at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Nigerian worshipers walk along the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Nuns walk along the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Elsewhere, worshipers found connection despite difficult times.

A Syrian Christian man holds up a cross and shouts slogans in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, during a protest march after a Christmas tree was set on fire in Hamah city on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Tourists flock to the reopened Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris celebrated its first Christmas Eve Mass since a devastating fire ravaged the medieval landmark in 2019.

About 2,000 people attended an afternoon mass – one of four held on Tuesday – including worshipers and other visitors who marveled at the restoration of the recently reopened cathedral. Some American tourists in Paris made their trip to ensure they could attend Christmas Eve services at Notre Dame.

“They did a great job,” said visitor Aly Beinert. “It looks beautiful. It blew us away.”

Syrian Christians carry crosses and shout slogans in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, as they march during a protest after a Christmas tree was set on fire in Hamah city on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The Archbishop of Paris symbolically reopened Notre Dame’s great wooden doors on December 7 with three resounding knocks, with guests including President-elect Donald Trump, US First Lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Syrians come together for rare moments of joy

In Saydnaya, Syria, a large crowd gathered near a historic monastery on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.

The celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by more than a decade of war and its notorious prison where tens of thousands are held. Families and friends stood by the lighted tree – some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops – as a band played festive music and fireworks lit up the sky.

“This year is different – there is happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said Houssam Saadeh, one of the participants. Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria, dismissing recent Christmas tree vandalism as “isolated incidents.”

American families

honor victims of church school shooting

At City Church in Madison, Wisconsin, lead pastor Tom Flaherty encouraged congregants at a candlelight Christmas Eve service to open their hearts to God’s grace.

“Happiness comes from what happens. Joy comes from a much deeper place, and it doesn’t matter what’s happening around you,” Flaherty said. “So number one, joy comes from God’s love and forgiveness.”

Eight days earlier, there was a fatal shooting at the school on the church’s campus.

Over the weekend, the congregation hosted a funeral for Rubi Patricia Vergara, the 14-year-old freshman killed when another student opened fire. A teacher was also killed and several others wounded before the shooter shot himself and later died in a hospital, police said.

Travel issues and family reunifications in other US cities

American Airlines card flights due across the United States on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked off. Winter weather threatened several potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.

In Virginia, hundreds of sailors and their loved ones got an early Christmas present when the USS Cole docked at its home port in Norfolk after seven months at sea. Families bundled in coats and blankets, shed tears of gratitude and held signs with the sailors’ names and photos.

Volunteers in Colorado Springs, Colo., answered calls Tuesday from curious children asking about Santa’s location. At least 100,000 children call into the North American Air and Space Command each year to track Santa’s whereabouts. NORAD’s beloved Santa tradition has endured ever since the cold warwhen a newspaper in Colorado mistakenly printed a Santa Claus phone number that connected children to the joint US-Canadian defense command.

Spanish ministries bring holiday cheer to seafarers

In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver nativity scenes and the local specialty turrón (nougat candy) to sailors.

The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant ship captain who runs the Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean port.

Heavy snow hits the Balkans

ONE blizzard in the Balkans stranded motorists and downed power lines Tuesday, but some saw the beauty in it.

“I’m actually glad it’s falling,” said driver Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We didn’t have snow for Christmas for 17 years here and now it’s time for a wonderful white Christmas.”

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Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Jeffrey Schaeffer and Marine Lesprit in Paris and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed this. report.