By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families there and at other sites across the Holy Land heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit, after two years of subdued celebrations because of the war in Gaza.
At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Midnight Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his homily, he marveled at the “wisdom” of the Christmas story — an infant Jesus born to save mankind.
“In the face of the suffering of the poor, (God) sends one who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again,” the first U.S. pope told a packed basilica.
Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, had canceled Christmas celebrations during the war. But on Wednesday, the giant Christmas tree returned to Manger Square, temporarily replacing the wartime nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in a homage to Gaza’s suffering.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year’s celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.”
Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza’s tiny Christian community, where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. In the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild.
“We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,” he told thousands of people, Christian and Muslim.
Despite the holiday cheer, the impact of the war in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is acute, especially in Bethlehem, where around 80% of the Muslim-majority city’s residents depend upon tourism-related businesses, according to the local government.
There were only a handful of foreigners but some residents said they are starting to see signs of change as tourism slowly returns.
‘Hope in very dark situations’
“Today is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return of normal life here,” said Bethlehem resident Georgette Jackaman, a tour guide. She and her husband, Michael Jackaman, another guide, are from Christian Bethlehem families that stretch back generations.
This is the first real Christmas celebration for their two children, aged 2 1/2 and 10 months.
During the war, the Jackamans pivoted to create a website selling Palestinian handicrafts to support others who lost their livelihoods. The unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month.
A visitor from France, Mona Riewer, said being in Bethlehem helped her appreciate the meaning of the holiday.
“Christmas is like hope in very dark situations,” she said.
Despite the Gaza ceasefire that began in October, tensions remain high in the West Bank, with Israeli military raids in what it describes as a crackdown on militants. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have reached their highest level since the United Nations humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Bethlehem.
As poverty and unemployment have soared, about 4,000 people have left Bethlehem in search of work, the mayor said — part of a worrying trend for Christians, who are leaving the region in droves. Christians account for less than 2% of the West Bank’s roughly 3 million residents.
The beginning of a return to normal life
Fadi Zoughbi, who previously worked overseeing logistics for tour groups, said his children were ecstatic to see marching bands streaming through Bethlehem’s streets, Palestinian flags and tartan draped on their bagpipes. For the past two years, the scouts marched silently as a protest against the war.
Irene Kirmiz, who grew up in Bethlehem and lives in Ramallah, said the scout parade is among her favorite Christmas traditions. Her 15-year-old daughter plays the tenor drum with the Ramallah scouts.
But her family had to wake up at 5 a.m. to arrive for the parade, after waited about three hours at Israeli checkpoints. The drive previously took 40 minutes without the checkpoints that have increasingly made travel difficult for Palestinians, she said.
In the past two years, the heads of churches in Jerusalem urged congregations to forgo “any unnecessarily festive activities.” They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas’ spiritual meaning and called for “fervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land.”
Other Middle East events mark the faithful’s resilience
Santas were everywhere as the traditional parade returned to Nazareth in northern Israel, revered by Christians as the place where the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary she would give birth to Jesus.
The hilltop town filled with children. Some starred in live Nativity scenes, and others lined the route waiting for floats and candy under a bright, warm sun.
Incense wafted over pews packed for Christmas Eve Mass at Gaza’s only Catholic church, where festive children’s programs had also taken place. The Holy Family compound was hit by fragments from an Israeli shell in July, killing three people. Israel called it an accident and expressed regret.
On the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, hundreds of congregants planned to return for Christmas Masses at a Greek Orthodox church where, in June, 25 people were killed in a suicide attack blamed on Islamic State militants. On Tuesday, they gathered to light a neon image of a Christmas tree in its courtyard.
Festivities around the world
At St. Peter’s, an estimated 6,000 people worshipped inside the vast basilica decorated with poinsettias, while another 5,000 watched the Mass on giant screens in the rain-soaked piazza outside.
The celebration, with readings and the homily in a variety of languages, including Latin, started with children from different continents putting flowers by the figure of the baby Jesus.
Leo will return to the basilica for Mass on Christmas Day followed by his traditional blessing from the loggia.
People around the world enjoyed Christmas traditions on Wednesday beyond houses of worship, too, from ice-skating in New York City to charity swimming in cold sea waters off Northern Ireland.
Along Florida’s Space Coast, Santas hopped on surfboards, not sleighs. Hundreds of surfers dressed as Santa took to the waves off Cocoa Beach in what has become an annual tradition for the past 17 years.
The Santa-surfing brought to the beach thousands of spectators dressed in Christmas costumes who danced to live music and took part in a holiday costume contest.
The event raises money for the Florida Surf Museum and a nonprofit that helps people with cancer.
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Associated Press journalists Nicole Winfield in Vatican City; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Ariel Schalit in Nazareth, Israel; Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.