Pilgrims celebrated Christmas in the town where tradition says Jesus was born Thursday but festivities were subdued against a backdrop of violence in the Holy Land and a growing jihadist threat across the West Asia.
The news was not all grim as a lucky Christmas lottery ticket in Spain scored big for a Senegalese migrant, while music fans welcomed the announcement that The Beatles’ music would finally be available for streaming in time for the holiday.
In Bethlehem, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land arrived ahead of the traditional midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, built at the site where Christians believe Jesus was born.
Travelling from nearby Jerusalem, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, a Jordanian, would have had to pass the Israeli separation wall, part of which divides the two cities, with Bethlehem located in the occupied West Bank. A wave of violence has led to a sharp decline in the number of pilgrims visiting Bethlehem and the rest of the Holy Land this year, and only a sparse crowd was on hand to welcome Twal’s procession.
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.
Many of the Palestinians killed have been attackers while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes.
Three Palestinians were shot dead on Thursday in the West Bank while carrying out stabbing or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
And a Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli forces at a refugee camp in the West Bank, health officials said.
Still, pilgrims who were at Manger Square in the heart of Bethlehem were proud to have made the trip.
It was “important to be here, to react and send a message of peace for Christmas,” said Italian nun Sister Donatella as she walked among a procession of drummers and bagpipe players. Linaras Oceani, a Christian Indonesian taking selfies, said she was not deterred by travel warnings from authorities in her country.
“God is with me, so all will be well,” said the young woman, wearing sunglasses and a fur coat. She called herself “privileged, because not everyone has the opportunity to come here.”
