Via carols, cookies and Christmas lights, December 25 is marked by jubilation and celebration of the start of Jesus for greater than 2 billion Christians worldwide.
Nonetheless, a silent night time falls on the 50,000 Christians in Palestine – a quantity that’s in fast decline.
The security of Christians in Palestine was shaken by the bombardment of Gaza’s oldest Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in October, which killed at the least 18 folks together with youngsters. Israeli forces additionally shot and killed an aged Christian mom and her daughter in a Catholic church in Gaza on Saturday.
This yr, the various gleeful rituals that characterise Christmas in Palestine can be changed by easier ceremonies, mourning and prayer, shining a harsh mild on the present actuality of the area. The Lutheran Church, as an illustration, has the Child Jesus in a manger of rubble and destruction.
Was Jesus Palestinian?
Many Christian colleges of thought imagine that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, within the now Israeli-occupied West Financial institution.
“Jesus was born on our facet of the wall,” Palestinian pastor Reverend Munther Isaac advised Al Jazeera.
Isaac added that the narrative of the start of Jesus in Bethlehem is backed by archaeology in addition to scripture resembling Luke’s Gospel.
“It’s the yr 2023, and also you’ve bought, on Christmas day, everywhere in the world, hundreds of thousands of, so many, a whole lot of hundreds of thousands, if no more, of Christians going to church, studying about Bethlehem, singing about Bethlehem and considering possibly of Bethlehem as a legendary place, as a fairytale, not realising it’s an actual place with folks, with a Christian group that has saved the custom alive for two,000 years.”
What’s the story of Christmas?
“Whereas the household of Jesus lived in Nazareth again then, they travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for that [census] registration,” Isaac narrated, with considerate pauses between his sentences.
Isaac drew parallels between the story of the start of Jesus and the present scenario in Palestine.
“We’ve all the time been below empires. We’ve all the time been displaced,” stated Isaac, explaining that Jesus was born when Palestine was below the Roman empire.
An imperial decree of the empire ordered the household of Jesus to register for the census in Bethlehem, added Reverend Mitri Raheb, one other Palestinian pastor from Bethlehem. King Herod ordered the bloodbath of toddler boys, resulting in the household of Jesus escaping to Egypt as refugees, defined Isaac.
In line with the Bible, Jesus was born in Bethlehem after which positioned in a manger. The Church of Nativity was constructed at this location and its grotto holds nice spiritual significance, pulling Christians from everywhere in the world into the town of Bethlehem each Christmas.
The procession of the patriarchs
One of the necessary Christmas rituals in Palestine is the procession of the patriarch from Jerusalem. This procession takes place on December 24 for Catholics and January 6 for Orthodox patriarchs.
The designated procession route that has been adopted all through the Ottoman Empire and the British mandate is now engraved in custom, Isaac defined. The patriarch is acquired from Jerusalem in Bethlehem after which the procession walks by way of the streets of the previous city in Bethlehem till it reaches the Church of Nativity, the place prayers are held.
Israeli authorities and Palestinian police escort the procession, relying on the territory the procession passes by way of.
![Palestinian Christian altar boys and Palestinian police wait the arrival of the Latin Patriarch, Michel Sabbah, during the annual Christmas Eve procession December 24, 2003 in Manger Square in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. The biblical town, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, faces yet another gloomy Christmas in the face of more than three years of Palestinian-Israeli violent conflict.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-2830781-1702552233.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C485)
The arrival of the procession is a celebrated festivity, welcomed by a number of scout teams and musical bands from throughout Palestine. Individuals depart their properties to stroll across the metropolis and witness the spirit of Christmas.
This yr, the bands and scouts won’t be current, as an alternative, the procession can be silent.
![A Palestinian man holds on a golden crucifix as he waits alongside posters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 24, 2001 during the traditional Christmas eve procession.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-854829-1702552426.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C542)
Midnight mass and Manger Sq.
As soon as the procession reaches the church, prayers start at 5pm native time and final till midnight, with the midnight mass being broadcast for the world to see, Raheb stated.
![Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal carries a baby Jesus following the Christmas midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity December 25, 2008 in Bethlehem, West Bank. Thousands of the faithful flocked to Bethlehem today, as the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ hoping for a better Christmas after years of deadly violence.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-84121650-1702551649.jpg?resize=770%2C514)
The Manger Sq. in Bethlehem can be embellished with a big Christmas tree and performances are held there. This yr, there is no such thing as a Christmas tree at Manger Sq.. As an alternative, “the civil society and a few artists are engaged on a brand new form of crib that’s made out of rubble as an indication to what’s taking place in Gaza”, stated Raheb. He added {that a} video can be screened on the wall of the Nativity Church, displaying what is occurring in Gaza.
![A general view of Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, is seen on Christmas eve in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2012-12-24T120000Z_1889215685_GM1E8CP050001_RTRMADP_3_PALESTINIANS-1703073371.jpg?resize=770%2C1155)
As a toddler, Isaac would excitedly go to Jerusalem together with his dad and mom for Christmas procuring. A number of markets promote festive garments and decorations for the vacation season. It’s a custom to purchase the perfect garments from Jerusalem and save them for Christmas.
“You know the way in America you go to a giant mall? We used to go to Jerusalem. We will’t any extra,” Isaac stated, alluding to the stringent permit rules within the area, which constrict the mobility of Palestinians.
Christmas is a time when households meet, in Palestine and elsewhere. Whereas household may imply a small group of fast family members within the West, “After I say ‘household’ in Bethlehem, I say all 200 or so members of the Isaac household in our city – the clan,” stated Isaac.
![Hassan Abu Hillail, a 40-year-old Palestinian Christian shopkeeper, who dresses up as Santa Claus to try and drum up business, greets Palestinians passing his shop near the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-56450904-1702551962.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C558)
After an preliminary massive gathering of all members of the family, particular person properties are visited. Feasts of rice and meat are loved and selfmade desserts and delicacies are exchanged. These embrace ka’ek, or ma’amoul – semolina shortbread cookies crammed with dates or nuts.
Massive Christmas bushes are a cynosure in each church, the place events and banquets are organised. This yr, the events have been cancelled and “nobody is within the temper to … beautify a Christmas tree”, Isaac stated.
![A poster of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat vies for space with Christmas decorations for sale at a toy and novelty shop December 12, 2004 in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-51875879-1702552115.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
Do Muslims have fun Christmas in Palestine?
Isaac defined that Christmas is a nationwide vacation for all Palestinians, not only a Christian vacation. The Palestinian Authority considers it a nationwide vacation and authorities workplaces are sometimes closed on Christmas day.
A number of Palestinian Muslims go to Bethlehem on Christmas to attend the parade and take footage with the Christmas tree.
“Jesus was from Bethlehem, in spite of everything. And this implies lots to us as Palestinians,” stated Isaac.