Festivities return to Bethlehem as Palestinians look to the future

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Palestinians in the West Bank city of Bethlehem are hoping Christmas spirit has returned to their city after two years of hardship fuelled by the war in Gaza. But as local authorities try to convince tourists and pilgrims to return restrictions remain in place on travelling to the place known as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Transcript

00:00It certainly looks a lot like Christmas in a welcome return to festivities.

00:07This year after two years of silence we decided to reignite Christmas.

00:12The war in Gaza has cast a long shadow over Bethlehem where the Christmas story was first written.

00:18We had a loss of approximately 1.8 million dollars a day in the industry of tourism.

00:25The unemployment rate jumped from 14 to 65 percent.

00:29This is from the root of the tree, olive tree.

00:32For almost a century the Tabash family have been running this souvenir shop.

00:36It's been a difficult few years but they've been determined to keep going.

00:40It's not just for the business, it's for our hope because we need this place.

00:46The Church of the Nativity built over the site where Jesus is believed to have been born is the focal point for celebrations.

00:52And while attendance is expected to be higher this Christmas, the memory of recent years still lingers.

00:58People say no, there is a war in Gaza, we cannot celebrate, although personally I am against this.

01:06But it's still not straightforward to get to the Church with Bethlehem like the rest of the West Bank cut off from Jerusalem by Israel's wall.

01:13Checkpoints and roadblocks are often closed with no notice.

01:16Even though there is a hope that the situation is improving for Bethlehem, locals are fearful that history will repeat itself.

01:24And that this city will find itself, like much of the West Bank, more and more isolated from the rest of the world.

01:30We need the better future for the Holy Land and especially for Bethlehem.

01:35I need to say, welcome back to Palestine.

01:38Welcome back to Palestine.

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