Thousands throng Beit Lahm for Christmas celebrations

 

 “This land belongs to God. It must not be for some a land of life and for others a land of occupation and a political prison."

 

That was the message of Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah at the Christmas mass, held in Beit Lahm’s Church of the Nativity.

 

According to Maan news, thousands of Palestinians, pilgrims and tourists throughout the world converged on Beit Lahm’s Manger square for a celebration as a show of national unity in Palestine’s multi-religious society.

 

The Gaza-based Palestinian government too has declared January 7, Orthodox Christmas, as holiday.

 

“As a Christian, this means everything to me,” said one pilgrim from South Africa.

 

Beit Lahm expected 40,000 tourists for this year’s Christmas, double last year’s number.

  

The Palestinian Authority, which holds power in urban areas of the West Bank, bussed in hundreds of police and baton-wielding security officers from throughout the West Bank.

 

At a candlelight vigil on Friday, Beit Lahm’s mayor, Victor Batarseh joined forty other Palestinians at the Israeli separation barrier near Rachel’s Tomb, a tourist destination that has been enclosed on the Israeli side of the colonial barrier. Fuad Jaicaman, of the Arab Educational Institute, who organized the vigil, said the event was intended to express a message of peace, love, and dialogue against fragmentation and apartheid.

 

Manger Square was nonetheless packed on Monday. Visitors gathered to watch a procession of boy and girl scouts in the afternoon, a concert by musicians from the Edward Said Conservatory, and an evening performance by a Hong Kong choir.

 

That both Muslims and Christians celebrate Christmas, “gives a good feeling of one country celebrating together,” said George Rishmawi, an activist and journalist from the neighboring town of Beit Sahour.