Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, is again quiet this year. For the second Christmas since Palestinian citizens joined Hamas terrorists in the Oct. 7, 2024 attack on Israel, an eerie silence has settled over the once proud community.
Manger Square, usually alive with celebratory crowds, lies deserted. The traditional Christmas tree won’t grace the plaza this year, and shuttered souvenir shops line the streets of this West Bank city, according to Reuters.
The city’s Christian population continues its steady decline. According to recent estimates, Christians now make up a minuscule sampling of Bethlehem’s residents, down dramatically from 85% in 1947. The 2017 census showed Christians comprising merely 10% of the population, with about 23,000 among 215,514 total residents.
The only bright spot during that time came when Israel controlled the city and brought a level of security to its Christian residents. For over a decade beginning in 1993, the Christian population actually rebounded, growing by almost 55 percent. Now, with the Palestinian Authority in control and a defacto Arab police state in existence, most have fled once again.
“The emigration out of Bethlehem is increasing daily and monthly, and this has a negative impact on the city,” Issa Thaljieh, an Orthodox priest at the Nativity Church told Reuters.
Christians and even Arabs feel under threat with many Christian priests afraid to speak out against the ruling PA government.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. president Bill Clinton, and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat.
Local restaurant owner Alaa Afteem has witnessed this exodus firsthand. “Due to the bad living conditions and bad financial conditions, people have started looking for better opportunities for their children, for better education, for a better future,” he said, noting his cousin’s recent move to Australia.
Travel restrictions and security concerns have intensified since 2023. As reported by Reuters, the situation has worsened with increased terror attacks on Israeli citizens, and some Israeli Jews taking matters into their own hands.
“There is no security if you are commuting between districts within the West Bank like between Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Hebron,” Afteem added, referencing the cities under PA control.
Contrary to what is often described as an “occupation” by Israel of the West Bank (made up of biblical Samaria and Judea) the area is secured under agreements in the Oslo Peace Accords signed by Israel and then PA leader Yasser Arafat. That peace agreement, signed by President Bill Clinton, gives Israel sole security control of some areas while others are under joint security with the PA and yet others solely under PA control.
Bethlehem is under Area A, complete Palestinian control.
–Dwight Widaman
