Name: Palestinian Christians celebrate Christmas amid Israeli occupation
Uploaded: 2025-12-24T09:52:54.801Z
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: Christmas celebrations but in the shadow of Israeli illegal settlements forcing Palestinian Christians off their land in occupied West Bank.

Christmas celebrations but in the shadow of Israeli illegal settlements forcing Palestinian Christians off their land in occupied West Bank.

Sderot

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Middle East Conflict

Christmas festivities have resumed in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, after two years of subdued celebrations due to conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. Despite the return of some joy, local Christians express concern over ongoing suffering, a lack of tourism, and the impact of expanding Israeli settlements on their community.

Recent recognition of new Israeli settlements near Bethlehem has heightened worries among Palestinian Christians about their future and the preservation of their land. The Christian population in the area has declined significantly over the decades, and families fear further erosion of their presence and heritage.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Christmas amid Israeli occupation

Christmas is coming back to town. This is Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. And it's festive again. Two years after celebrations were held in silence due to Israel's war on Gaza and violence in the occupied West Bank. At this Christmas market, some tell us they're clinging to any chance they get for joy, for hope, for light. Our joy doesn't mean people are not suffering, have lost their loved ones, or are desperate. But we can only pray that things get better. Nadia Gattas invites customers to buy pieces made from the leaves of olive trees. It's her way of protecting a shrinking land and its orchards. For me, I feel joy mixed with a lot of pain. But our children deserve to feel some joy. Only a few tourists are here, in a place where tourism is an economic lifeline. Instead, there are unwelcomed visitors. Israeli settlers occupying lands in a place that once was a park for Palestinians and a rare space for building more homes. Days before Christmas, Israeli authorities recognized Shedema as part of 19 new illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. This is one entrance to the illegal Israeli settlement. Less than a 10-minute drive from the Church of the Nativity. This is just how close settlers are getting to the heart of Palestinian cities. Palestinians here are telling us they're having tough conversations, wondering, should they leave Palestine and search for a better future elsewhere? Majdi Shomali is a grandfather. I'm worried about my family now, at this moment. He owns a piece of land threatened by this settlement. It is difficult for the Christians to live in another place. I mean, the idea of Christianity, it is a community. And these thousand dunams, it is the only future hope to build for the children and for the sons and for the grandchildren. Families are worried, not of what's being built, but of what's being erased. A Christian community that once was 12% of the Palestinian population became only 3% after what Palestinians call the Nakba, or catastrophe in 1948, when the State of Israel was created in their land. Now, it's only 1.5%, and they fear it will shrink even further. Lida Ibrahim, Al Jazeera, Bethlehem.

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Palestinian Christians celebrate Christmas amid Israeli occupation

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