Coronavirus has cast a pall over nativity celebrations
Photo: Christmas then and now. Credit: Christian Media Centre
Coronavirus has cast a pall over nativity celebrations in Bethlehem, all but shutting down the biblical town revered as the birthplace of Jesus, at the height of the Christmas season.
Missing are the thousands of international pilgrims who normally descend upon the town.
Restaurants, hotels and souvenir shops are closed, while the renowned Christmas tree lighting service will be limited to a small group of people, as will church services.
“Bethlehem is dead,” said Maryana al-Arja, owner of the 120-room Angel Hotel on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
The hotel was the site of the West Bank’s first coronavirus outbreak, when a group of Greek tourists came down with the virus last March.
She kept on her 25 workers for several months, but ultimately could not continue to pay them. Ms Al-Arja, who herself was infected with the virus, said she has been forced to close the hotel and lay off the entire staff because there is no sign of the pandemic ending or tourists visiting any time soon.
“We had 351 tourist groups booked in our hotel this year, each one 150 people,” she said. “But they all cancelled.”
Elyas al-Arja, the head of the city’s hotel association, said Bethlehem received some three million tourists in 2019.
With Israel, the main entry point for international visitors to the region, banning tourists because of the coronavirus crisis, and the West Bank’s border crossing with Jordan closed to foreigners, that number is close to zero this year, he said.
“Sixty per cent of the city relies on tourism, and their income disappeared with the tourists,” said Mr al-Arja, a cousin of the Angel Hotel owner.
The Ambassador Hotel, near the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, has reopened one floor in the hope that some local visitors may want to celebrate in the coming weeks.
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