Canada Global(Web News) Christians around the world are celebrating Jesus’ birthday today, but the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus in the occupied West Bank of Palestine, have been canceled. According to foreign media, Jesus Bethlehem, the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), which is famous for celebrating Christmas full of joy and light, has an unconventional atmosphere this Christmas.
Last month, Bethlehem Municipality announced the cancellation of Christmas celebrations due to the killings in Gaza. . This time, Christmas will be celebrated simply without the traditional decorations, lights and Christmas tree and only prayers and religious ceremonies will be held. On the occasion of Christmas, prayer meetings for the victims of the war in Gaza were also announced and Bethlehem. Municipality staff removed the decorations previously installed in various areas, which have been celebrating the birth of Jesus for centuries in Bait al-Maqdis.
Outside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, crowds of Christian pilgrims and tourists line up shoulder-to-shoulder with bands playing and singing. However, this time there is nothing like that and the whole area is in a state of mourning, neither electric lamps are lit nor the Christmas tree is decorated in the traditional way. To show solidarity, they organized an artwork in Bethlehem’s main square, where a large Christmas tree is usually decorated. The artwork depicts the destruction and rubble of Gaza and the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. is shown.
On this occasion, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism said that the whole world is celebrating Christmas except for Jerusalem. By celebrating Christmas here in different ways, the message is being given to the world that the Palestinian people are in trouble, Jerusalem is in trouble. The mayor of Jerusalem said that the Israelis are violating their religious teachings by forcibly evicting the Palestinians from their land. He appealed to the international community to stop Israel’s aggression in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Play your role.
Church leaders in Beit al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) have appealed to avoid unnecessary celebrations during Christmas, urging priests and followers to focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas and pray for lasting peace in the beloved Holy Land. 3 churches were destroyed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. It should be clear that during the ongoing 79-day aggression on Gaza, Israel has so far destroyed 3 churches.
Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Christians, condemned the incident and said that serious and painful news are coming from Gaza, civilians are being targeted by bombs and bullets. He said that attacks are also taking place inside the holy places. , snipers kill woman and her daughter in church, injure others, some say it’s terrorism, it’s war, yes it’s terrorism
