In the Palestinian territories, Christmas celebrations have been significantly scaled back or canceled in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus, has seen its traditional festivities called off as the city mourns the deaths of over 20,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict. The Palestinian Christian community has chosen to mourn in solidarity with those affected by the violence, with the normally vibrant holiday atmosphere replaced by a more somber tone. Reverend Dr. Munther Isaac of the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem delivered a message criticizing those complicit in the situation and offering words of encouragement to the Palestinian people, while the nativity scene was altered to show baby Jesus in the rubble. Mass protests and denunciations of the Israeli occupation’s massacres accompanied the somber mood. The war has also impacted the number of Christians residing in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which has been dwindling even before the conflict. Amidst the backdrop of war and accusations of genocide, the city of Bethlehem, which should be teeming with visitors, resembled a ghost town on Christmas Eve.
Jesus was Palestinian they say https://t.co/nqIsFZMAHZ
Watch: A #Gaza Christian family marks #Christmas with sorrow. https://t.co/tIMwkRQXM7 https://t.co/Mnf8NEuzpy
Jesus was not a Palestinian. To say such a thing is to try to erase Jewish history, to erase Jewish ties to the land. “Palestine” didn’t exist when Jesus was alive. Jesus was a Jew. A proud, observant Jew. He was a Jew born in Israel under Roman occupation. Merry Christmas.
VIDEO: Sombre Christmas in Bethlehem as Gaza war rages. An artwork showing rubble and barbed wire, a statue of a child in an incubator as well as banners reading "We want life, not death" are displayed in the forecourt of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The traditional… https://t.co/et5GvOdrw6
For Christians in Gaza, this Christmas season is not a time of celebration. Amid the Israeli military assault on Gaza that followed the October 7 attack, the Christian communities of Gaza have suffered terrible losses, writes @NicholsUprising. https://t.co/GfRZkAIyVW
This was #Christmas in #Gaza last year before israel began its genocide. https://t.co/Z83P1mRGnO
"I fear that this is the end of the Christian presence in Gaza," says Reverend Mitri Raheb from Bethlehem, where the Palestinian Christian community canceled Christmas celebrations this year because of the war. https://t.co/eE66LQvYDq
Merry Christmas to the Palestine Christians in Bethlehem who had to cancel their celebrations, and the rest of their compatriots, too, especially their co-religionists in Gaza.
Officials in Bethlehem said Christmas celebrations will be canceled in Jesus' traditional birthplace due to the Israel-Hamas war and the thousands of Palestinians lives lost. https://t.co/OSiZQD0oA2
Christmas in Gaza https://t.co/EcQRnPymkn
The war in Gaza has prompted a drastic scaling back of festive celebrations in the West Bank. Bethlehem is silent. Read why Christmas in the land where Jesus Christ was born is cancelled: https://t.co/8aSjKNmGlr 👇
#Christmas was cancelled in the birthplace of #jesuschrist to send a message to the world that the people of #Palestine will survive the genocide in #Gaza and will rise again. And a message to all who enabled and were complicit in these atrocities: will they ever recover from… https://t.co/LFF9OE8msb
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac led a powerful Christmas message at Christmas Lutheran Church’s worship gathering, expressing profound anger and sadness over the situation in Gaza. https://t.co/mmNNtvomK9
🇵🇸 CHRISTMAS IN GAZA: https://t.co/9VinM3BoEH
Warmest wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas 🎄 In Bethlehem, Christmas is cancelled in solidarity with their Palestinian brothers & sisters being killed in Gaza. Please remember Gaza this festive period & support calls for an immediate ceasefire & an end to the occupation. https://t.co/onhkrOkNT7
How the resident of Gaza are enjoying Christmas https://t.co/ykiYUWBVZ2
Christian worshippers attended a Christmas mass at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, as the war in nearby Gaza rages on https://t.co/WDdLBI1eLd
Christmas celebrations canceled in Bethlehem due to Gaza war Traditional Christmas celebrations have been canceled this year in the city where Jesus Christ was born. Residents of Bethlehem are mourning the thousands of people killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, ABC News… https://t.co/LqzDcejTvH
Watch: Palestinians have a somber #Christmas Eve in #Bethlehem as war in Gaza rages. https://t.co/1NgPmdllNX
All I want for Christmas 🎄 is the distraction of Hamas. I’ve visited our troops on the border with Gaza and wrote that myself. This is my wish from Santa this year. https://t.co/shzmEa61Rz
As many of you today are celebrating #Christmas, remember for many Israelis, our loved ones are still being held hostage in Gaza, by the Hamas-ISIS jihadists, while so many others are still mourning their loved ones, murdered in the Oct 7 massacre. #BringThemHomeNOW https://t.co/NESlunBKse
Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem - the very place it began https://t.co/MK1rK2V4EK
It is not a Merry Christmas in Gaza. https://t.co/yN3J4B1fwk
Quiet Christmas as Palestine’s Christians grieve for Gaza More: https://t.co/TbZk6HgWHd https://t.co/g81BJ4R9aV
It’s Christmas morning in Gaza https://t.co/QBmkYXLIZC
Christmas is essentially cancelled in Bethlehem. In the biblical birthplace of Jesus, church bells echo through nearly empty streets. The city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank should be teeming with visitors. Not this year. @holmescnn @mtawfeeqCNN https://t.co/qoZrouQHQM https://t.co/cz9yCao1fR
Gaza war makes for sombre Christmas in the Holy Land https://t.co/kA9LLMGsuN
You already heard Christmas was canceled in Bethlehem, which is in the occupied West Bank. Here’s a special message from Palestinian Christian pastor Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac in Bethlehem about what the holiday really means to him and his community. https://t.co/2N0gGiT43m
Palestinian Christians say they won't be celebrating Christmas as they mourn the Palestinians killed in Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip ⤵️ https://t.co/1yFiqNo9N6
“We will not accept your apology after the genocide.” 🎅🏾 A Christmas message from Rev. @munther_isaac “If you are not appalled by what is happening in #Gaza…there is something wrong with your humanity… we, the Palestinian people, will recover… but for those who are… https://t.co/5AY7ZQ8tf0
On Christmas Eve, Bethlehem resembles a ghost town. Celebrations are halted due to Israel-Hamas war. @IsabelDeBre of The Associated Press is in Bethlehem reporting live for @NewsNation https://t.co/ruZYX2DEWJ
Christmas in Palestine is cancelled due to soulless, demonic possessed sociopaths. #Gaza #GazaGenocide https://t.co/TFFT5wR8ZG
Christmas celebrations are called off in Bethlehem https://t.co/9eFq3pYdUf (Photo: HAZEM BADER / AFP) https://t.co/049Ht9z2qG
Christmas Eve massacre. Gaza, 2023 https://t.co/Y7O6liNkTn
In Bethlehem, despair dulls Christmas as nativity scene depicts Gaza https://t.co/5Qv66KsOM5
The Church in Bethlehem have cancelled celebrations. This is their message: "This is what Christmas looks like in Palestine, children being killed, houses destroyed, families displaced. We see the image of Jesus in every child killed in Gaza. God Is Under the Rubble in Gaza." https://t.co/ExEUK0PAhz
The war in the Gaza Strip has left an impact in Bethlehem, where Christmas celebrations have been canceled in sorrow for the Palestinians in Gaza. https://t.co/zLf8iemXuM
Christmas has been canceled in Bethlehem this year https://t.co/8FAeWrjgxp
As many of you are with your loved ones these holidays to celebrate #Christmas, remember for many Israelis, our loved ones are still being held hostage in Gaza, by the Hamas-ISIS jihadists. #BringThemHomeNOW https://t.co/I5Pwi8i4hH
The typically bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus looks like a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with celebrations in Bethlehem called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. https://t.co/WEDQoaiRBi
While families all over the world mark #Christmas with their loved ones, more than 100 Israeli men, women and children are being held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Every minute counts. #BringThemAllHome #ChristmasEve2023 https://t.co/5ti01r8Knf
It’s been 78 days since Iran-backed Hamas terrorists took hundreds hostage, including Americans. As you gather with loved ones this Christmas Eve, don’t forget those who are still fighting for their friends and family to come home. We can’t stop fighting to #BringThemAllHome.
“If you fail to call this a genocide that is on you, it is a sin and a darkness you willingly embrace.” In his address at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac expressed outrage over the global silence and inaction towards the Gaza crisis https://t.co/ThRVCsSE7W
On a live streamed worship session in the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Reverend Dr. Munther Isaac gave a Christmas message criticising those who are complicit in Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza and words of encouragement to the Palestinian people. https://t.co/nzq4OlETGJ
Christmas events canceled in Bethlehem due to Israel-Hamas war. https://t.co/8Wq1wkjiQx Click the image to read more:
Remember this Christmas that Jesus is Palestinian. Remember that Christmas is cancelled in His birthplace Bethlehem, occupied by the same Israeli army committing genocide in Gaza. Remember this Christmas being Christian is to stand with the oppressed in Palestine, not Israel. https://t.co/sfMJ3VVhQt
Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, has decided to cancel usual festivities and ceremonies due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. ABC News' @BrittClennett reports from Bethlehem. Follow live updates on the Israel-Hamas conflict: https://t.co/gzHZT7jLxe https://t.co/ZIfrBbpzLX
No Christmas in the birthplace of Christ: Holiday celebrations in Bethlehem on hold due to Israel-Hamas war https://t.co/0CSCfxFEut
As people all over the world celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus, those living in Bethlehem, his birthplace, have canceled all celebrations out of respect and solidarity with their Palestinian brothers and sisters being killed in Gaza. @leilashww #Christmas https://t.co/Zz4ujJ05qJ
There’s no Christmas in Gaza!!!!! Ho Ho Hamas 🎅🎅🏿 https://t.co/naVaMv9wjh
The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. https://t.co/7IF3tz18mc
This is who Gaza is spending their Christmas https://t.co/0IulnMrFiu
The celebrations traditionally enjoyed in Bethlehem — the "capital of Christmas" — are canceled this year, as the war in Gaza and violence in the occupied West Bank continue to devastate Palestinian communities. https://t.co/Caes3ZSeQy
For first time in history, Bethlehem —the birthplace of Jesus — cancels its Christmas mass as Palestinians mourn those lost in Gaza war. Video from church of nativity shows candle vigils, barbed wires replacing Xmas carols https://t.co/rz6Xs48i8H
Palestinian Christians have canceled their own Christmas celebrations to mourn over 20,000 Palestinians Israel has killed in Gaza. @RahebM reflects on the Christmas story and its similarities to the suffering Israel is inflicting on Palestinians right now. https://t.co/nOTARKpEBS
🇵🇸 Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem canceled due to conflict in Gaza Christmas celebrations were canceled across Palestine due to the deaths of more than 20,000 Palestinians in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. https://t.co/JuM0AXNocc
A Christmas message from Rev. @MuntherIsaac. “If you are not appalled by what is happening in Gaza…there is something wrong with your humanity… we, the Palestinian people, will recover… but for those who are complicit, I feel sorry for you. Will you ever recover from this?” https://t.co/oNdhg1YLgL
On Christmas Eve, Bethlehem resembles a ghost town. Celebrations are halted due to Israel-Hamas war https://t.co/FUxvFaoaJv
Sky's @nicole_reporter reports from Bethlehem, where the city has cancelled Christmas celebrations and will hold a rally on Christmas Eve to support the people of Gaza. https://t.co/UU3LYVO8OM https://t.co/ieaEiuIly5
This #Christmas, remember that Hamas is still holding 130 Israelis hostage in Gaza! Demand to #BringThemHomeNOW! https://t.co/BMLuziAm5r
"We, the Palestinians, will recover... I feel sorry for those who are complicit. Will you ever recover from this?" Munther Isaac, pastor of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. https://t.co/TREHFHjmTE
Watch: A nativity scene is installed near the Church of the Nativity in #Bethlehem to echo the devastation in war-torn #Gaza. https://t.co/Q9AdG1KIJq https://t.co/1LVgRM146B
The number of Christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem is continuing to dwindle. Their plight predates the latest Gaza war, but the conflict means that Christmas in the land where Jesus was born is, in effect, cancelled https://t.co/XUAY96f9ts 👇
Christian Palestinians have cancelled Christmas in Bethlehem in mourning & against #GazaGenocide. Israel is mass murdering Palestinians, destroying life-sustaining conditions and the world's 3rd oldest church. This Christmas, speak up for a ceasefire & sanctions on apartheid. https://t.co/YWMxu6ZQMh
Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem are canceling Christmas celebrations and holding mass events in solidarity with the Gaza Strip. https://t.co/zxDqlcccwa
Nativity scene in Bethlehem. Israel’s Genocide in Gaza. (Photo: Salam Ibrahim) https://t.co/XykKCWXLGm
Merry Christmas, but don’t forget Gaza https://t.co/8HEfDOdh6x
Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem celebrate Christmas with mass protests in support of Gaza and denouncing the Israeli occupation’s massacres.
Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem with mass protests in support of Gaza and denouncing the Israeli occupation’s massacres. https://t.co/99SVPtD4UR
Bethlehem cancels Christmas this year. A midnight mass in the Palestinian city’s Church of the Nativity will only be held to mourn the loss of the lives in Gaza. https://t.co/jFxANIP7E3
"It's impossible to celebrate Christmas when our people in Gaza are going through a genocide." A church in the occupied West Bank has altered its nativity scene this year by placing baby Jesus in the rubble in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza ⤵️ https://t.co/xStUYjzbkL
‘We’re not celebrating’: Christmas called off in Bethlehem as Gaza war rages - https://t.co/zy1mApSztx via @FT
“Nothing in my childhood, or in ensuing Christmases, prepared me for this year,” @kingc_i writes. Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the Palestinian town in which Jesus was born, have been canceled. Bethlehem is in the shadow of war. https://t.co/Uf8oBTAfRV
There will be no musical festivities. No tree-lighting ceremony. No extravagant decorations that normally bedeck the West Bank city of Bethlehem at Christmas. With the war in Gaza raging, this is a city in mourning. https://t.co/rHXDNZ6M8L
Bethlehem cancels Christmas amid Israel-Hamas war https://t.co/Aob7WyOU4n
Due to the ongoing war in Gaza, there are no signs of Christmas cheer in Bethlehem, West Bank. https://t.co/VixxTJrVU1
Absolutely 👍 #Christmas #Gaza https://t.co/I6N47KUclY
‘We’re not celebrating’: Christmas called off in Bethlehem as Gaza war rages https://t.co/OovvGkf94K
In Bethlehem, where it all began, Christmas has been cancelled, ITV News' @rachyoungeritv and @Leilasansour report https://t.co/oj4vJrdUSF
The Palestinian West Bank city canceled all holiday festivities because of the Israel-Hamas war, casting a solemn shadow over what would typically be a joyous occasion. Report by @MaayanJaffe | #Bethlehem | #WestBank | #Christianity https://t.co/XjSOgAUo69
Grieving and often overlooked, #Palestinian #Christians prepare for a somber #Christmas amid war. There are 50,000 Christian Palestinians estimated to reside in the West Bank. Approximately 1,300 Christians lived in Gaza. @MariamFam (from @AP) https://t.co/8xMfYMMP1F
Opinion by Queen Rania Al Abdullah: Bethlehem comes alive at Christmas. But celebrations have been canceled since Israel has turned Gaza into a hellscape. In my country, Jordan, where Jesus was baptized, our Christian community has chosen to do the same. https://t.co/O40m5bnP2a
The plight of Palestinians in Gaza this Christmas https://t.co/qqdOrE4WNu
The city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, has announced the cancellation of traditional Christmas festivities in “mourning and honor” of Palestinians killed in Gaza. "The Christmas story actually is a Palestinian story,” says Rev. @RahebM. https://t.co/hFWZz4PNlE