One tourist from Russia, Angelica, is on her second pilgrimage to the Holy Land. “I think everyone needs to come at least once in their life,” she tells me.
“I hope a lot of people will soon come back because it’s sad without many tourists. The only thing that’s good is that you don’t have long lines – you can come and see more things. When I came before you had to wait in line for a few hours minimum.”
For now, the souvenir stores dotted around Bethlehem have little business, and outside the cream-coloured walls of the Nativity Church, which date back to the Fourth Century, tour guides largely stand idle. Prior to the Gaza war, it was often crammed with people.
One guide, Hamza, is worried that ongoing news coverage makes people feel the situation is still dangerous. He insists it is safe.
“This is a tourist city; without tourism there is no life,” Hamza laments. “We hope to have people coming back like before: from Europe, the Middle East, America, Latin America and everywhere. We start with the Christmas tree lighting, and we’ll wait.”
In the past two years, unemployment has skyrocketed in Bethlehem. Since the deadly Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023 which triggered the war, tens of thousands of Palestinian labourers from the West Bank have been blocked from entering Israel and its settlements for work.
Meanwhile, public servants have received only partial salaries by the Palestinian Authority (PA) – which governs parts of the West Bank. The PA relies on tax revenues collected by Israel which it is withholding – to the tune of $1.76 billion, according to the UN’s trade and development agency.
Israel says it is holding the funds because the PA makes payments to Palestinian prisoners that incentivise attacks on Israelis. The authority – which has been under international pressure to make reforms – says it has recently changed its welfare system
