The Question: Is Christmas a bigger event in your country than it was ten years ago? Is this a sign of Westernization or just commercialization?

Christmas is celebrated in Palestine on three dates: December 25th for Protestants and Catholics, January 7th for Orthodox Christians, and January 18th for Armenian Christians. Christmas Eve in Bethlehem is an international event in the birthplace of Christ, even though the city has long lost its Palestinian Christian majority. Today the Wall chokes off the city physically, economically, and socially from Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the north of the West Bank. This Christmas looks like it might be better than the few previous years, but still nowhere near it has been in the past.

As to the effects of westernization I don't know that Christmas is bigger or the same. But the biggest westernization event in the Middle East has been Valentine's Day, which comes a couple of months after Christmas. Not only has it become a huge business venture (the price of a single rose on that day goes up to the equivalent of $2 in a developing country like Jordan.) Valentine’s Day has no religious basis, thus allowing all peoples to celebrate it. The population of the Middle East and North Africa under age 30 is nearly 40%. Valentine is also used as a verb in Arabic (valntinent), in the context of, "Did you valentine" your friend or not?