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?
I drove today to Bethlehem. I wished to repeat my sensation of the special atmosphere, the feeling of joy that I experienced nearly thirty years ago at the Church of Nativity. It’s a short 50 miles, slightly more than an hour’s drive. But traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Bethlehem is like going into another orbit. Thirty years ago, on a very cold, subzero night, Bethlehem was an open city expressing its vividness and vitality. For me, a young Israeli Jew who had just finished his three-year compulsory military service, the visit was magical. The big square in front of the church and the surrounding streets were filled with a diverse crowd of ten of thousands of devoted worshipers and pilgrims, rubbing shoulders with young lovers and hippies from all over the world. There were no fences, no barricades and only a few Palestinian police officers were present.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not idealizing what I felt and saw then. The town, as well as the rest of the West Bank, was under Israeli occupation, which began right after the 1967 war.
Thirty years later, Bethlehem is still under Israeli occupation. But what a change, and not for the better. The roadblocks and gates leading to the town are manned by armed Israeli soldiers. Visitors are checked and searched. Yes, this year there has been a slight increase in the number of visitors – 20,000 according to an unofficial report. I wouldn't say that this Christmas in the Holy Land is sad, but it is obviously not what it could and should be.
Israel is predominantly a Jewish state – 80% of its 7 million citizens are Jewish. Only 2.2%, or 160,000, are Christians, half of them of Arab origin and the other half of other nationalities. The remaining 17% are mainly Muslim Arabs. In the occupied West Bank the Christians, who are also a small minority, sometimes felt besieged (as in Bethlehem) by the Muslim majority. So you can imagine that Christmas is not a very popular holiday either here in Israel or in Palestine.
But this is not the main reason for the lack of enthusiasm about Christmas. This has to do with the lack of hope. After 40 years of Israeli occupation, two Palestinian uprisings, and one failed peace process (the Oslo Accords) the two sides are locked in endless pettiness. They argue about history, archeological excavations, ancient walls, divine rights and forget the most important value: life. They are ready to shed blood for their past glories and rights (or wrongs), but refuse to celebrate the right of the living and to make the necessary political, historical, religious and territorial concessions to preserve that right.
I want to be optimistic on this special day. I don't think that it needs to be this way. I wholeheartedly believe that the majority of people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are more far-sighted and daring to see peace and ready to accept concessions than are their leaders. Frankly, both of us, Israelis and Palestinians deserve better leaders than the ones we have.
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