Christmas is Canceled

Published on Monday, December 16, 2002 by the Times/UK
Christmas is 'Canceled' in Bethlehem
by Stephen Farrell in Bethlehem

CHRISTMAS is canceled in the streets, if not the churches, of Bethlehem.
As Israel announced that its troops would remain on the streets of Christ’s birthplace and that Yassir Arafat would be barred from attending celebrations, church and civic leaders announced that festivities would be kept to a minimum. The 25ft Christmas tree in the grounds of Manger Square would remain unadorned and the £130,000 display of street lights unlit.

Hanna Nasser, the Mayor of Bethlehem, said that the decision had been simple: there was no stomach for festivities in a town whose 30,000 Palestinian inhabitants have nothing to spend, little to eat and are forced to stay in their homes for days at a time.