The Palestinian city of Beit Lahm in the occupied West Bank is experiencing the Christmas season devoid of the usual joyous festivities and celebrations as it was decided not to illuminate the Christmas tree in the courtyard of the Church of the Nativity, instead replacing it with a sculpture depicting the scale of destruction witnessed in the Gaza Strip.
The sculpture, crafted by Palestinian artist Tariq Salsa, represents the Nativity Cave surrounded by a demolished home. Named “Nativity under the Rubble,” the sculpture symbolizes the devastation inflicted on Gaza due to ongoing Israeli aggression, accompanied by statues portraying a Palestinian family during the catastrophe.
Candles were lit, and prayers were held in the Church of the Nativity courtyard, in an event attended by religious figures, officials, accredited diplomats to the Palestinian Authority, and citizens.
This comes as the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 7 has surpassed 20,400 martyrs.
Reverend Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Beit Lahm, expressed the city’s solidarity with the people of Gaza facing Israeli aggression.
“There won’t be celebrations in Beit Lahm this year, in the Nativity land of Palestine, as it undergoes an extremely difficult ordeal. It’s impossible to celebrate while there’s an extermination war in Gaza,” Reverend Isaac told Al Mayadeen.
He said that “Beit Lahm is sorrowful because Gaza is in sorrow. We are one people, one land,” pointing to the Christians in Gaza who are celebrating Christmas under the hardest circumstances.
Touching on the “Nativity under the Rubble” sculpture, Reverend Isaac indicated that “the image of Baby Jesus amidst the rubble is not a foreign image, albeit a difficult one, as it reflects the reality of our people in Gaza and our reality in Palestine.”
He explained that “the idea of the cave embodies the meaning of Christmas in the context of the pain and occupation we endure.”
“In the land of Nativity, the holiday comes while Palestinians are under rubble, displaced, and their homes demolished.”
Likewise, Reverend Isaac affirmed to Al Mayadeen that “the sculpture is a message. While the world celebrates the birth of Baby Jesus in the most splendid ways, in Palestine, we want to stop the extermination war in Gaza.”
On his part, Beit Lahm Mayor Hanna Hanania, highlighted that “for the first time, Beit Lahm will not have a Christmas tree or illuminated streets, limiting the holiday solely to religious rites,” explaining that “this is a moral and national commitment, as the cascade of blood eliminates any possibility of joy.”
It’s noteworthy that Beit Lahm residents were accustomed to the start of Christmas celebrations with the lighting of a tree standing eight meters tall in the church square, adorned with lights.