Children walk by shuttered shops in a street decorated ahead of Christmas in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank amid the novel coronavirus.
While the lack of visitors has been devastating for business owners, it has also offered a rare opportunity for solemn worship, said Father Rami Asakrieh, Bethlehem’s parish priest. The Christmas Eve mass on Thursday, regarded as the most important annual event at the church, will be closed to the public.Not even representatives of the Palestinian Authority will come to Bethlehem on December 24, Asakrieh said.
Many turned out in their Sunday best, including Nicolas al-Zoghbi who said that this year the joyfulnesses of Christmas had been replaced by “depression”.
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