Locals mark Eve in Bethlehem

COVID travel restrictions keep tourists away for second year

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Musicians banging drums and playing bagpipes marched through the biblical town of Bethlehem on Friday to the delight of smaller than usual crowds — a mix of conviviality and restraint reflected in celebrations around the world on a Christmas Eve dampened once again by the coronavirus.

Travel restrictions imposed by Israel — the main entry point for foreign visitors heading to the occupied West Bank, home of the traditional birthplace of Jesus — kept international tourists away for a second year. The ban on nearly all non-israeli travelers is meant to slow the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Instead, authorities were counting on the Holy Land’s small Christian community to lift spirits.

It was a theme seen around the world as revelers, weary from nearly two years of lockdowns and safety restrictions, searched for ways to return to rituals that were called off last year, while still celebrating safely at a time of surging cases.

“We can’t let the virus take our lives from us when we’re healthy,” said Rosalia Lopes, a retired Portuguese government worker who was doing some last-minute shopping in the coastal town of Cascais.

She said she and her family were exhausted by the pandemic and determined to go ahead with their celebrations with the help of safety measures like vaccines and booster shots, rapid home tests and wearing masks in public. She planned a traditional Portuguese Christmas Eve dinner of baked cod.

“We have to take precautions, of course, but we’re really looking forward to it,” she said.

But holiday travel was dealt a blow when three major airlines, Lufthansa, United and Delta, canceled dozens of flights due to staff shortages largely tied to the omicron variant. And church services were scaled back in Germany and the United States.

In the United Kingdom, where omicron is ripping through the population, some houses of worship hoped to press on.

At St. Paul’s Old Ford, an Anglican church in East London, priests planned to hold services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, though that decision will be kept under constant review. The clergy were regularly testing themselves for COVID-19 and limiting the number at each service to make sure others can go ahead even if one tests positive.

But to protect parishioners, the church ditched its nativity play.

“You might have to cancel the service, but you can’t cancel Christmas,” said the Rev. April Keech, an associate priest. “You can’t stop love. Love still stands.”

That spirit was also alive in Bethlehem, where Mayor Anton Salman said the town was optimistic that 2021 would be better than last year’s Christmas, when even local residents stayed home due to lockdown restrictions, and marching bands paraded through empty streets.