Jerusalem dispute darkens Nazareth holiday
NAZARETH, Israel – This biblical city known as the childhood home of Jesus hoped for a Christmas miracle: tourists.
The town’s markets were stocked with Santa hats and green and red stockings, but there were few buyers in the wake of President Trump’s declaration Dec. 6 recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. His announcement departs from an international consensus that Jerusalem’s status should be ne- gotiated in peace talks with Palestinians.
Israel’s tiny, and shrinking, Christian minority already faced economic hardships. “A lot of things are missing for us this year,” said Badia Basha, 66, standing at a small table, selling Christmas knickknacks outside Mary’s Well, where Christians believe the angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the son of God.
“Christmas is supposed to bring many performances and singers and
visitors that include Christians and also Muslims and Jews to this city, but today, there is almost nothing. It is not as it really should be.”
Christmas cancellations
Last week, Nazareth Mayor Ali Salam, a Muslim, canceled a number of Christmas festivities in protest against Trump, but he said outdoor stalls, the Christmas tree lighting and the citywide parade in Nazareth on Saturday would go on as planned.
Tourism, a crucial component of Nazareth’s economy, has been weak since the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in Gaza in 2014.
Ronny Eid, a Christian resident and the head of the Nazareth tourism ministry, said the city has seen a number of pilgrim groups cancel their plans to arrive at Christmas.
Hany Khoury, a Christian who owns a shop that sells Christmas specialties such as olive wood carvings from Bethlehem, said shop owners have struggled in recent years to compete with Chinese competitors.
“Everyone used to buy handmade, but even with the seasonal business, the Christian market here is not large enough” to sustain business, Khoury said.
Global competition
Khoury said it’s almost impossible to compete with Chinese merchants who come here, buy olive wood carvings depicting the Nativity and other biblical scenes, copy them at home, then sell them online at cheaper prices across the globe.
Elias Mattar, the chef at the trendy Locanda restaurant in the newly opened Ramada Nazareth Hotel, said the weeks from Dec. 15 through the beginning of the new year can translate into as much as two months’ profit and set the tone for the rest of the business year.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Israel expected a spike in tourists for the Christmas holiday, though it said the vast majority of Christian visitors planned to visit only the holy sites in Jerusalem.
In the winding alleys of Nazareth’s Old City the week before Christmas, there were only a handful of tourists.
Mattar said the economic difficulties deter Christians from remaining in Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel. Before the Jewish state was established in 1948, this city boasted a Christian majority of more than 60%. Today, Christians comprise only 30% of the population. “It’s unreal the extent to which politics enters everything here, even in Nazareth — the symbol of Christianity,” he said. “The situation is not normal.”