Christians who follow the Gregorian calendar are celebrating Christmas today.  But not so much in Moslem-dominated Bethlehem.  Yes, Bethlehem, which Christians consider the birthplace of Jesus, located in Judea, Israel, just west of the Jordan River, is now over 80% Muslim. 

Despite the significance of Bethlehem to Christians and its high religious tourism from the faithful during the Advent season, the city is majority Muslim.

The Christian population of Bethlehem has been in steady decline since the mid-20th century.

In 1950, Christians made up over 80% of the local population but now hover around 10% in a Muslim-dominated region.

Many Christians have chosen to flee the area due to persecution and religious harassment.

Oh.

(Incidentally, all of Israel, all of Egypt, and all of Gaza are on the so called "West Bank" of the Jordan River in the same way that state of New Jersey is on the "West Bank" of the Hudson River while Manhattan and Brooklyn are on its "East Bank.") 

 Bethlehem is canceling Christmas:

The reason is the general situation in Palestine; people are not really into any celebration, they are sad, angry and upset; our people in Gaza are being massacred and killed in cold blood.

Therefore, it is not appropriate at all to have such festivities while there is a massacre happening in Gaza and attacks in the West Bank.

Yeah, that will happen when "our people" slaughter over 1400 people at a music festival and adjacent villages in neighboring Israel and then Jewish and even Bedouin and Muslim Israelis, who were the innocent initial victims, fight back.

It is telling that this heroic resistance evokes feelings of "sad, angry and upset" among the coreligionists of the initiating terrorists, indicating the Muslim residents of Bethlehem therefore approve of the terrorism -- the barbaric slaughter of innocents.

So the Bethlehem Muslims are canceling a most important, a most holy Christian holiday because Jews are successfully fighting back after neighboring Gazan Muslims, affiliated with the barbaric terrorist group Hamas, began slaughtering Jews over two months ago on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, when Jews were joyously celebrating receiving the Torah.

This spiteful cancellation is also having an extreme negative financial impact on Bethlehem's Muslims:

City leaders fret about the impact the closures have on the small Palestinian economy in the West Bank, already struggling with a dramatic fall in tourism since the start of the war. The Palestinian tourism sector has incurred losses of $2.5 million a day, amounting to $200 million by the end of the year, the Palestinian tourism minister said Wednesday.

 The yearly Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem -- shared among Armenian, Catholic, and Orthodox denominations -- are major boons for the city, where tourism accounts for 70 percent of its yearly income. But the streets are empty this season.

With most major airlines canceling flights to Israel, over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving some 6,000 employees in the tourism sector unemployed, according to Sami Thaljieh, manager of the Sancta Maria Hotel.

“I spend my days drinking tea and coffee, waiting for customers who never come. Today, there is no tourism,” said Ahmed Danna, a Bethlehem shop owner.

Haniyeh said that while Christmas festivities have been canceled, religious ceremonies will take place, including a traditional gathering of church leaders and a Midnight Mass....

At the altar of Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, a revised nativity scene is on display. A figure of baby Jesus wrapped in a Palestinian keffiyeh is perched atop a pile of rubble. The doll lies underneath an olive tree -- for Palestinians, a symbol of steadfastness.

Uhm, according to the Christian Bible, which the administrators of Bethlehem's Evangelical Lutheran Church certainly must have read, Jesus' mother was Jewish and, after giving birth in a stable, which had no trees -- olive or any other type--certainly never wrapped her newborn son in a keffiyeh. No Jewish mother would do that! Got it?

Other than these -- and perhaps other negative holiday instances -- Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. Sing some pleasant carols.  

Image: Kenneth Hagemeyer