Children’s Bethlehem parade becomes another symbolic casuality of war: ‘We want life not death’

The war in Gaza on Sunday claimed another symbolic victim: the annual joyous procession of children marching through Bethlehem.

With Christmas celebrations in the city of Jesus’ birth canceled over the conflict, video of this year’s once boisterous holiday parade featuring Boy and Girl Scouts shows the children completely quiet as they walk throughout Bethlehem, or Beit Lechem, located in what is now the Israeli-occupied West Bank, carrying banners urging peace.

A group of Palestinian Girl Scouts could be seen with banners reading, “We want life not death,” and “Peace to Gaza and its people.”

Rather than being greeted by countless spectators as in previous years, only photographers and guards could be seen on the streets with the scouts.

The children’s march is part of the famous Procession of the Patriarch, which leads the Roman Catholic patriarch’s journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to mimic the one made by Joseph and Mary on Christmas Eve.

The Bethlehem march includes the patriarch’s arrival at the Church of the Nativity, where the Christmas installation is now covered in a tarp and surrounded by rubble and razor wire.

The solemn celebration in Bethlehem is only the latest blow to a city that typically sees tens of thousands of visitors from around the world this time of year.

The religious hub is now struggling to maintain its economy during the Israel-Hamas war, which has caused a renewed wave of violent incidents along the West Bank.

Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Hanania, who boasts that the city sees at least 1.5 million visitors annually, said tourism has come to a complete halt since the war began, the New York Times said.

The lack of tourists has taken its toll on local businesses, with hotel manager Rony Fakhouri, 27, telling the Times that the Dar Al Majus hotel is down about 100,000 shekels, or $27,000.

He added that while the guesthouse usually sees at least 200 people staying through the holidays, it has only had 12 guests since the war began.

The decrease in visitors also cost Fakhouri his second job as a night-shift duty manager at another hotel, something that didn’t even occur during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jack Issa Juqman, 52, who has been making wooden statues and carvings of Jesus since he was a teenager, has seen a similar effect at the shop his family has been running for about 200 years.

“We already had to let nine employees go,” Juqman told Al Jazeera of his once busy workshop.

The Palestinian Ministry for tourism, which oversees events in Bethlehem, estimated that the economy would suffer a blow of about $200 million this year, with at least 60% of the losses directly affecting Bethlehem.