News & Reporting

At Immanuel Evangelical Church in Bethlehem, instead of Christmas lights, senior pastor Nihad Salman rummaged out a banner from the church closet. The banner has a picture of a woman fleeing bomb-shelled buildings, and printed in Arabic are the words “Let us arise and worship God.”

The last time the church had the banner out was two years ago, during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas. That banner sums up Salman’s approach to Christmas during wartime this year. He sees an opportunity to preach the gospel to people who live under military occupation while grieving the deaths of their people in Gaza.

“People will be asking more questions,” he said. “We have seen that always after a crisis, people are seeking: What is the truth? Where is the truth? So we have lots of work to do.”

Church leaders in Bethlehem and across the Holy Land have decided to mute Christmas celebrations this year due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Typically, Bethlehem—a Palestinian city of about 30,000 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank—is jammed with more than 3 million visitors coming from all over the world to celebrate the birth of the Messiah.

Marching bands and carol singers and dancers and fireworks would fill the city with loud cheer and festive energy. Thousands would pack the Church of the Nativity, golden lights would twinkle across Star Street, and a giant tree with a ruby star would illuminate Manger Square.

Instead, the streets are dark and hushed.

It will be a silent night this Christmas—but it’ll still be a holy night, according to local Christian leaders. Stripping Christmas of all its extraneous decorations and Western traditions, they say, will help them focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Salman told the 50 children in his church, “This year, you’re not going to get a present. You’re going to give a present.” He challenged them to brainstorm ways to fundraise—whether ...