Israeli travel restrictions have crippled Bethlehem's biggest tourist season, with Palestinian Christians criticizing their occupier's decisions as political.
Shopkeepers and hotel owners in the Palestinian city reported far lower business than the years before coronavirus closures halted the arrival of wealthy foreign tourists, devastating the economy of the traditional birthplace of Jesus
BETHLEHEM: Musicians banging drums and playing bagpipes marched through 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
BETHLEHEM: The bells of Bethlehem rang out under grey skies on Christmas morning across streets whose closed pastel or green shutters were like an Advent calendar that nobody had turned up to open. Shopkeepers and hotel owners in the Palestinian city reported far lower business than the years before coronavirus closures halted the arrival of wealthy foreign tourists,