Exit Bethlehem via the gift shop
The Holy City was extracting money from tourists even when Mark Twain visited in 1867
After two years of “darkness and silence”, in the words of its mayor, Bethlehem has put its sparkle back on. Yet despite the return of Christmas lights, there cannot be full-on seasonal cheer for a city located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Bethlehem’s celebrations are still dimmed by grief over devastation in Gaza, less than 50 miles away and the deaths of more than 70,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
Multiple shelves can be filled with books about Bethlehem, its significance in religion and ritual, and its cultural and culinary traditions. But the writings of two long-dead literary giants seem to speak most acutely to this moment.
Originally published at https://www.thenewworld.co.uk
