Bethlehem: ‘Without faith, I couldn’t continue, not even for a minute’
Bethlehem, West Bank/Königstein, Germany – In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Rony Tabash, a Christian whose family has been in Bethlehem for generations, describes how the current conflict is directly impacting the Christian community in the West Bank. Amid despair and uncertainty, many Bethlehem residents must decide if they should leave their homes due to a loss of hope and a lack of opportunity. “The situation is terrible. It’s not easy at all. Every day, new challenges arise. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, never! It’s a war. Not like a war, it is a war,” Tabash says.
“I can’t leave this; I can’t leave my father,” Tabash says. “Our family has owned this shop since 1927, when it started renting the space from the Armenian Church. My father tells me, ‘Have faith. Bethlehem is a sacred place. It won’t be touched.’ Yes, I will stay because it’s a sacred place; we live in the place where Jesus was born; we can’t leave. If it wasn’t for that, I would leave instantly.”
Tabash is the owner of a shop in Manger Square that sells religious articles. He had hoped to finally pay off his debts and recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, but he now finds himself confronting a bleak reality. The absence of pilgrims has left the local economy in ruins, affecting all sectors that rely on religious tourism, from hotels and restaurants to olive wood craftsmanship and souvenir sales. Tabash emphasizes the importance of pilgrims to the Christian community in Bethlehem: without them, many families are left “jobless and hopeless.”
“There are no pilgrims; everything is empty. And they say it will last until Easter. I am not just concerned about money or the economy, although I don’t know how I’ll make it to the end of the month, but I am concerned about the future of Christian sites and Christian families,” he laments.
Bombs over Bethlehem
Tabash also shares his concern for the safety of his family and the citizens of Bethlehem. “These days, there are bombs in the sky over Bethlehem; children are scared, and my kids don’t want to leave our side,” he says.
According to Tabash, many people who lost work in the pandemic went to Jerusalem for employment, but now the checkpoints are closed, and Palestinians are denied entry permits. He says that the few people who have dual citizenship are leaving their homeland because they have lost hope; a friend of his with a small business will leave the Holy Land this week. However, the vast majority of people in Bethlehem do not have this option. And some, like Tabash, have decided to stay: even though they could leave. “I open my shop every day. I go to the square, in front of the Basilica of the Nativity, and people ask me why I’m going; I’m the only one opening the shop. The only thing that sustains me is faith. Without faith, I couldn’t continue, not even for a minute. We’ve lost hope; all that’s left is faith.”
A sacred place for all
“But as a Palestinian Christian, my mission is to be here, even though new challenges come every day. The war has to end. We are tired; we want peace, only peace for our children and our families.”
And during his conversation with ACN, Tabash made an appeal for the preservation of this sacred place. “Is this place only sacred to me, to my family, to us Palestinians in the West Bank? Isn’t it a sacred place for all Christians in the world?” he wonders. “Many people have the desire to come to the Holy Land, and it’s time to help us, to be present in these holy places.”
Due to travel restrictions and danger in the region, Tabash knows that people can’t physically come, but he urges them to be present in other ways: “Come with your prayers. Come with your actions asking for peace. Come by defending the integrity of these places. The silence scares me. Come, with your support for Christian families in the Holy Land.”
—Maria Lozano
