COVID-19 makes for a bleak Christmas in the land where Christianity started

A gloomy Christmas: Hana Salah reports from Gaza on how restrictions on gatherings and travel have reduced already meager incomes for many small businesses, making the holiday season a gloomy one for business owners and families who depend on trade with the West Bank.  The Ministry of Health of the Hamas government, which runs Gaza, warned that new cases have “reached unexpectedly high levels at an infection rate of 44% of the total daily tests. But the true rate may be much higher in light of the reluctance to get tested and the health care system’s incapacity.”

Hamas retreats to allow Christmas celebrations. Last week the Hamas Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs put out the word that there were to be no Christmas celebrations. Although the decree was linked to the spike in COVID-19 cases, and there are only 1,000 or so Christians in Gaza (70% Greek Orthodox, the rest mostly Catholic), it provoked swift condemnation from political, religious and civil society leaders, forcing Hamas to backtrack. As Ahmad Abu Amer reports, Adel al-Hor, a spokesman for the ministry, told Al-Monitor that the decree was intended for Muslims only, adding that Christians are an integral part of the Palestinian people and components.

UAE steps up aid in Gaza amid backlash. While West Bank Palestinians are launching boycotts against Emirati companies importing products from Israeli settlements, as Ahmad Melhem reports, the United Arab Emirates stepped up its medical and humanitarian assistance to Gaza via the network of former Fatah Gaza security chief Mohammad Dahlan, who now serves as an adviser to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zayed. Ahmad Abu Amer reports from Gaza that the shipments “surprised Gaza Strip inhabitants, as it came after the normalization of ties between the UAE and Israel and the ensuing protests led by Hamas and Palestinian factions in mid-August condemning this deal. Some interpreted the aid as a move to appease Palestinian anger toward the UAE.” Abu Amer notes that Qatar has been the leading supplier of medical and humanitarian assistance to Gaza.  

Spirits sag in West Bank Christian village. Taybeh is a small village near Ramallah with about 1,400 residents, all of them reportedly Christian — the last and only Palestinian town that can make that claim. When Aziza Nofal visited Taybeh last week, she found a population in despair amid new COVID-19 restrictions just as Christmas season arrives. “The village is bracing for new restrictions to be imposed on the celebration of Christmas,” Aziza writes, “The [Palestinian] government said that it would allow prayers to be held in places of worship, including churches, during the holiday season, but according to health protocols that have yet to be announced.”