Christmas events not canceled in Nazareth, mayor insists

  |  Source: Baptist Press

The Basilica of the Annunciation, a church in Nazareth, is built on the traditional site of the Angel Gabriel’s annunciation of the birth of Jesus. (PHOTO / Dennis Jarvis / CC BY-SA 2.0)

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NAZARETH, Israel (BP)—Israeli Arab officials in Nazareth, where an angel appeared to Mary to announce she would give birth to God’s Son, have walked back statements that Christmas celebrations there would be canceled to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Meanwhile, when the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, Jesus’ birthplace, learned of Trump’s Dec. 6 announcement regarding Jerusalem, it briefly switched off the area’s Christmas lights in protest, Reuters reported, as did Ramallah in the West Bank.

In Nazareth, the city government initially announced some public Christmas celebrations would be canceled as a statement of opposition to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem, according to multiple media reports.

With 76,000 Israeli Arab Muslims and Christians living there, Nazareth is the largest Arab town in Israel and has elected numerous Arabs to local government posts.

“We have decided to cancel the traditional Christmas singing and dancing because we are in a time of dispute, because of what Trump has said about Jerusalem,” city spokesman Salem Sharara initially said, according to a report by Reuters.

According to The Times of Israel, Nazareth Mayor Ali Salam, who is Muslim, said Dec. 14, “Our identity and faith aren’t up for debate.” U.S. recognition of Jerusalem “has taken away the joy of the holiday, and we will thus cancel the festivities this year,” he said.

But two days later, The Times reported Salam said, “Reports that Christmas events were canceled this year are incorrect.”

“I don’t know why people thought there would be cuts to the celebrations,” he added in a statement to Reuters.

Three singers who were scheduled to appear will not perform at Nazareth’s annual Christmas festivities, Salam said. Otherwise, “everything … will be held as normal,” he insisted.


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At least 60,000 visitors descended on Nazareth the weekend of Dec. 16-17, Reuters reported.

Israel long has claimed Jerusalem as its capital, with modern Israeli governments varying in their willingness to let Palestinians control portions of the city. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as their capital.

Some Palestinians and other Arabs perceive Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to be “another slap in the face to Palestinians,” said Jamal Bishara, an Israeli Arab Baptist pastor.

Trump said Dec. 6 he was not taking a position on “the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.”


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