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Bethlehem subdued for second pandemic Christmas
In Bethlehem’s Manger Square, visitors in Santa hats and scouts beating drums marked Christmas Eve on Friday, but fewer people attended as coronavirus fears overshadowed celebrations for a second year.
The city where Christians believe Jesus was born is usually a focal point of the holiday, with thousands packing the streets and filling the hotels.
But Israel, which controls all entrances to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, barred its borders to foreigners in an effort to rein in infections from the Omicron strain of the coronavirus.
“It’s very strange,” said Kristel Elayyan, a Dutchwoman married to a Palestinian, who came to Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
“Before (the pandemic), you had a bunch of people coming in from different countries to celebrate Christmas, and now you know that everybody who is here is probably not a tourist.”
Last year, Bethlehem curtailed the celebration sharply because of the pandemic, with a virtual tree lighting and just a handful of visiting scout troops.
This year, the celebrations are certainly more vibrant — but still just a fraction of their usual size.
“If it’s one year, it’s an interesting experience,” Elayyan added of the pandemic.
“But because this is the second year and we don’t know what is going to come in the future, it’s a huge loss for the people here.”
Local visitors
An upbeat Palestinian tourism minister Rula Maayah said it is “thanks to the vaccines” that Bethlehem is celebrating again.
On average, Bethlehem welcomed three million visitors a year before the pandemic, with Christmas alone drawing 10,000 people to the city’s hotels, around half from abroad.
The municipality said it worked this year to appeal to local visitors from Palestinian communities across the Holy Land.
Christians visit the Church of the Nativity, revered as the site of Jesus Christ’s birth, during Christmas celebrations in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 24, 2021. ABBAS MOMANI / AFP
Some hotels were busy, but about a quarter of available rooms citywide were shuttered because of the pandemic, said Elias Arja, head of the Palestinian Hotel Association.
Several businesses kept their doors shut on Friday, despite Christmas Eve being the most important day of the year for Bethlehem.
Inside the Church of the Nativity, visitors were even able to meditate nearly alone at the grotto where Jesus is said to have been born.
“Surreal,” observed Hudson Harder, a 21-year-old American student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
“Of course there is a selfish part where it’s like, ‘Oh, I get to see this place so empty’, but on the other hand you feel for the shops, all the money they are losing.”
‘Worse than war’
Steps away from the basilica, the images of Popes John Paul II and Francis cover the front of a shop selling carved olive wood figures and nativity scenes.
Owner Victor Epiphane Tabash said it was his 57th Christmas behind the counter. For him, as for many shopkeepers around Manger Square, “there is nothing to say about Christmas”.
“Only the scouts give a bit of the holiday feeling,” he said, as troops of uniformed scouts marched past, blasting out Christmas carols on drums, trumpets and bagpipes.
Tabash said he kept his business alive during the pandemic by exporting, because no customers came to buy in person. He compared the pandemic to two previous Palestinian uprisings, or intifadas.
“We have lived through the intifadas, wars. But the coronavirus is worse,” he said.
Outside, Maram Saeed, a Palestinian woman from Jerusalem, took a selfie with her husband and two children in front of a towering Christmas tree decorated with shining red and gold spheres.
Saeed said it was a time of joy after many days of depression.
“It’s not like a usual year, we have the fear of the worst, we still fear Covid,” she told AFP.
“When there is war, we know the enemy, and we know who we are fighting. But with Covid, it’s a very tiny enemy that we don’t see, so it’s worse.”
US car giant Ford on Wednesday announced 4,000 more job cuts in Europe, mostly in Germany and Britain, in the latest blow to the continent’s beleaguered car industry.
“The company has incurred significant losses in recent years,” Ford said in a statement, blaming “the industry shift to electrified vehicles and new competition”.
The move will affect 2,900 jobs in Germany, 800 in the UK and 300 in western Europe by the end of 2027, a Ford spokesman told AFP.
“It is critical to take difficult but decisive action to ensure Ford’s future competitiveness in Europe,” said Dave Johnston, Ford’s European vice-president in the statement.
The company also said it was adjusting the production of its Explorer and Capri models, resulting in reduced hours at its Cologne plant in the first quarter of 2025.
Europe’s car industry has been plunged into crisis by high manufacturing costs, a stuttering switch to electric vehicles and increased competition in key market China.
Germany’s Volkswagen has been among those hardest hit, announcing in September that it was considering the unprecedented move of closing some factories in Germany.
“The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and serious situation,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said at the time.
Ford had already announced in February 2023 that it was planning to cut 3,800 jobs in Europe, including 2,300 in Germany and 1,300 in Britain.
The company said then it was planning to reduce the number of models developed for Europe, concentrate on the profitable van segment and speed up the transition to electric vehicles.
Ford currently has around 28,000 employees in Europe with 15,000 in Germany, according to the company’s works council.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the dissolution of the Governing Council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, and the removal of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bernard Ifeanyi Odoh, and Registrar, Mrs. Rosemary Ifoema Nwokike.
The council, chaired by Ambassador Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe, comprised five other members: Hafiz Oladejo, Augustine Onyedebelu, Engr. Amioleran Osahon, and Rtd. Gen. Funsho Oyeneyin.
A statement released on Wednesday by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that the council was dissolved following reports of procedural violations in appointing the vice-chancellor.
According to the statement, the council had allegedly appointed an unqualified candidate, disregarding due process, which triggered tensions between the university’s Senate and the council.
The Federal Government expressed dismay over the council’s actions, emphasizing the need for adherence to the university’s governing laws in decision-making.
“The council’s disregard for established rules necessitated the government’s intervention to restore order to the 33-year-old institution,” the statement noted.
In a related development, President Tinubu also approved the dismissal of Engr. Ohieku Muhammed Salami, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State.
Salami was accused of suspending the university’s Vice-Chancellor without following the prescribed procedures, a move the Federal Ministry of Education had previously directed him to reverse.
Despite the Ministry’s directives, Salami reportedly refused to comply and resorted to issuing threats and abusive remarks towards the Ministry’s officials, including the Permanent Secretary.
The Federal Government reiterated that the primary role of university councils is to ensure the smooth operation of academic activities, strictly adhering to the laws establishing each institution.
Tinubu warned university councils against engaging in actions that could destabilize their institutions, as his administration remains committed to enhancing the nation’s education system.
The Ekiti State Government has reached an agreement with labour leaders in the state, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage approved by the Federal Government.
Addressing journalists at a brief ceremony in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, the Head of Service (HoS), Dr. Folakemi Olomojobi, announced that the payment would commence immediately.
She lauded Governor Biodun Oyebanji for prioritizing the welfare of workers despite the state’s limited resources.
“This development demonstrates the governor’s commitment to improving the livelihood of our workers,” Dr. Olomojobi stated, highlighting the proactive measures taken by the administration to ensure prompt implementation.
In their remarks, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Chairman, Comrade Sola Adigun, and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Comrade Olatunde Kolapo, expressed their appreciation to Governor Oyebanji for fulfilling his promises to workers.
They confirmed that the new minimum wage would apply to all cadres, including employees in ministries, parastatals, agencies, and pensioners.
The Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), Comrade Femi Ajoloko, described the implementation as a fair and commendable adjustment.
“This decision reflects the governor’s magnanimity and his dedication to fostering a productive workforce in Ekiti State,” he said.
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