for people, especially those who are working in tourism sector. they are selling somej of the land to houses. the characters of christmas come to life. in this factory, ibrahim is the only worker here today. normally, he d be joined by four more. for palestinian christians in this part of the west bank, life has been a challenge, says nabeel, whose family has run the shop for decades. we could keep our workers till the moment, but i don t know. you know, it s hard. i have two shops, one is here, the one on the manger square. it s been like 2a months, zero income. it s sad, it s not normal to see bethlehem this way. but at christmas, there s always light to look up to. as this town celebrates, it remains a year of hope against the odds. tom bateman, bbc news, bethlehem. the final preparations are under way for the rescheduled launch
but what is missing are the international visitors and pilgrims that would usually be thronging the square here, and that is a devastating blow for the second year running because bethlehem needs tourism to keep surviving. the glimmers of tourism restarting last month have gone derailed by border closures due to the new covid variant. people trying to find joy and happiness from nothing. so it s very interesting, very impressive. since the beginning of 2020, everything is closed, hotels are empty. it s very, very difficult - for people, especially those who are working in tourism sector. they are selling somej of the land to houses. the characters of christmas come to life. in this factory, ibrahim is the only worker here today. normally, he d be joined by four more. for palestinian christians in this part of the west bank, life has been a challenge,
but this season s greetings are mainly between the locals. the scout bands are a fixture of christmas in manger square and you can feel the energy. but what is missing are the international visitors and pilgrims that would usually be thronging the square here, and that is a devastating blow for the second year running because bethlehem needs tourism to keep surviving. the glimmers of tourism restarting last month have gone derailed by border closures due to the new covid variant. people trying to find joy and happiness from nothing. so it s very interesting, very impressive to see such a gathering. bethlehem is relying definitely on tourism. since the beginning of the year 2020, everything is closed, all hotels are empty. it s very, very difficult - for people, especially those who are working in tourism sector.
blow for the second year running because bethlehem needs tourism to keep surviving. the glimmers of tourism restarting last month have gone derailed by border closures due to the new covid variant. people trying to find joy and happiness from nothing. so it s very interesting, very impressive to see such a gathering. bethlehem is relying definitely on tourism. since the beginning of the year 2020, everything is closed, all hotels are empty. it s very, very difficult - for people, especially those who are working in tourism sector. they are selling somej of the land to houses. the characters of christmas come to life. in this factory, ibrahim is the only worker here today. normally, he d be joined by four more.
and happiness from nothing. so it s very interesting, very impressive to see such a gathering. bethlehem is relying definitely on tourism. since the beginning of the year 2020, everything is closed, all hotels are empty. it s very, very difficult - for people, especially those who are working in tourism sector. they are selling somei of the land to houses. the characters of christmas come to life. in this factory, ibrahim is the only worker here today. normally, he d be joined by four more. for palestinian christians in this part of the west bank, life s been a challenge, says nabeel, whose family has run this shop for decades. we could keep our workers till the moment, but i don t know. you know, it s hard. i have two shops, one is here, the one on the manger square. it s been like 2a months, zero income. it s sad, it s not normal to see bethlehem this way.