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WEKU
World
Scott Neuman

There's no Christmas in Bethlehem this year. With war in Gaza, festivities are off

A view of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church's Nativity scene in Bethlehem. This year, it portrays a baby Christ born under rubble and wrapped up in a Palestinian keffiyeh. (Ayman Oghanna for NPR)

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Jack Giacaman enjoys telling customers that every day is Christmas in his shop, which features hand-crafted olive-wood Nativity scenes, camels and crosses.

But this year there will be no Christmas in the city that is synonymous with the birth of Jesus, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Last month, Palestinian leaders of Christian denominations here came together, and citing the devastating war in Gaza made a unanimous decision to cancel public celebrations.

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