O little town: Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem, but the city still shines with hidden magic

There will be no parades, trees or lights in the biblical birthplace of Jesus this Christmas. Nicholas Blincoe remembers the town he loves in better times – and hopes for a brighter future in the years to come

Bethlehem will not celebrate Christmas this year, as Palestinians call for a ceasefire (Getty)

Christmas is not necessarily the optimal time to visit Bethlehem. Not, at least, this year, after the mayor announced that Christmas is cancelled as a result of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza. But even in the quietest of winters, Bethlehem can seem bleak. The core of the old town, with its ramshackle souk and fortress-like church, is balanced on a high promontory above the desert. The surrounding wilderness is at its most forbidding under wintry skies; the honey-blushed stone loses all its warmth when the sun is wrapped in clouds.

Throughout history, pilgrims have visited at Christmas and returned with jaundiced reports of a colourless town glimpsed under the low winter sun. In recent times, travel writers’ first impressions have been skewed by the 18ft wall that has turned the city into an urban prison, and also by the inflatable Santas and digital versions of “Jingle Bells” that pour from every shop and taxi. The town is not what anyone expects. But a little exploration reveals its magic.

An 18ft wall has turned Bethlehem into an urban prison (Nicholas Blincoe)