Military conflict creates a sad mood in Bethlehem | Pilgrims have left the city | Don Bosco partners turn to Jugend Eine Welt with a cry for help
Vienna (OTS) – A few days before Christmas it became quiet in the birthplace of Jesus. “Our project partners on site tell us that the mood and atmosphere in Bethlehem is sad and anything but Christmassy.”
told Reinhard Heiserer, managing director of the Austrian development organization Jugend Eine Welt. Due to the current situation, the city administration has banned all Christmas decorations. Pilgrims are hardly to be found. In addition, the Youth One World project partners on site are in great financial difficulty due to the effects of the war in the Holy Land. “Nobody in Bethlehem is really in the Christmas spirit at the moment. Please help!”appeals Heiserer.
October 7, 2023 changed everything
Since its founding 26 years ago, Jugend Eine Welt has supported, among other things, school and educational projects in the Global South. In Bethlehem, the long-standing Don Bosco project partners run a bakery as well as a kindergarten, a school and a youth center for around 300 children from the surrounding towns and villages of Bethlehem. But since October 7, 2023, the day of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and the associated start of the bloody conflict, everything has changed. “A few days ago, an employee at the kindergarten in Bethlehem turned to me with a cry for help. She wrote that many parents lost their jobs due to the war and could no longer afford school fees. As a result, the school lacks important income to pay teachers’ salaries and running costs. Radiators stay cold and the children freeze. In addition, families lack money for food. “The children come to school on empty stomachs.”
says Heiserer.
Fear as a daily companion
The war in the Holy Land has had a dire impact on the people living in Bethlehem, regardless of what religious community they belong to. Fear is a daily companion. Increased security measures and closed border crossings on the large separation wall to the West Bank reinforce the isolated situation. Many Palestinians are no longer allowed to work in Israel. As a result, they no longer have any income. The supply of essential goods is difficult and food prices are rising. The economic situation in the city, which is heavily dependent on tourism, is poor. The shopkeepers in the square in front of the Church of the Nativity – many of them are Christians – fear that, as in the “time of the pandemic”, they will find few buyers for the religious souvenirs they offer, such as rosaries, nativity figures and olive wood crosses. “As soon as Covid-19 is over, people are driven further into poverty. Children and young people in particular are severely affected by this.”said Youth One World managing director Heiserer.
Suffering on all sides
“You encounter the suffering of the people at every turn, on both sides – some have lost relatives in the Gaza Strip, others due to the inhumane attack by Hamas.”, report project partners from the Austrian aid organization Jugend Eine Welt from the region. Despite everything, there is also good news. Like from the Don Bosco bakery in Bethlehem, which continues to send a small but important signal for peace: around 450 flatbreads can be given out free of charge every day to around 200 needy families of all denominations. “The bread is a wonderful treat”, assures little Rami, who lives with his parents and two siblings in a one-room apartment right next to the 12-meter-high wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem. The family lost their home in armed border conflicts in the West Bank.
Please help!
“All of our Don Bosco project partners in the Middle East have been working in the region for decades to support children in these difficult living conditions.”said Heiserer. “We want to continue to support them to give people a little hope for a peaceful solution. Please open your heart and help with a donation!”
Youth One World donation account: AT66 3600 0000 0002 4000 | Online donations at www.jugendeinewelt.at/spenden | Donations are tax deductible!
You can find further photos for editorial use here.
Questions & Contact:
Mag. Thomas Zach, MA
Youth One World | Press and public relations
Tel. +43 664 886 325 74 | thomas.zach@jugendeinewelt.at