Church of the Holy Sepulchre Cancels Christmas Celebration

Church of the Holy Sepulchre Cancels Christmas Celebration

Visitors are sparse in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. As a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, churches in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jordan have announced the cancellation of Christmas celebrations for the year 2023, retaining only the traditional services and prayers.On December 13th, the World Bank released a report predicting that the Palestinian economy will have a negative growth of -3.7% in 2023, and the decline in 2024 will be further extended to -6%. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) noted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has had a severe negative impact on the tourism industry in neighboring regions, with Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan losing up to $10 billion in tourism.