Jerusalem expecting somber Christmas amid pandemic

A nun cleans the floor after decorating the entrance to a church with Christmas lights in Jerusalem's Old City, Dec 12, 2021. (ODED BALILTY / AP)

JERUSALEM – Jerusalem's another somber Christmas looms around the corner after the Omicron COVID-19 variant caused the fifth wave of the pandemic in Israel.

Just a few weeks ago, there was optimism in Jerusalem, since Israel's borders finally reopened for foreign tourists after almost two years of closure.

Celebrations for the locals have also been scaled down following the recent surge of COVID-19 morbidity in Israel

However, with the first case of the Omicron variant being detected in Israel, the government's immediate move was to shut down the airports and bar entry to foreigners.

"We feel disappointed and choked. We hope to sell something to tourists, but we are hopeless now," said Faisal, a shop owner from the Old City in Jerusalem. Running the shop for three decades, Faisal said that he is struggling to make a living under the pandemic.

Jerusalem used to be bustling the days before Christmas. However, the Old City is empty now, with many shops being closed. Shop owners sit idly in chairs waiting, not for customers, but for the day to end.

Christmas decorations still can be seen here and there, but are not comparable to what had been seen in the years before the pandemic, when the city was overcrowded with record-breaking numbers of incoming tourists.

Celebrations for the locals have also been scaled down following the recent surge of COVID-19 morbidity in the country.

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The government is trying to encourage people to change their careers by subsidizing vocational training. Meanwhile, hotels with reduced occupancy rates will receive grants and the country will pay tour guides to give free tours to Israeli citizens around the country.

Those who can change career paths have done so, but it is impossible for many others. Faisal sighed with tears in his eyes that it is "too late" for a 55-year-old man to change his profession.

"It is really tough for merchants, for tourism-related jobs, and for restaurants. Here in the Old City, we have reached the point of zero," said Marwan, a shop owner from the Old City.

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For the tourism ministry, it is time to prepare for the future, even though it is full of uncertainties.

"Israel will be open within weeks, or months. We are trying to create demands for these windows of opportunity," Sara Salansky, a senior department manager of marketing administration in the Tourism Ministry told Xinhua.