The mayor's speech for the tree-lighting ceremony

Bethlehem

Arabic

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. (Mathiew 2: 1-10)

Your Excellency Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, the Prime Minister of Palestine

Your Excellencies, Your Eminences and Respected Clergymen

Honorable Ministers

Your Excellencies, Consuls General and representatives of countries accredited to the State of Palestine

Messrs. the Mayors of Palestinian sister cities

Our friends, families and brothers in the world

Ladies and gentlemen, each in his name

I welcome you in Bethlehem, from this blessed square, near the door steps of the Church of the Nativity, and thank you for your presence which surely expresses the extent of your pride for Christmas, and your interest to share Bethlehem in its celebrations for Christmas. Christmas unifies us with Joy and rejoice, in hope and optimism because Christmas is the feast day of love. It is the feast of human brotherhood with its lofty message to all nations.

From here, I send a message of love and appreciation for our families, friends and followers in the world through the media and social media, for their participation in the Christmas tree lighting ceremony from far.

Today's celebration was supposed to be attended by mayors from twin cities such as Italy's Montevarchi, Romania's Suceava which is twinned with Bethlehem, and foreign delegations from different countries, but unfortunately, they were unable to attend due to the restrictions imposed by the newly mutated Corona virus on movement and travel in the world.

But out of our insistence on life, and our interest in building bridges of fraternity and friendship with the peoples of the world, we have agreed that, in conjunction with the lighting of the Bethlehem tree tonight, the tree of Montevarchi in Italy, and the cathedral tree of Glasgow in Scotland will be lit.

Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Brothers and Sisters,

We celebrate Christmas to strengthen in our souls the belief in God. Glory be to Him, when He created man, He wanted him to live by the grace of faith, virtue, and love, and He sent for humanity messengers and prophets to state and preach His will, mercy, and the message of His salvation.

The lighting of the Christmas tree today is an occasion and a tradition that we cherish in Bethlehem. By lighting the tree we start our glorified Christmas season, and to remind the world that Bethlehem is the capital of Christmas with the grace of our Lord. In Bethlehem, the will of God manifested and his word was embodied with the birth of his only Son in a humble Grotto, in order to be a savior and a redeemer for humanity and to lead it into the era of light, into the era of salvation. The message of Christmas is portend of love, justice and peace. This truth is emphasized in the Holy Books, and in the Holy religions. Christmas must start in ourselves by proclaiming Christ as our Redeemer, the King of our life, so that his love will live in us not by words but by reality.

Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Brothers and sisters,

In Christmas, we remember the angel’s hymn in the sky of Bethlehem” Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth and good will to all people”. We renew in ourselves the determination on steadfastness, facing the challenges, confronting all the hindrances, and reviving in ourselves the hope for a luminous future, and boost in our souls to glorify God with peace, love and great Joy.

Christmas comes this year and humanity is still suffering from Covid 19 virus and lives under its severity. Recession is still prevailing on our economy due to the stoppage of tourism which resulted in great material losses and the loss of our beloved ones, but our belief in God’s will, and the message of Christmas which was clear in the sky of Bethlehem, the city, its church and the people of Bethlehem stood lofty and steadfast facing the Corona Virus with callousness and reminding the world with the good omen which the angels declared in the sky of Bethlehem and with the Star of Bethlehem, which led the magi to the grotto where the child was.

We, the people of Bethlehem decided this year to override our wounds and be armed with the values of Christmas and to let hope to overcome pain and to celebrate Christmas with rejoice and great joy, and to give the occasion its joy and sublime meanings and spot the light on Bethlehem and its role, and to assure the world that injustice will never prevail and that achieving a just and comprehensive peace and the equality which the message of Christmas was embodied in God’s will and that the justice of heaven is ultimately coming. Achieving our nations’s goals of freedom and independence on our nation’s soil, and building our independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital will surely be achieved, no matter what it takes, under the leadership of our sole and legitimate representative the PLO, no matter how difficult the challenges are, how great the obstacles, and how long the time is.

Your Excellency, the prime minister, Brothers and sisters

Since the Bethlehem municipal council took over its duties at the beginning of May 2017. They have been working to fulfil its vision in running the affairs of the city, improving and developing them. They started their work by developing the strategical development plan of the city for 4 years which included 82 projects in partnership and cooperation with the civil society institutions and local community. Meanwhile the Municipality until now implemented 104 projects, 69 of which are from the projects list of development plan, and 35 projects which the council have fundraised in the previous period. Many new roads were opened and connecting the sewage system service into the different parts of the neighborhoods. The council bought different pieces of land to construct the new slaughterhouse, which the Municipality accomplished its first phase successfully. It also bought a piece of land to build the technical industrial school. The Municipality was also active in the cultural scene and organized many activities among which is the conference of the Italian twin cities and Bethlehem which was held in Assisi, and the second diaspora conference in the year 2019 under the title of “we are coming back home” and the third conference in the year 2021 under the title of “our culture is our identity”. The council also has accomplished the study of a Mobility plan for the Governorate funded by the French agency for development and the city of Paris. They also finalized the management and marketing plan of the world heritage site (Star Street), and implemented all activities of NUR project for renewable energy which was funded by the Italian agency for development cooperation and the city of Turin. The Municipality also organized many cultural activities in partnership with the cultural, youth and scout institutions in Bethlehem, and sent many delegations to the world.

The plans of the municipal council in 2020 were very ambitious, when the budget of the municipality adopted the implementation of many projects by self-financing, but the spread of the corona virus was stronger than we have expected and so we have been forced to minimize the council’s budget and delay the implementation of many projects. It also hindered the Bethlehem festivities as “the capital of Arab culture in the year 2020” as was planned in cooperation with the ministry of culture and civil society institutions.

Esteemed guests,

We, in Bethlehem, as a municipality, institutions and citizens extend our deep thanks, appreciation and gratitude to his Excellency president Mahmoud Abbas “may God prolong his life” for his continuous sponsorship for the projects of the Bethlehem Municipality most important among which are the ceremonies of Christmas, Diaspora conferences. We also would like to thank his Excellency Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh the Prime Minister who always stand with and support Bethlehem and his participation in its activities.

We also would like to thank all those who offered support and sponsorship for the activities of Christmas:

● Italian Agency for cooperation development and Turin Municipality which is twinned with Bethlehem.

● Jerusalem district company ltd.

● Arab Palestinian investment company Apec

● Paltel Group

● Jawwal Company

● The bank of Palestine

● Medlabs consultancy group

● Signature tours company

● Net tours Company

● Paris Municipality, in cooperation with the French agency for development and the French Consulate in Jerusalem

● Global United insurance

● National Beverage company (NBC) Coca Cola\Cappy

● The pontifical mission

● Mr. Michel Sayyegh

● Arab Hotel Association

● Millennium Tours.

● The Spanish Consulate.

● Verona Company for marble and granite.

● Element Media company

● Beit Jala pharmaceutical company

● Bavaria company

● Scout groups in Bethlehem

● Pro Terra sancta institution

● Dar Alsabagh center for diaspora studies and research

● Bethlehem Icon school

We also extend our thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Tourism for its role in developing tourism and promoting Palestine and by building bridges of communication with the world, for the Bethlehem governorate and the security services for their cooperation in enhancing the municipality’s role in managing the city’s affairs, and for the scout groups whose participation gives Bethlehem celebrations its splendor with their music and special performances, and the Pro Foundation Terra Sancta, the Dar Al-Sabbagh Center for Diaspora Studies and Research, the Cultural Heritage Preservation Center, the Icon Center, and the press for their continuous coverage of the city's activities.

I also thank my colleagues, the councilors of Bethlehem Municipality and the Municipality staff who worked day and night to prepare for this ceremony.

Esteemed guests,

We pray to God almighty to let the star which heralded the magi and lit the road for them and led them to Bethlehem to protend the world once again with Christmas and lead them to Bethlehem declaring the birth of the salvation which has been long waited for and which the Palestinian people are yearning for.

We call upon all people of the earth who believe in peace and love to come and visit Bethlehem and Palestine and pay a pilgrimage to the holy sites and practice their faith. By that, the Palestinian presence on this land will come true and it will enhance its steadfastness so that we can stay on this soil as we have always done witnesses for the birth of the grotto child “Glory to his name” and his immortal message which is a message of joy, love and peace.

I wish you all, and all those who are celebrating Christmas a happy and glorified feast and a happy new year.

Merry Christmas

Adv. Anton Salman

Mayor of Bethlehem