Christmas returns to Bethlehem after two years of war

Thank heavens – Peter

For the past two Christmases, John Juka’s family restaurant looked about the same as any business in Bethlehem: shuttered and eerily empty.
But on Saturday evening, it bustled with families and was lit by strings of red lights, a hopeful change in the Palestinian city that’s been reeling since war broke out in Gaza.
Christmas celebrations are slowly returning to the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
While a shaky ceasefire holds in Gaza, Palestinians hope the festivities are a step toward a more peaceful future.
“It’s not like it was before the war,” 30-year-old Juka said. “But it’s like life is coming back again.”