While the notion that Christmas was ‘cancelled’ in Bethlehem was widely repeated in popular media and struck me as simplistic, the streets today are by contrast very quiet today, and the overwhelming majority of stores in Bethlehem and neighbouring Bayt Jala are shut: the notable exceptions being a bakery, a few stands selling fruits and vegetables, a couple of small convenience stores, some pharmacies, and a stand selling hot beverages in Manger Square. No exceptions have been forthcoming from Western fast-food restaurants such as Domino’s Pizza or Popeye’s, liquor stores and Christian-owned businesses and establishments. Indeed, it was my intention to visit the bookstore at Bethlehem Bible College today- alas, also closed.
These closures are part of a wider ‘general strike’ in towns in the West Bank today, undertaken as an act of mourning for leading Hamas figure Saleh al-'Aruri, who was based in Beirut and was assassinated yesterday (almost certainly by Israel). Although there is concern that the assassination marks a significant escalation and could spark a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah on the northern front, it is my view that a wider war is unlikely to happen because of this assassination. The simple reality is that Hezbollah (and Lebanon) will face massive devastation if it chooses to go to war with Israel, which is far mightier militarily. Hezbollah is unlikely to risk bring such losses upon itself and Lebanon over the killing of ‘Aruri. Similarly, observe how the ‘resistance’ axis has refrained from launching a wider war following Israel’s assassination of a leading Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps figure in Syria. Groups of the ‘resistance’ axis have certainly undertaken various means of trying to pressure Israel and the United States, but these means fall short of all-out war.
Back to the West Bank though: the fact that this ‘general strike’ was announced and is occurring with such a degree of thoroughness at least here in Bethlehem and Bayt Jala- all out of mourning for ‘Aruri and commemoration of him as a ‘martyr'- should be a testament to the existence of considerable sympathy in the West Bank for Hamas and its ongoing fight with Israel. After all, the ruling faction here is Hamas’ rival Fatah, whose ‘Ramallah region’ officially endorsed the strike. Fatah makes clear its rule in Bethlehem (for example) through display of its flag, murals and posters. Displays of Hamas flags, by contrast, are nowhere to be seen in Bethlehem, likely out of fear that such displays will lead to arrests by the local security forces. However, some locals appear to have indicated their sympathies for Hamas by spraying graffiti that features the name of Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ military wing).
In general, it would be fair to say that sympathy for Hamas has grown since the events of October 7 and the Gaza War. For some, this sympathy could be a reflection of viewing the conflict as a struggle with Jews as a people. For example, one taxi driver who took me from Bayt Jala to Bethlehem one afternoon and sympathised with Hamas over the ruling Fatah, indicated to me that he saw the conflict as rooted in the desire of Jews to cleanse the land of non-Jews- an imperative supposedly originating from the Torah. He also added that the conflict between Muslims and Jews has deep roots in Islamic history, concurring with me when I put it to him that an example of such deep roots was the conflict between the early Muslims and the Jewish tribes of Yathrib/Medina (Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadhir and Banu Qurayza) as recorded in the traditional biography of the Prophet Muhammad.
For others though, the sympathy with Hamas could be more a reflection of endorsing a more generic sense of ‘resistance’ against Israel, contrasting with the perceived passivity of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah in the West Bank. This can also entail downplaying atrocities committed on October 7 or the Islamist nature of Hamas. Thus, rather than celebrating October 7 out of some bloodlust against Jews, the events of that day become a somewhat romanticised form of ‘resistance’ without full and proper acknowledgement of the actions of Hamas fighters and other participants in the assault on that day. This sort of sentiment became apparent in a conversation at Bethlehem’s Tanwin bookstore with a rather educated Palestinian-American who also has an Israeli passport and works in Jerusalem. He by no means espoused an Islamist worldview or celebrated the mass killing of Israeli or Jewish civilians, but rather he was sympathising with the idea of standing up against Israel, while blaming many of the Israeli civilian deaths of October 7 on Israel’s military (now a common idea among Palestinians but also endorsed by some if not many supporters of the Palestinian cause around the world).
It is hard to speak quantitatively about proportions for support for Hamas as opposed to Fatah and other factions here. The best one can do is gather qualitative data from talking to different people and speak in general terms about sympathy for Hamas and its fight against Israel as attested by this general strike in mourning for ‘Aruri, and observe that sympathy has likely grown since October 7. In this regard, it is hardly surprising why no general elections have been held here and are unlikely to be held any time soon, with Fatah maintaining a de facto one-party system of rule. It also seems unlikely that an Israeli military defeat of Hamas (in the sense of dismantling its territorial control of Gaza) will lead to a major downturn in sympathy here for the group and the concept of ‘resistance’ against Israel.
