Galilee village awaits Christmas influx, unfazed by Hezbollah tunnels nearby

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Title : Galilee village awaits Christmas influx, unfazed by Hezbollah tunnels nearby
Link : Galilee village awaits Christmas influx, unfazed by Hezbollah tunnels nearby

Just a few kilometers south of the Lebanese border and the ongoing Israel Defense Forces operation against Hezbollah attack tunnels, the Israeli-Arab Christian village of Fassuta is preparing for an annual Christmas festival that’s expected to bring in thousands of visitors.

Meeting with The Times of Israel days before Christmas, Father Michael Assi, pastor of the Mar Elias church here, claims that the towering Christmas tree standing outside his door is the tallest in the holy land — outstripping even the one in Bethlehem, the most popular destination for pilgrims spending the Christmas season here.

He may not be able to match Bethlehem’s star power, but Assi’s guests will enjoy a stunning view of the hills of Lebanon. Assi’s community in the Upper Galilee is just two miles (3.5 kilometers) from the UN Blue Line that has separated Israel from its northern neighbor since 2000. Here, every year since 2013, a Christmas market has attracted thousands of visitors from all over Israel.

“All 3,400 inhabitants of Fassuta are Melkite Christians,” Rima Francis, a Fassuta local council representative, told The Times of Israel during our recent visit. “Five years ago, the council came up with the idea of a Christmas market that would show tourists and people from our surroundings — including Muslims and the Jewish mainstream — how the holiday is celebrated in our Christian village.”

The festival, named “Christmassuta,” runs this year from December 27-29. It has proved one of the area’s most successful from its very first year, when it attracted roughly 25,000 Israelis of all ages and faiths. The residents of Fassuta work for weeks to make sure the event will be a success, coordinating closely with the Israeli police to guarantee security.

Their investment is evident: The cobblestone Al-Zaqaq St., which transects the village’s oldest neighborhood, is decorated with red and gold ornaments. It is along this stretch that the market’s open stalls set up shop each year.

Francis said that during the three-day event, visitors are welcomed with typical Christmas foods prepared by residents. This year as well, she added, visitors will enjoy tours of the village, as well as cultural exhibitions such as folk dances performed in a 1,000-capacity tent traditionally pitched beneath the Christmas tree.

In 2017 the village saw 60,000 visitors. This year, organizers expect even more, Francis said, underlining how tourism does not seem to be affected by the ongoing Operation Northern Shield — Israel’s systematic destruction of underground attack tunnels dug into Israeli territory by Hezbollah. (Read More)