By Jonathan Saul
Reuters
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; 10:51 AM
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A glimmer of tinsel, a miniature Santa Claus and a cluster of plastic fir trees in a shop window are among the few signs that Christmas is on its way in the land of Israel.
December 25, the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, is a regular working day in the Jewish state and passes with little fanfare.
While residents in Arab Christian areas such as Nazareth, Jesus's home town, decorate trees and hang lights on homes and churches, and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank receives many pilgrims, life in most of Israel carries on as normal.
That makes it hard on the many Christians among large number of migrant laborers who have come to Israel to work. As most live in Jewish towns and cities, their main religious holiday arrives with barely any sense of Christmas.
"It is a little bit sad, a little bit lonely," said Hilda Laconsay, 35, from the Philippines who works as a carer for the elderly. "There is no Christmas feeling here."
There are an estimated 80,000 legal foreign workers inside Israel, and a further 100,000 living illegally whose permits have expired or been revoked by the authorities. A large percentage of them are Christians from Asia and Africa.
As far as Israeli citizens go, there are about 145,000 Christians in the Jewish state, most of them Arabs, of a population of just over 7 million. Almost 80 percent of Israelis are Jewish and the rest Muslim.
In Israel's main business city, Tel Aviv, many migrant workers live around the central bus station. Inside the terminal, some vendors sell Christmas decorations and several shops have tried to create some festive cheer.
Daniel Seah, 51, a Catholic from Singapore, is one of the few non-Israeli shop owners selling Christian souvenirs.
His store, on what has become known as "Manila Avenue," is popular with Filipino workers who flock to his part of town on Saturdays, the day of rest in Israel.
"For the last few years we have organized an event before Christmas where we come together here on Manila Avenue and dance and sing carols," he said. "I will be playing music. No slow numbers though -- it will only bring tears to the eyes."
RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS
The irony in Israel is that, while Christmas is barely celebrated, many popular U.S. and British shows broadcast on television have Christmas themes at this time of year.
"To most people watching it has no meaning here whatsoever," said professor Joshua Schwartz, director of Bar Ilan University's center for Jerusalem studies.
"It means so little here that people will use Christmas decorations to decorate their Succahs," he said referring to the festival of the Tabernacles, which falls around October, in which Jews sit in colorfully decorated booths.
Besides a scarcity of Christmas spirit, there are also fears among some in Israel's Christian community about coming under scrutiny from by the authorities. Since many illegal workers are Christians, the authorities watch those who celebrate.
"We do not feel we can enjoy ourselves," said Nash, a 33-year-old illegal worker from Ghana, who declined to give his family name and who fears deportation.
He lives with his wife and one child in Tel Aviv, and has sent his second child back to Ghana. "We will not enjoy the food we eat, because we'll be thinking about tomorrow," he said.
While new migrants may have their concerns about Christmas in the land of Israel, one sector of Israeli society that does follow the Christian holiday is the Russian community, many of whom celebrate with parties even if they are not Christians.
About one million people from the former Soviet Union emigrated to Israel during the 1990s, and while the vast majority of them were Jewish, there were many Christians too. Most Russians use an Orthodox calendar and celebrate on January 7.
"We always buy Christmas decorations -- it is our culture from our homeland and I see no contradiction living here in Israel," said 23-year old Russian immigrant Roman Zalmanovitch, from the coastal town of Bat Yam. "One thing I miss is the atmosphere back in Russia. We will never get that here."