City Notes: ’Tis the season to celebrate Hanukka and Christmas in the Galilee

By COMPILEDJULIE STEIGERWALD
Santas lend festive cheer to the Galilee (photo credit: SEFI MAKLEDA)
Santas lend festive cheer to the Galilee
(photo credit: SEFI MAKLEDA)
NORTH
As the festive winter holiday season approaches, various villages in the northern Galilee region this month are holding celebrations to spread Christmas cheer.
The predominantly Arab Christian villages of Mi’iliya, Eilabun and Fassuta welcome visitors to take part in the merry spirit with ornate churches, Christmas tree lightings, Christmas markets, and band performances. The villages invite anyone interested in church masses, band performances, fireworks shows, parades and Christmas tours to visit during the last two weeks of 2016.
A variety of joint activities celebrating Hanukka and Christmas are also taking place in the villages. The festivities began yesterday and are set to run until December 27.
The events are being held by the Galilee Development Authority in cooperation with the Social Equality Ministry and the Tourism Ministry, along with local councils and tourist centers.
CENTER
Netanya honors sole Holocaust survivor in US Congress
The city of Netanya is set to hold a memorial ceremony on Monday (December 19) in honor of late American politician Tom Lantos, who died in 2008 and was the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the US Congress.
Relatives of the revered congressman, along with other well-wishers from around the globe, are expected to attend the ceremony with a corresponding statue unveiling to commemorate the former US lawmaker on his namesake street in Netanya.
Lantos, who was born in Budapest, was sent to a forced labor camp during WWII and after several escape attempts managed to take shelter in a safe house set up by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Lantos then became a courier, delivering food and supplies to other Jews hiding in safe houses and was later credited with saving the lives of thousands of Hungarian Jews.
He emigrated to the US after the war to study economics and eventually served as a member of the US House of Representatives from California from 1981 until his death.
Yuletide joy in Jaffa
The streets of Jaffa are soon due to be adorned with twinkling lights and sparkling decorations to celebrate Hanukka and Christmas.
During December, the seaside city is hosting festive Christmas market at its port, where shoppers can get a taste of traditional holiday fare from around the world.
Festivities celebrating the Christian holiday are due to kick off Friday night (December 16) with a classical Viennese Christmas Ball at the St. Nicholas Armenian Church in Jaffa’s Old City.
On Sunday (December 18), Jaffa is set to hold its annual public Christmas tree lighting of a 15-meter-tall tree at the central Clock Square. The tree is due to remain lit until January 20.
Christmas eve festivities are slated to continue on December 24 with a tour led by Ilan Schori of Jaffa’s Catholic community. A midnight mass is scheduled to take place at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and evening and midnight services will also be held at the Lutheran Immanuel Church.
SOUTH
Sift through the sands of time in Ashdod exhibit
Highlighting the historic and tumultuous past of Ashdod, the southern port city’s Museum of Philistine Culture has opened a new exhibition that brushes away the sands of time to reveal millennia of archeological findings from the area.
Held in conjunction with the museum’s 60th anniversary, the “Sands of Time” exhibition curated by Galit Gittana opened earlier this week.
The exhibition unveils the hidden past of the city, with ancient relics dating all the way back to the Old Stone Age in 20,000 BCE through the 18th century, during the reign of the Ottoman Empire in the region.
Featured artifacts range from objects made from flint to ceramic pottery and gold jewelry. The exhibition also reveals how contemporary urban development plans were influenced by Ashdod’s rich archeological remains. The display also features an animated film that demonstrates the changes the area has undergone since the first documented urban settlement at Ashdod, dating back nearly 4,000 years to the Canaanite period.
The museum is open Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Beersheba hosts Hanukka in the desert
Travel back in time to the era of Judah and the Maccabees with an interactive Hanukka event at Beersheba’s Turkish Railway Station in December.
The southern city is hosting an array of cultural, entertainment and touristic events December 26 to 30 to mark the Hanukka festival in the historic railway station located west of Bersheeba’s Old City.
Hanukka-themed tours are due to take place every hour on the hour, from 5 to 10 p.m.
On the evening of December 29, the complex will also host an event on the history of the ubiquitous Hanukka delicacy – sufganiot, filled doughnut pastries.
Event prices during the Hanukka bazaar vary.