PALESTINE ambassador Walid Abu Ali is fond of Christmas. After all, his hometown is in Bethlehem, where the Church of the Nativity stands and is recognised as the site where Jesus was born. But this year, there’ll be no celebrations.
In a display of solidarity with its people, the churches in Palestine will be tempering celebrations, removing the fanfare and lights.
Bethlehem is in Occupied West Bank and only 8.8km away from Jerusalem in Israel, while the Gaza Strip is barely 50km from where the conflict rages.
It’s usually the busiest time of year in Bethlehem as tourists from around the world gather for the Christmas celebrations.
It’s a major tourist draw and the city, comprising predominantly Muslims, relies on the pilgrims for their livelihood.
It may be news to Muslims here, but Muslim traders there sell Christian items while we have annual polemics over the Merry Christmas greeting.
Many Palestinian guides speak Bahasa Indonesia and they can quote from the Bahasa Indonesian Bible as there are many pilgrims from the most populous Muslim country.
Walid said the streets and plazas of the hilly town will be empty this year, expressing sadness as it should be a joyous occasion instead.
“I miss all the carolling as it is common to see them going from home to home, but Palestinians are in pain. Please remember that there are Palestinian Christians, too.
“What’s happening now in Gaza is not a religious conflict. Churches, schools, and hospitals run by the church have been bombed and destroyed. Palestinian Christians are killed too, like the rest of their brothers and sisters.”
Candles being lit next to a nativity scene decorated to honour the victims in Gaza and asking for peace at the Manger Square, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Friday. — AP
This may come as a surprise to many Malaysians, but it has been a regular practice for Palestinian leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas, to attend the Christmas eve midnight mass in churches.
Late president Yasser Arafat did likewise, but ironically, it was Israel that stopped him from attending the mass for two years consecutively in 2001 and 2002.
In 2017, Palestinians also switched off Christmas lights in Bethlehem in protest of then US president Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The huge Christmas tree outside the Church of the Nativity, and another in Ramallah, next to Arafat’s burial ground, were stripped of illumination, plunging the area in darkness.
The Masjid Umar is just across the Church of the Nativity, on the west side of Manger Square. They have existed peacefully.
Whether it’s in the United States, Malaysia or any other country, there’s nothing more dangerous than powerful but ignorant political and religious leaders spewing a combination of toxic religious and political plans in the misconception they’re guided by God’s hand.
Where they’re from, be it churches, mosques or temples, is immaterial, because when they have the monopoly of the microphones at the pulpits, their words and interpretations are unfortunately embraced as the truth.
After all, they’re supposedly experts in their respective fields, and lesser mortals like us are not supposed to challenge them because we aren’t as learned. Ordinary people left to their devices have no issue respecting one another’s religions.
The problem starts when these political and religious leaders try to impose what they believe, or want to believe.
So, in Malaysia, we have Muslims who think the massacre in Gaza is an attack on Muslims while non-Muslims, including Christians, feel Israel shouldn’t be condemned because the Jews are purportedly God’s chosen people as some Christians like to think.
Jews are certainly not Christians, and Jesus, who was Jewish, died at the hands of his own race.
That’s the truth. In fact, the ultra-orthodox Jews have consigned Jesus to nothing more than an important figure in their history.
Christian pilgrims have been mocked when visiting Israel, including this writer, and such public humiliations are well documented online. While I’ve only been to the West Bank and Jerusalem once, in 2005, it opened my eyes and allowed me to experience how Palestinians, and even Christians, are treated by Israel.
I’ve listened to sufficient opinions of Palestinian Christians to form a rational conclusion of what’s happening in Palestine. Sadly, the situation hasn’t improved but merely worsened over the years.
The conflict has dragged for decades. Flattening Gaza and wiping out the Palestinians there is pure genocide. If not, then what else is it?
However, for us in Malaysia, being 8,000km away from the conflict zone is reassuring, but it doesn’t bode well for us if we can’t imagine ourselves in their shoes to feel their pain.
Even if we’re non-Muslim, we can’t possibly justify thinking that they’re just Muslim victims. Likewise, it’s not right that some Arab countries have decided to stay silent because the Gaza Strip is under Iran-backed Hamas.
Again, some Muslims here are oblivious that a few Arab nations prohibit staging pro-Palestine support gatherings. Their rivalry with Iran has unfortunately clouded their minds and closed their hearts in what can only be described as a travesty.
Be on the side of humanity and what’s right. And when we celebrate Christmas safely and happily with our loved ones, spare a thought for the birthplace of Jesus – Palestine.
