Neither procession, nor Christmas carols, nor pilgrims, nor anything of a typical Christmaswell the war in Gaza turned this Christmas Eve on a sad day Belenwhere the birth of Jesus is venerated, according to Christian tradition.
“It’s a very sad Christmas”the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, lamented this Sunday in front of the place where believers place the birth of Jesus.
In front of the Christmas Basilica, in Manger Square, this year Jesus appears among rubble and barbed wire, like the children who die every day in Gaza.
A prayer for peace
“There is no Christmas atmosphere because of the war, a terrible war”commented the patriarch before entering the basilica, which this year was much more alone, without the massive influx of pilgrims who on this date in other years queued for hours to see the place where Jesus is believed to have been born.
“For all those who are suffering,” who leads the Christians of the Catholic rite in the Holy Land asked for a prayer, “to pray for peace, for an immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip.
More than 20,400 Gazans have died and more than 54,000 have been injured after more than two and a half months of Israeli military offensive in the Palestinian enclave, after Israel declared war on the Islamist group Hamas following its attack on October 7 on the ground. Israeli with more than 1,200 dead and nearly 240 kidnapped.
“Let’s hope that next Christmas we have a real Christmas” in Bethlehem, the patriarch wished in this sacred place of Christianity.
His message for peace was one of many that were heard this day in the holy place, from a platform next to the birth of the Child Jesus surrounded by rubble, metal sheets and wires.
Marcelo Gallardo, an Argentine priest from the congregation of the Incarnate Word, who has been in Bethlehem for 30 years, was one of the religious who endured the arrival of the patriarch in the rain and cold.
“This year there are very few people”he commented to EFE, and “The heads of the churches have asked the faithful not to hold external demonstrations as they do every year, but to hold religious ceremonies.”
The priest joined the request for a prayer for the end of all wars in the world, not only in Gaza: “Let us hope that the Child God changes the hearts of those who govern in a special way.”
“Nothing is impossible for God (…) and we truly believe that prayer, although it may seem to some to have no power, has more power than all weapons,” he sentenced.
Messages to the world
Without a Christmas tree or Christmas lights, with many typical souvenir shops with their blinds drawn due to lack of tourists, in front of the Basilica of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, what there was this year were messages to the world in different languages so that forget about Gaza or all of Palestine.
Religious of different Christian beliefs, such as one Orthodox and the other Lutheran, joined their voices to denounce the shame for humanity that wars like those in Gaza entail, without losing hope that they will all end in one “miracle” like that of Bethlehem when more than 2,000 years ago Jesus was born.
The message in Spanish was read by Jenifer Sayeh, a Palestinian teenager of Colombian parents.
“It is a message to all the children of the world that we are not celebrating Christmas because of the war between Israel and Palestine, because of what is happening in Gaza. “We are sad, but we want peace,” He declared to EFE after reading it in the rain.
The president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, also expressed his hope that this Christmas will mark the end of the war in Gaza and the violence in all the occupied Palestinian territories.
“The river of blood, the immense sacrifices, the hardships and the heroic resilience of our people in their land are the path to freedom and dignity,” he stated in his Christmas greeting message.
A large Palestinian flag was displayed in the Manger Square before the arrival of the patriarch, who along with other priests celebrated a mass in the church next to the Christmas Basilica, as the only Christmas celebration this year in Bethlehem.
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
