‘We are mourning’: This Christmas, Palestinian Christians pray for Gaza

Mary and Marwan, a Palestinian Christian couple living in the West Bank, will not be attending Christmas festivities in Bethlehem next week. Like their co-religionists, they will focus their attention on Gaza.

They are consumed by the situation of brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, uncles and aunts and cousins, all currently trapped at the Roman Catholic Church in Gaza City.

The mood across the occupied territories is grim. In place of the towering evergreen that traditionally adorns Manger Square at the entrance of the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem residents have erected instead a monumental figure of the flight of Jesus and the Virgin Mary to Egypt, evoking the biblical escape from King Herod’s violence. 

“We are mourning; we can’t celebrate while witnessing the killing and burning of children in our homeland,” says Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Hanania, “so we have decided to cancel all Christmas celebrations this year.”

In the Ramallah apartment where Marwan and Mary live, the usual hymns and carols go unsung. Instead, solemn prayers echo as they pray that their relatives and the rest of Gaza are delivered from danger. Poor communications mean that it has been several days since they last heard from them.

“I’m out of words. I can’t find it in myself to celebrate,” says Marwan, a 54-year-old computer engineer and musician. He and his wife preferred not to use their full names out of fear for their family’s safety in Gaza.

Gone are their traditional Christmas tree and decorations. Small sculptures of the Virgin Mary and a few red ribbons are scattered on side tables in their living room, alongside plastic green wreaths. But there are no new clothes, no gifts, and no colorful wrapped candies, which Mary says are “tasteless this year.” 

She opens a photo album of the last Christmas she spent in Gaza years ago with a wistful gaze. The fear and helplessness, she says, is overwhelming.

“We are only turning to prayers; we pray for the war to end, for our people to be safe, to relive our glory days in Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem and all of Palestine,” she says.

This Christmas season is one of particular uncertainty and anxiety for Palestinian Christians, especially in Gaza, where they number around 1,000.

Nearly all Gaza Christians are concentrated in Gaza City, the epicenter of Israel’s military offensive in northern Gaza, and have been holed up for over two months within the walls of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church for safety. Their relatives and fellow Christians across the West Bank remain anxious about their future, praying in somber church services for good news from Gaza.

Provisions are running low in the besieged Roman Catholic Church compound, and the plight intensifies as food, water, and medicine become scarce. 

Last Saturday, according to reports confirmed by the Roman Catholic Patriarchate, two women sheltering in the Gaza City Catholic compound were shot dead by an Israeli sniper.

This incident only added to Mary and Marwan’s fears.

“Most of my family members are musicians. We used to love this season, which was a chance to visit Bethlehem, visit friends and family for long nights of playing music and being together,” says Marwan. “This year, I’m only with the memories of my besieged loved ones.” 

Mary insists that their decision to abstain from festivities, like those of many Christians across the West Bank and Jerusalem, is not a renunciation of joy, but a testament to “seeking truth and justice in the most difficult war ever lived by Palestinians.” 

“I believe in the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity,” she says. “So through simple gestures and the sincerity of our prayers, we might find the miracle that allows us to celebrate their survival and leave the war a distant memory.”

“Christians in Gaza are an integral part of the Palestinian community; there is no difference” among Muslims and Christians, Mayor Hanania said in a phone interview, noting that Israeli bombs have hit mosques and church compounds alike. “We are united in pain. We are united under the occupation.” 

The Rev. Fadi Diab, rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ramallah, oversees Baptist churches in Palestine. Mr. Diab says his hope is that prayers this Christmas season will bring the war to an end.

“The once-revered sanctuaries, which stood as symbols of solace and communal strength, now bear the scars of conflict,” he says. “We pray they will return to being beacons of hope and peace.”