Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees Christmas Greetings

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

One cannot send Christmas greetings this year without mentioning how despondent and traumatized our Palestinian people remains. The Gaza Strip with a population of 1.5 million of whom over one million are under the age of 30 years and younger, is under complete boycott by Israel: fuel and other essential commodities, including medicines, are scarce. The border crossings closed so the overwhelming majority of our people in Gaza are feeling trapped and imprisoned. A friend of the Palestinian people once said that the name for the Gaza Strip ought to be changed to the Gaza Ghetto. He is absolutely right considering the present conditions. The Palestinian political divide adds to the despondency of people as no way out is seen in spite of some low level contacts between the two rival groups, Fatah and Hamas

In the West Bank the story is not much brighter except for larger geographic space in which our imprisoned Palestinian people can move. Israel’s Separation Wall has expropriated over 11% of the lands of the West Bank and incapacitated scores of rural communities from conducting agricultural and other economic, social and educational chores in a normal manner. Names of towns, villages and local communities abound that are suffering from the checkpoints, from the aggression of the Jewish settlers, from being denied access to highways built on Palestinian land to the exclusive use of Jewish settlers.

Bethlehem, the town of nativity, is surrounded by an awesome concrete wall that breaks one’s heart. No longer can a child anywhere in the world read the nativity story and contemplate its images without the newly introduced encirclement of ugly concrete. Palestinian Christians and Muslims, regardless of how old they are and how law and order abiding citizens they are, are not allowed in and out of Bethlehem except with a special Israeli- issued permit.

Annapolis and the way things went there and in its aftermath did not help much in lifting the mood of Palestinian despondency. We have lost faith that the most powerful country in the world would be an honest broker and would put the needed pressure on Israel to act in a responsible manner. Israel’s behavior since Annapolis in arrests of Palestinians, targeted killings, incursions into Palestinian towns and villages as well as the statements of politicians, including the Prime Minister, all point to the futility of conducting negotiations under these conditions.

If it were not Christmas and the hope it engenders we would have advised President Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority to call off all negotiations with Israel until something different emerges from the Israeli side. If he were to do this he would gain the support of each and every Palestinian. But Christmas greetings are usually intended to uplift spirits and to encourage people to see the positive even in a very depressing situation.

So on this note we in the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches would want each and everyone of you to feel a wonderful Christmas, to continue with your solidarity with our people and to spread the message that our Palestinian people is ready for genuine peace that is just and that can last if the Israelis are so willing.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2008