Kairos Palestine 2023 Christmas Alert

Introduction

In this 2023 Christmas Alert, Kairos Palestine points to the dire, tragic situation of the Palestinians in Gaza. It provides theological reflections and prayers to encourage deeper solidarity and more meaningful actions.

Because things are far from normal—even the so-called “normal” of a people under a brutal occupation—Palestinians are experiencing a historic Good Friday/Holy Saturday moment. Like those first disciples of Jesus, we feel helpless. We feel powerless. We feel abandoned, even by some of our friends. Gazans are bringing their children to the church to be baptized—worried that they may not make it through the genocide that Israel is imposing. On some days, our only comfort is to be found in one another and in our common realization that Jesus, too, was the victim of the occupier’s brutal violence. He was dehumanized. He was tortured. He was killed.

We hunger for the joy of the season. Our children need it.

But this year, we will not light a tree on Manger Square. Plans for our celebratory parade have been cancelled. We will, both as an act of worship and an act of resistance, gather in our churches on Christmas Eve to welcome the Word that became flesh and lives still among us, full of grace and truth.

We need you, your prayers, and your solidarity. This year, we plead with you to act in concrete ways to insist that the imperial powers create a path forward for a just peace. Then, send us word and/or pictures of the actions you have taken, the letters you have written, the sermons you’ve heard, the texts you have posted on social media…This is our appeal.