Pray for the people of Palestine, this Christmas

“I do hope that you find time to pray at least for the children of Palestine. There is still “no room in the Inn” for them; their children are still being “born in a manger”. How could we support such injustice?”

(From EYE OF THE NEEDLE,13/10/23).

Now, as we enter the Christmas weekend, so sacred to a society which prides itself on being Christian, I have chosen to reprint this paragraph in case our memories need a jolting. Since I wrote that article, one week after Israel launched its offensive, supposedly against Hamas following Hamas’ daring strike on Israeli settlements, the events in Gaza and Palestine have gone far beyond the wildest imaginations of any horror movie.

Each day there are more gruesome reports. The death toll of innocent Palestinians including women and children continues to mount. How do we classify the 20,000 or so Palestinian dead? As terrorists who deserve what they got? How do we explain the more than 7000 Palestinian children who have perished innocently, many of their bodies rotting under rubble? How do they classify
it in military terms? Collateral damage? And what do we make of a supposed war in self-defence waged by not only destroying alleged military targets, but reducing an entire country to rubble, bombing hospitals, schools, refugee camps and civilian dwellings to nought? What manner of men are these?

What of their “close allies” in that supposed “bastion of freedom and democracy, the USA, as well as its allies in the West? We have heard hypocritical concerns, not about the carnage itself, not about the massacre of innocent women and children, if no one else, but advice only to “tone down” the level of the horrific bombing, to be “more surgical” in carrying out the destruction and genocide. How more “surgical”? Must it be as the USA did in its carpet bombing of Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq and Syria?

It is a pity that so many of us who proclaim adherence to the Christian religion, in practice demonstrate that our loyalty to western values, (if you can call genocide a value), is indeed stronger that our commitment to humanity and to the teachings on the very Christ child, whose humble birth we are going to solemnly commemorate next Monday. What would Jesus Christ have made of the genocide in the land of his birth?

Given the power of western media, it is not surprising that many people justify their acquiescence with the carnage in Gaza and in the Palestinian homeland itself. Indeed, I looked into one of the “bibles” of the English language, Roget’s Thesaurus, and found that genocide is reckoned as a synonym for collective punishment. So, it must mean that the Palestinian people must be bombed and starved to death, suffer in the most insufferable ways, as “collective punishment” for the supposed “sins” of Hamas.

What about a concept that Christians are fond of repeating, “the original sin”? In this case was the “original sin” not the decision, militarily enforced, to evict the people of Palestine from their homeland, the homeland of the Christ child?

Politics aside, take a humanitarian perspective. How could we justify all we have witnessed over the past two and a half months? Having destroyed the living spaces of an entire nation, how could you blockade, then starve an entire people, destroy not just hospitals, but means of relief and survival, ambulances, medical supplies etc.? Then turn around and prevent by your veto power in the United Nations, meaningful UN efforts to provide relief? Where is humanity in all this? Are your geopolitical aims and alliance with a tyrannical regime, more important than your avowed Christian principles and human values?

No matter how much we may differ in interpretation of the conflict in the Middle East, there can be no justification whatsoever for what we are daily witnessing there. The United States of America is by far the world’s mightiest military force. Why is that power not exercised to save humanity, to prevent massacres and ensure world peace, rather than propping up regimes of evil such as that of Netenyahu in Israel. We may disagree on our characterization of that government but must not use it as an excuse to shirk our responsibilities to humanity or our commitment to the Christian principles which we supposedly uphold.

Can we in all good conscience, on Sunday night, on Monday, truly celebrate the birth of the worshipped “Prince of Peace”, without at least a prayer of support for the children of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Khan Younis and Gaza (so well-known because of the story of Samson)? Let us demonstrate our humanity this Christmas time and at least “say a little prayer” for Gaza, Palestine and the Palestinian people.
SEASONS GREETINGS TO ALL!

• Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.