Gaza’s tiny Christian community tries to capture the holiday spirit during the ceasefire
Attallah Tarazi recently received Christmas presents that included socks and a scarf to shield him against the Gaza winter, and he joined some fellow Palestinian Christians in a round of hymns.
“Christ is born,” the group sang in Arabic. “Hallelujah.”Tarazi and much of the rest of Gaza’s tiny Palestinian Christian community are trying to capture some of the season’s spirit despite the destruction and uncertainty that surround them. He clings to hope and the faith that he said has seen him through the war.
“I feel like our joy over Christ’s birth must surpass all the bitterness that we’ve been through,” he said. He’s been sheltering for more than two years at the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza, where a church group including choir members toured among displaced people this Christmas season, he said.In such a glorious moment, it’s our right to forget all that’s war, all that’s danger, all that’s bombardment.”
But for some, the toll is inescapable.
This will be the first Christmas for Shadi Abo Dowd since the death of his mother, who was among those killed in July when an Israeli attack hit the same Catholic church compound where Tarazi lives and which has been housing displaced people. Israel issued statements of regret and said it was an accident.Ahead of Christmas, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, paid a visit to the Holy Family Parish. A patriarchate statement said the visit marked the beginning of Christmas celebrations in “a community that has lived and continues to live through dark and challenging times.”
Suffering and a state of ‘no peace and no war’
Abo Dowd, an Orthodox Christian who observes Christmas on Jan. 7, said he does not plan to celebrate beyond religious rituals and prayers. “There’s no feast,” he said.Israeli strikes have decreased since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October, but deadly attacks have not entirely ended. Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of breaking the truce and the more challenging second phase has yet to be implemented.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has also caused widespread destruction and displaced the vast majority of the territory’s some 2 million residents. Highlighting some of the many struggles and needs of the enclave and its people was torrential rain that recently flooded displacement camps and collapsed already badly damaged buildings.The sounds of explosions and gunfire can still be heard, and the fear hasn’t left the hearts. There’s continuous worry that the ceasefire won’t last.” She sees the toll in her youngest, who trembles when he hears loud noises.
“It’s as if the war lives inside of him,” she said. “As a mother, that pain is indescribable.”
She also worries that someday Christians could disappear from Gaza. But, for now, “our presence, no matter how small, is a testimony of love, steadfastness and faith in this land,” she said.
Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.
The presents and hymns offered the 76-year-old a taste of the holiday in a devastated Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire has provided some relief, but the losses of the Israel-Hamas war and the ongoing struggles of displaced people are dampening many traditional festivities.