The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: “We, the Palestinians, will recover, as we always have …even though this is by far the biggest blow we have been dealt in a while. We will be okay. But for those who are complicit, I feel sorry for you. Will you ever recover from this? Your charity and your words of shock after the genocide won’t make a difference. And I know these words of shock are coming. And I know people will give generously for charity. But your words won’t make a difference. Words of regret won’t suffice for you. And let me say it, we will not accept your apology after the genocide. What has been done has been done. I want you to look at the mirror and ask, where was I when Gaza was going through a genocide?”
These are the words of Munther Isaac, pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, on the eve of Christmas. In a live telecast that has since gone viral across the world, Isaac brought out the feelings around Christmas in Bethlehem this year – with celebrations effectively cancelled due to the Israeli state’s ongoing attacks on the people of Gaza.
The city’s Manger Square – usually full of visitors and tourists around Christmas time – is desolate this year. No festive lights have been put up. “The city is empty from happiness, from joy, from kids, from Santa. There is no celebration this year,” Madeleine, a Bethlehem resident, told BBC.
A priest at the Nativity Church, Father Eissa Thaldjiya, echoed Isaac’s sentiments. He told the BBC that he has never seen a Christmas like this before – not even during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have brothers and sisters in Gaza – this is what makes it difficult to celebrate… But it’s good to be united in prayers,” he said.
“Christmas is joy, love and peace. We have no peace. We have no joy,” Father Spiridon Sammour, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity, told CNN. “It is out of our hands, and we pray for the leaders who will make the decisions [all] over the world to God to help them, give them his light to make peace here and all over the world.”
Church leaders in Jerusalem too have spoken out against the Israeli state’s actions. In a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem have called for an immediate ceasefire once again, Vatican News reported. In a statement, the leaders said the meeting was “not a mere exchange of Holiday Season pleasantries,” but was aimed specifically “at conveying the global ecclesiastical stance, demanding, on behalf of Christians worldwide, an immediate cessation of the bloodshed in Gaza.”