Christmas Homily 2007

Brothers and Sisters,
I wish you all a Blessed Christmas.

Mr. President,
1. This holy night, we pray for you, for your difficult task, for the security and unity of the people, and for peace. May God give you light, wisdom and courage. For the leaders of this country, for all the leaders in the Middle East, we pray that God will grant all of them the grace of being able to bring about peace and stability here and throughout the entire region.

2. Brothers and Sisters,
The grace of God has appeared. The Eternal Word of God became man. Saint John tells us in clear terms, whose meaning nevertheless escapes the understanding of many: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1, 1) and “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1, 14). That, my Brothers and Sisters, is the meaning of Christmas, that is what we celebrate, and that is why we rejoice. The prophet Isaiah had predicted: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace” (Is 9, 1.5). Saint Leo the Great, commenting on this mystery, said: “Human nature and divine nature were united in one person so that the Creator of time might be born in time, and he through whom all things were made might be brought forth in their midst” (Leo the Great, 2nd reading, Dec. 17).

The one through whom all things were made was brought forth in their midst, here in Bethlehem, to fill us with his grace, and to save us from the evil against which we must fight every day. Saint John says: “From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (Jn 1, 16). He then says: “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” These words tell us that on Christmas, the only begotten Son, who alone knows the Father, who was born here in Bethlehem, born to bring life to men and women, has also enabled us to know God and to enter already here on earth into eternal life. This life is meant to shed light on all our efforts as we try to build our human society and struggle for peace. We have the power to transform all our challenges, joys and suffering into life everlasting, i.e. into a life with God, with his light, his strength and his goodness.

Christmas renews us “by the Holy Spirit whom God richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior” (Titus 3, 6), so that in hope we might inherit eternal life. With the strength that comes from this grace, with Christmas present in us every day, we commit ourselves to live in our society in order to bring it the peace of Christmas. Life in this world, with all of its poverty, all of its weaknesses, but also with the strength that comes from grace, must become in us the beginning of eternal life.

3. With this faith in God, with this grace of Christmas, we meditate on the mystery of our land which has not yet succeeded in seeing God within it, and naturally has not succeeded in making peace. With Christmas, with the goodness of God which He himself placed in every human person, it is essential, first of all, to believe that we are capable of making peace. But to do that, we must surpass ourselves and look at the other person through the eyes of God in order to receive justice for ourselves and for the others.

It is also important to understand the universal vocation of this land, and to see the will of God for the land both in the Scriptures and in the evolution of history of which the same God is Lord. He is the one who gathered all of us here throughout the centuries, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze, we who today constitute two peoples, Palestinians and Israelis. To understand and accept this universal vocation is to accept the plan of God for this land and to become capable of establishing peace within it. Any exclusivism that pushes the other party aside or imposes occupation or any other type of submission on it is not in keeping with the vocation of this land. This land of God cannot be for some a land of life and for others a land of death, exclusion, occupation, or political imprisonment. All those whom God, the Lord of history, has gathered here must be able to find in this land life, dignity and security.

Each one knows what it takes to make peace. Each one knows what is due to each of the two peoples who inhabit this land. It is not up to the weakest to submit themselves and continue to live a life of deprivation; it is up to the strongest, to those who have everything in hand, to detach themselves and to give to the weakest what is due to them. All of the difficult questions can be resolved if all those involved are truly determined to make peace.

4. With all of the religious leaders in this land, we have started to meet and to reflect together. We wanted to ask ourselves, each of us, the question, as believers before God: what is justice before God for each of us? We are on a long and difficult road, because it involves freeing ourselves from the political system, from its exclusive views, and from its fears, in order to enable ourselves to say and to bring something new and good to everyone.

Human history is full of wars, but it is also full of God. And God is love. There should not be any tyranny on the part of some believers, who call themselves believers, but who carry out not the will of God, but their own will, Muslims or Jews or Christians. Some also have recourse to violence in the name of God or of God’s promises. Violence cannot claim to be part of any religion. Extremism, in all religions, is the desire to appropriate to oneself, to exclude, and to subject others, not to a faith in God, but to human behaviors that are hostile to the others. Religious leaders have a role to play in the education of believers, by confirming them in the ways of justice, of what is right, and of forgiveness, all the while demanding their rights, and collaborating with all men and women of good will.

5. Brothers and Sisters, you might be asking yourselves what is your role as Christians in the peace process and in the future of this land. Pope Benedict XVI, in his recent encyclical on Hope, says that the characteristic of “Christians is that they have hope, and to have hope is to have a future.”

This applies to us, Christians in the Holy Land and in the entire Middle East. Everyone is worried about our Christian presence here: Israel as well as the Palestinian Authority. King Abdalla II of Jordan has called attention for several years to the seriousness of the exodus of the Christian Arabs. Numerous Muslim voices are being raised in many quarters, calling attention to the vacuum that the exodus of Christians would create in the Arab Muslim world. The Christian world, for its part, is equally worried about our survival and about our disappearance.

To you, Brothers and Sisters, to all of you Christians in this land, you who are tempted to emigrate, you who are the object of everyone’s preoccupation, I say to you what Jesus told us: do not be afraid. Christians should not be afraid and should not run away from difficulties. Being Christian means sharing the concerns of all, building peace with everyone else, and accepting the sacrifices this implies, prison, possibly life, or the difficulties of daily life, of occupation, of the wall of separation, and of the lack of freedom of movement. All of this is our common fate, and all of us together, by our sacrifices, we must build peace for everyone.

To those who are tempted or pressed by difficulties to leave the country, we say: you have a place here, and more than a place, you have a vocation: to be Christians here, in the land of Jesus, and not elsewhere in the world. Accept your vocation, despite the fact that it is difficult. Our presence here will remain a witness to the universal vocation of this land, the land of God, and the land of the three religions and of the two peoples that inhabit it. Listen to the voice of your vocation, and listen to the voice of all those who want you to be present here.

Indeed, we live not only in the midst of a conflict, but are part of a history of which God is the master, a history made by God who invites us to make this history with Him. He is Lord of the entire history of the human race, since its distant beginnings, since the time of biblical history until today. He is the one who was, who is, and who will be. No person or period in history can avoid Him. He is the inevitable one with whom and before whom we live, act, and exist (cf. Acts 17, 28). Full of hope, free from fear, we continue to move ahead.

6. Brothers and Sisters,
I wish you a Blessed Christmas. We pray here this night, here in Bethlehem, for all of you in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus. We pray for all who suffer, for the sick, and for the prisoners so that they can finally enjoy freedom and dignity. We pray for all our leaders so they can envisage justice, enter into the ways of peace, and have the courage to give it to their people. To the entire Christian world, from Bethlehem, we say: have a pleasant and blessed Christmas. Amen.

+ Michel Sabbah, Patriarch

Merry Christmas! Remember Beit Sahour!

We, the people of Bayt Sahur, being an integral part of the Palestinian people and its Intifada, refuse to pay taxes to the occupiers of our land, considering such payment to be a symbol of slavery and oppression. We consider the occupation of one people by another to be a clear violation of all international laws and religions, and it is in violation of the most basic human rights and democratic principles. We strongly believe that every citizen has to pay taxes to his national government in order to enable it to perform its duties and obligations. No taxation without representation!

With this leaflet from November 5, 1989, the people of Bayt Sahur (Beit Sahour) announced the beginning of a campaign of civil disobedience centered around the nonpayment of taxes to the Israeli government. Israel, afraid that such resistance would become a model to other villages and towns throughout the Palestinian territories during the first Intifada, responded to their resistance with force.

Bayt Sahur is a largely Christian village in the West Bank with a population of approximately 12,000. Its Christian population dates back hundreds of years, and local legend asserts that it was Bayt Sahurian shepherds to whom the bright star above Bethlehem signaling the birth of Jesus Christ appeared. The reason for this, the legend goes, is that Bayt Sahurians have a legendary reputation for gossip, and God therefore figured the news of Christ's coming would travel quickest if Bayt Sahurians found out first.

Bayt Sahur was the site of perhaps the most organized and effective Palestinian resistance to Israeli colonialism during the first Intifada. Residents of Bayt Sahur quickly concluded that the Intifada was no passing phenomenon and began organizing their own resistance beginning in January, 1988. Initial attempts at a coordinated, regional network failed, but more localized efforts flourished and soon, much of the town was involved in active resistance to Israeli colonialism.

This resistance took the form of popular committees organized by the citizens of Bayt Sahur at the grassroots. These popular committees, lijan sha'biya in Arabic, were the driving force of the Intifada, and established a security force to fight Israeli settlers and the Israeli army. They also organized commerce, medical care, and even judicial affairs. The people of Bayt Sahur did all this at great personal risk, since many of these activities were illegal, and could even result in their death.

Perhaps the most memorable campaign of resistance that occurred in Bayt Sahur during the Intifada was city resident's refusal to pay taxes to the Israeli government. This followed a call by the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU) from February 5, 1988, to conduct "complete civil disobedience" ('isyan muduni shamil) including the nonpayment of taxes. The Israeli response began in July of that year. On July 7th, a curfew was enacted and numerous people were arrested. A sit-down strike was soon organized to demand the release of all those arrested. This, too, was brutally repressed by Israeli authorities, who arrested hundreds of people who took part in this action, sending many to prison. On July 17th, Archbishop Michel Sabbah threatened to begin a hunger strike unless the curfew was lifted. The Israeli authorities so feared the leader of Palestinian Christians and his ability through his actions to motivate others to resistance, that they called off the curfew that day. These and similar skirmishes continued for over a year, until in September of 1989, Israel decided to put an end to Bayt Sahur's civil disobedience campaign once and for all.

On September 20th, 1989, Israeli troops surrounded Bayt Sahur, setting up military checkpoints, cutting telephone lines, and barring nonresidents entry. Tax officials entered Bayt Sahur with armed security personnel and began raiding businesses and private residences, taking cash when available, but settling for other valuables, such as couches, TV sets, chairs and tables when they had to. On October 4th, Israeli authorities eased their siege and allowed Palestinians to pay taxes. No one did. This enraged Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who declared that Israel was going to "teach a lesson" to Bayt Sahur, knowing that the resistance in Bayt Sahur had to be crushed so that it would not be seen as an effective model of resistance elsewhere in Palestine. Following this declaration, Israeli aggression intensified, finally ending on October 31st, 1989 with the withdrawal of Israeli troops, although not before collecting almost $1.5 million in goods from Palestinian businesses and homes.

Although costly, the withdrawal of Israeli troops was hailed as a victory by the people of Bayt Sahur, who quickly thereafter hosted a Day of Prayer celebration. This celebration was attended by the mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Sa'd al-Din al-'Alami, who was greeted enthusiastically when he visited the churches of Bayt Sahur. In solidarity with the struggle of the people of Bayt Sahur, 'Alami issued a fatwa against the purchase of any goods confiscated by israeli authorities during the month of siege, calling it "stolen property," and declaring that, "It is forbidden or a Muslim, Arab, or any man with a conscience to buy any of these unjustly plundered goods. Purchasing any such item is like participating in the theft of the plundered goods, and whoever does so deserves punishment for stealing his brothers' property." At auction, much of this confiscated property did not sell.

This Christmas, let people of all faiths and denominations remember and honor our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine, past, present, and future, in their struggle against Israeli apartheid.

(This account owes much to factual information and analysis found in chapter 4 of Glenn Robinson's Building a Palestinian State, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.)

United in the Struggle Against Israeli Apartheid

Today, an article from Electronic Intifada refutes the notion that Christians in Palestine are oppressed by their Muslim brothers and sisters. Instead, it notes that Palestinian Christians and Muslims are united in the struggle against Israeli apartheid.

Coexistence in Gaza

Mohammed Omer

GAZA CITY, November 27 (IPS) - As Sunday dawns in Gaza City the traditional Islamic call to prayer mingles melodically with church bells.

Side by side, mosque and church doors swing open, welcoming the faithful. Greetings are eagerly exchanged.

The October kidnapping and murder of Rami Ayyad, the manager of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, sent shudders through the Christian community.

Was this a hate crime or simply a tragic occurrence?

Monsignor Manuel Musallam, head of Gaza's Roman Catholic community, doubts the attack was religiously motivated.

"Rami was not only Christian," the Musallam told IPS. "He was Palestinian. Violent acts against Christians are not a phenomenon unique to Gaza."

Immediately upon hearing of the murder, the elected Prime Minister Ismail Hanyieh of Hamas ordered the Palestinian ministry of interior to dispatch an investigative committee to "urgently look into the matter," labeling Ayyad's death a "murderous crime."

"We are all one people who suffer together for the sake of freedom, independence and restoration of our inalienable citizenship rights," Hanyieh stated publicly. "We are waging a single struggle and refuse to allow any party to tamper with or manipulate this historical relationship, [between Muslims and Christians]."

Currently, Palestine's Christian community hovers between two and 10 percent.

In Gaza, approximately 3,000 Christians still call this territory home -- with the majority of the community living within Gaza City near the three main churches: the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and the Gaza Baptist.

Christians in Gaza have the same rights as their Muslim neighbors, rights guaranteed under the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Within the Legislative Council, several seats have been reserved for Christian leaders.

Seventeen-year-old Christian student Ali al-Jeldah told IPS about attending a dual faith school: "My life is normal and I've never felt oppressed. Being Muslim or Christian is never an issue."

"I have many Muslim friends. We hang out and study together with no differences at all," Al Jeldah said.

Lelias Ali, a 16-year-old Muslim student at Holy Family School, concurs. "We have a unity of struggle, a unity of aim -- to live under the same circumstances. This land is for both of us and being a Christian or Muslim should not separate us," she said.

"I have lots of friends. Being Muslim or Christian is not an issue," Diana al-Sadi, a 17-year-old student told IPS.

"I go to my friends' homes for happy and sad occasions," al-Sadi said, "including Christmas and Easter. They visit mine during Eid [the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan]."

When the students were asked if Christians are being harassed by Hamas or the Palestinian police, all agreed that this was not the case.

"Every society has extremists," Lelias Ali states. "Sometimes I'm criticized for not wearing my hijab [headscarf]. But that has nothing to do with being Muslim or Christian. Those people don't represent our Palestinian society."

Pausing for a moment, she considered the assertions in the international media regarding Muslims and Christians: "We should not let such ideas sneak into our minds. If we don't unite, then we lose."

Asked if Christians in Gaza feel singled out or oppressed, Musallam says, "Palestinian Christians are not a religious community set apart in some corner. They are part of the Palestinian people."

But what of Hamas, an Islamic political organization? Have Palestinian Christians experienced persecution or racism under their leadership, as Western papers insinuate?

"Our relationship with Hamas is as people of one nation," Musallam contends. "Hamas doesn't fight religious groups. Its fight is against the Israeli occupation.

And what of the Western media assertions that Gaza's Christians are considering emigrating because of Islamic oppression?

Sighing, Musallam corrects the misconception. "If Christians emigrate," he states resolutely, "It's not because of Muslims. It is because we suffer from Israeli siege. We seek a life of freedom. A life different from the life of the dogs we are currently forced to live."

All rights reserved, IPS - Inter Press Service (2007). Total or partial publication, retransmission or sale forbidden.

The Plight and Resistance of Christians in Palestine

With Christmas approaching, ARA decided to post some stories of Christians in Palestine fighting against Israeli apartheid alongside their Muslim brothers and sisters. Their resistance takes the form of "steadfastness" or refusal to leave their homeland. These stories are important to popularize in the United States because many Christians are unaware that Palestinian Christians suffer from Israeli apartheid. Here, their stories will be given a chance to be heard. This particular story can be found on page 13 of the pdf pamphlet available here.

Faith in the Holy Land
Taking faith beyond the church

Costa Dabbagh, a Palestinian Christian in his 60s, has never met some of his grandchildren. He cannot see his daughter, who lives just 90km away. He cannot visit the rest of his family, who are scattered across the globe. He has faced bombings, the strafings of Israeli fighter jets, fighting between rival Palestinian factions and the fear of being a refugee. But he has chosen to remain in Gaza , his home. “Just after the Israeli occupation, my parents, my brother and sister moved away. I was offered a job in Australia and even got my visa. But I stayed,” he recalls. “My family kept asking me to join them, and I often thought of leaving. But I think it was God's wish for me”.

This grey-haired man remembers leaving Haifa in Israel with his family at the age of eight – “in darkness and under fire” – and fleeing to Gaza in 1948. He stays, not because he serves the tiny Christian community here as executive secretary of the Near East Council of Churches (NECC), but because of his courageous commitment to a wider humanity.

Trapped

The Gaza Strip is a land which has been crushed. Rubble, chunks of concrete and half-destroyed buildings line the dusty streets of Gaza City . Behind a sign reading ‘funded by USAID’ is a multistory building seemingly flattened with one blow. Even the small signs of modern life – washing hanging brave little beach umbrellas on the coastline vainly hoping for tourists – are dwarfed by bleakness. The departure of Israel 's settlers has not changed anything fundamental: the soldiers are gone, but the borders are still closed and poverty is increasing. Intermittent factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas is taking a terrible toll, as people trapped within the borders turn on each other.

At the time we were speaking to Costa, people were queuing for bread outside the bakeries because flour was not being allowed in through the borders. “It reminds me of a joke about Marie Antoinette we learned in school,” says Costa, “when she said, ‘let them eat cake.’”

Unemployment is skyrocketing to unprecedented levels and 80 per cent of Gazans depend on UNRWA food aid to put even the most basic meal on the table.

A moment of normality

There are few places here where life can feel normal, even fleetingly. The NECC office is one of them. It is tranquil and serene, in contrast to the tumult outside. In a nearby building, young women learn tailoring and accounting in the hope that they can some day have a job. Young men learn woodworking. There is a sense of hope and purpose. In the NECC family clinic, the cool tile floors and pristine white walls are startling after the grimy, broken down feeling of everything around it. More than half the children here are anaemic. Medicine stocks are running out and some people can no longer afford even the tiny clinic fee – seven shekels, or 85 pence. But the doctors continue to work.

Regardless of faith

“Christians are part and parcel of this land. We have never felt like outsiders,” says Costa. “Yes, we are Christians, but we are Palestinian Arab Christians. We all suffer the same problems – we are traveling in the same boat. The NECC has been an example here. People see that we have no agenda other than our Christian witness – to help people regardless of faith. The young people who come to our centres are so vulnerable. We train them and integrate them into society. We make them feel they have a future, which is now more important than ever.”

“We should stay”

“I was born a Christian and continue to be one. But I always judge people according to their actions. If I see an Israeli soldier without a uniform, I will see him as a son of God. But if he directs his guns at my children and my grandchildren, I will not give in, I am not defending myself from ‘Jews’ but from someone who wants to eradicate me and uproot me from my land. I will never leave Gaza . Our faith says we should stay - to try to create hope. But ultimately, hope can only be achieved with community and implementation of UN resolutions.”

Pray for all Christians faithful to our Lord in their difficult circumstances and thank God for their faithful witness. And pray that more Christians may be able to stay in the Holy Land and maintain the witness of faith for the world to share in. Remember too Ghassan Makhalfeh tour guide, and his family. Georges Rishmawi Greek Orthodox Christian and leader of Siraj - working for peaceful solutions Bob and Maurine Tobin of Sabeel.

Michael Dykes