In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians celebrate Christmas together

Special

1 / 2

Scenes of Christmas Eve celebrations in the Gaza Strip. (AN/Hazem Balousha)

Special

2 / 2

Scenes of Christmas Eve celebrations in the Gaza Strip. (AN/Hazem Balousha)

Short Url

https://arab.news/46bkg

Updated 26 December 2022

HAZEM BALOUSHA

December 24, 2022 21:45

Follow

In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians celebrate Christmas together

About 1,300 Christians, both Greek Orthodox and Latin Catholic, live in the Gaza Strip
Early Christmas mass this year was presided over by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Updated 26 December 2022

HAZEM BALOUSHA

December 24, 2022 21:45

Follow

GAZA CITY, PALESTINE: In Gaza City, the small but tight-knit Catholic Christian community gathered at the Holy Family Church for Christmas mass earlier this month, presided over by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
As Israel has prevented many Christians in Gaza from traveling to Bethlehem to attend midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity, they celebrated the holiday early.
“For years, I have been coming to Gaza to celebrate with the Christian community, to get close to them and support them,” Pizzaballa told Arab News.
The Patriarch spent three days in Gaza City, during which he visited the educational and medical institutions of the Latin Patriarchate.
“Not all Christians in Gaza have been granted permits, so it is necessary to share Christmas with them. I feel so warm here in Gaza,” he said.
Israel initially agreed to issue 645 permits to Palestinian Christians, submitted by the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs. The Israeli government decided earlier to grant Christians in Gaza 500 permits, not including children, to visit Bethlehem and Jerusalem during Christmas.
The Israeli Gisha organization, which specializes in freedom of movement for Palestinians, said that as of Dec. 6, a total of 996 requests for permits had been submitted, of which 781 were for individuals above the age of 16. Of those, 514 were approved, in addition to 131 permits for children.
Some Christians in Gaza bemoan their inability to gather all family members in one place to celebrate Christmas due to restrictions on movement.
“Christmas is a joy for us as Christians, and an opportunity for the whole family to gather on this occasion, but the current circumstances prevent us from gathering together,” Gaza resident Sana’a Tarazi told Arab News.
“Part of the family lives in the West Bank and another part in Europe.”
Christmas trees decorate the entrance of Christian institutions and homes in Gaza, in addition to some Muslim homes. At a ceremony attended by thousands, the YMCA lit a Christmas tree in its yard as part of a series of activities for the holidays.
“The lighting of the Christmas tree spreads joy to our Christian community as well as to the general Palestinian community in Gaza,” Hati Farah, secretary general of the YMCA in Gaza, told Arab News.
“We need to celebrate and make the celebrants in Gaza feel the existence of activities that make them feel like a holiday. This is a special holiday for us as Christians, but it is a message of peace toward all religions.”
About 1,300 Christians live in the Gaza Strip, most of whom follow the Greek Orthodox Church and celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, while a small Catholic community (which numbers about 133, according to the National Catholic Reporter) celebrates Christmas according to the Western calendar.
The Rosary Sisters School, one of four Christian schools in Gaza, has been beautifully decorated for the holidays. A tree covered in lights and colorful ornaments sits in the schoolyard, and decorations and lights hang in the center of the main building and on the doors of classrooms.
“Christmas is a special occasion. We celebrate it every year and everyone here in the school, staff and students, is very happy with these decorations,” Sister Nabila Saleh, principal of the Rosary Sisters School, told Arab News.
To mark the holiday season, Santa Claus visits Christian schools and other institutions to distribute sweets.
Although the Islamist group Hamas controls Gaza, and forbids the public observance of Christmas, it has allowed private celebrations in Christian homes and institutions.
An official delegation from Hamas congratulated Christian communities in Gaza and visited the churches of the Latin Monastery and the Greek Orthodox Church.
Dec. 25 and Jan. 7 are considered official holidays in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in all public and private institutions.
Christmas trees are available in some shops, as well as decorations, which are bought by Christians and Muslims alike. “Most of my customers for Christmas decorations are Muslims,” shop owner Mahmoud Al-Hajj told Arab News.
“My children love the Christmas tree and the lights on it,” one customer told Arab News. “We are Muslims, but this time is a time of joy and I want my children to feel it as it is the case in many countries of the world.
“I have Christian friends in my workplace. We celebrate Christmas together, as well as Eid Al-Fitr, and Eid Al-Adha. We are one people.”

Follow

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Updated 30 September 2023

AFP

Reuters

September 30, 2023 01:08

Follow

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Palestinian Health Ministry says Mohammad Jibril Roummaneh died of multiple gunshot wounds
Hamas said Roummaneh fell as a “heroic martyr” while “defending the freedom of (his) people”

Updated 30 September 2023

AFP Reuters

September 30, 2023 01:08

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian activist and member of the Islamist Hamas movement was killed on Friday evening during a clash with Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, according to multiple sources.

“Mohammad Jibril Roummaneh died as a result of serious injuries caused by bullets fired by the occupying forces in El-Bireh” northeast of Ramallah, wrote the Palestinian Ministry of Health in a statement.

It reported that a second Palestinian had been injured but gave no details.

The Israeli military said the man was a member of the team of Hamas militants who threw fire bombs at a military post near Psagot, an Israeli settlement.

“Soldiers conducting routine activity at the scene identified the suspects and responded with live fire. Two assailants were neutralized and transferred to receive medical treatment,” it said.

When questioned by AFP, an army spokeswoman would not confirm that one of the two had died, as announced by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip but has strong support in the West Bank as well, claimed the man as a member.

In a statement, Hamas described Roummaneh as one of its members who fell as a “heroic martyr” while “defending the freedom of (his) people” near the settlement of Psagot. The statement was accompanied by an image of a very young man.

Violence in the West Bank has raged for more than a year, amid stepped-up Israeli military raids, increased settler assaults on Palestinian villages, and a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

At least 242 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed since the beginning of the year in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Follow

Topics: Palestinians West Bank Israeli-Palestinian conflict

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

Updated 29 September 2023

Ephrem Kossaify

September 29, 2023 23:36

Follow

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

Members said the drone assault, which killed three soldiers, constituted a ‘serious threat to the peace process and regional stability’
The attack, which took place on Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, represented a major escalation after more than a year of relative calm

Updated 29 September 2023

Ephrem Kossaify

September 29, 2023 23:36

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Friday strongly condemned what it described as an “egregious and escalatory drone attack,” by the Houthis on Bahraini soldiers serving in the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, in which three servicemen were killed and several injured.

It constituted a “serious threat to the peace process and regional stability,” the council added.

The attack, which took place on Monday as the soldiers patrolled Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen, represented a major escalation after more than a year of relative calm, at a time when momentum has been building in the peace process. The US envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, had described the current situation as “the best chance for peace in Yemen since the war broke out.”

The council called on the Houthis to end “all terrorist attacks” and expressed great concern about the group’s targeting of civilian infrastructure in cities near the border. The 15-member body also called called on all sides to respect their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law.

Members said any escalation of hostilities would only increase the suffering of the Yemeni people. They reiterated the need for “decisive steps” to be taken to reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, as they underscored their continuing strong support for all efforts to reach a political settlement that ends a war that has been raging for more than eight years.

They also reiterated their support for the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and his efforts to help reach a “Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political settlement based on the agreed references and consistent with relevant Security Council resolutions.”

Follow

Topics: Bahrain Houthis Yemen Saudi Arabia

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

Updated 29 September 2023

AFP

September 29, 2023 23:20

Follow

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

The four additional suspects, including two members of the Derna municipal council, were arrested

Updated 29 September 2023

AFP

September 29, 2023 23:20

BENGHAZI: Libya’s prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of four more officials, bringing to 12 the number held as part of an inquiry into this month’s flood that killed thousands.
Flooding caused by hurricane-strength Storm Daniel tore through eastern Libya on Sept. 10, leaving at least 3,893 people dead and thousands more missing.
The seaside city of Derna was the worst-hit in the flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami. It burst through two dams and washed entire neighborhoods into the Mediterranean.
The four additional suspects, including two members of the Derna municipal council, were arrested for suspected “bad management of the administrative and financial missions which were incumbent upon them,” said a statement issued by the prosecutor general’s office in Tripoli, western Libya.
On Monday, the office ordered the arrest of eight officials, including Derna’s mayor who was sacked after the flood.
Libya’s prosecutor general Al-Seddik Al-Sour belongs to the internationally recognized regime in the country’s west.
A rival administration in the flood-stricken east, is backed by military leader Khalifa Haftar.
The eastern government has said it plans to host an international donors’ conference in Benghazi on Oct. 10 to focus on the reconstruction of flood-ravaged areas, but its failure to involve the Tripoli government has drawn mounting criticism from donors.
The US called on Libyans to set aside their political differences and agree on a framework to channel aid to eastern towns.

FASTFACT

The US called on Libyans to set aside their political differences and agree a framework to channel aid to eastern towns.

“We urge Libyan authorities now to form such unified structures — rather than launching separate efforts — that represent the Libyan people without delay,” US special envoy Richard Norland said in a statement on Friday.
“A proposal to hold a reconstruction conference in Benghazi on October 10 would be much more effective if it were conducted jointly and inclusively.”
Norland echoed concerns already expressed by the UN that mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that foreign aid is spent accountably.
“Libyans need to be assured public funds are used transparently, accountably, and that assistance goes to those in need,” the US envoy said.
On Thursday during talks with the European Commission, UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily said he had called for funds to be monitored.
“I ... emphasized the need for a joint assessment of reconstruction needs of storm-affected areas to ensure the utmost accountability in the management of reconstruction resources,” he said.
On Friday, the eastern authorities said they would begin paying compensation to people affected by the disaster, which a UN agency has said uprooted more than 43,000 people.
“Checks have been handed over to the mayors” after a relief committee received records of damage caused by the flooding, the government based in Libya’s east said in a statement.
People whose homes were destroyed would receive 100,000 dinars ($20,500) in compensation, Faraj Kaeem, the eastern administration’s deputy interior minister, said separately.
Those with partially destroyed homes would get 50,000 dinars, while those who lost furniture or household appliances would be given 20,000 dinars, he said.
The eastern administration announced on Wednesday the creation of a fund for the reconstruction of Derna.
The authorities have yet to specify how the new fund will be financed, but the eastern-based parliament has already allocated 10 billion dinars to reconstruction projects.

Follow

Topics: Libya flooding Libya

Women play ‘prominent’ role as hundreds protest in Syria

Updated 29 September 2023

AFP

September 29, 2023 23:09

Follow

Women play ‘prominent’ role as hundreds protest in Syria

Activist says between 2,000 and 2,500 people took part in Friday’s demonstrations in southern city

Updated 29 September 2023

AFP

September 29, 2023 23:09

SWEIDA, Syria: Hundreds of Syrians protested on Friday in the southern city of Sweida, as women play a growing role in the anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the province for over a month, activists said.

Peaceful protests have swept Sweida province, the heartland of the country’s Druze minority, since President Bashar Assad’s regime ended fuel subsidies last month.
The move dealt a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from more than a decade of war and economic woes.
An activist and a witness said that between 2,000 and 2,500 people took part in Friday’s protests, some chanting anti-regime slogans and waving Druze flags.
“I felt a certain strength, surrounded by women and chanting against Bashar,” said Sama.
One male protester carried a large banner with a list of demands, including a transitional regime, a “new constitution” and for displaced people and detainees to return home.
Another woman protester, Sana, 50, said: “Bashar must leave. One family has dominated during my entire lifetime,” she added, also declining to provide her surname due to security concerns.
Civil war erupted in Syria after Assad’s regime crushed peaceful protests in 2011.
The war has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.
Wajiha, in her 20s, said she walked half an hour in the heat to Sweida’s main square, carrying anti-regime banners for daily protests that have been going on for weeks.
Women from Sweida have been present at rallies since the conflict broke out, she said, but “the difference today is that women are not only demonstrating, they are planning and organizing the movement.”
This includes coordinating chants, making banners, and communicating with those holding protests in nearby towns, she said.
Sweida has been mostly spared from fighting during the conflict, and has faced only a few extremist attacks, which were repelled.
Protests against deteriorating economic conditions have erupted sporadically in the province in recent years.
Syrian security services have a limited presence in Sweida, and Damascus has turned a blind eye to Druze men refusing to undertake compulsory military service.
Since last month, smaller protests have also taken place in neighboring Daraa province, the cradle of Syria’s 2011 uprising.
Followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Druze made up less than three percent of Syria’s pre-war population. They have largely kept out of the conflict.
The Assad family has been in power for more than half a century, ever since Bashar Assad’s father Hafez seized power in a 1970 coup.

Follow

Topics: Syria sweida

Joint security force occupies Lebanon refugee camp

Updated 29 September 2023

NAJIA HOUSSARI

September 29, 2023 22:17

Follow

Joint security force occupies Lebanon refugee camp

Gunmen withdraw leaving unexploded grenades, spent ammunition on school playgrounds of Ain Al-Hilweh
School walls riddled with holes from bullet, rocket fire during clashes between rival factions

Updated 29 September 2023

NAJIA HOUSSARI

September 29, 2023 22:17

BEIRUT: A Palestinian joint security force on Friday took control of a school complex in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp after gunmen who had occupied the site since late July withdrew.
The deployment was part of the second phase of a cease-fire agreement between the Fatah movement and extremist groups in mid-September.
Clashes between the rival Lebanese factions in late July left more than 30 people dead.
The force entered the UNRWA school complex, which became a battleground between the rival groups, as gunmen vacated the site.
The deployment raises hopes that the truce will hold and further ease tensions inside Ain Al-Hilweh, the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
More than 75,000 refugees, including Palestinians who fled the Yarmouk camp in Syria, are housed in Ain Al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.
The joint force consists of officers and military personnel from various Palestinian factions in the camp, including Hamas.
However, the security force and UNRWA now face a major clean-up, with the extent of damage becoming evident after the militants’ withdrawal from the school complex.
Unexploded grenades were found on the site and empty bullet casings littered the school playgrounds.
Rockets used in the clashes have left gaping holes in school walls.
The joint security force was divided into two groups. One entered the schools complex from the Al-Barakasat area, controlled by the Fatah movement, while the other entered from the Al-Tawarek-Al-Taameer area, controlled by the extremist groups, most prominently Al-Shabab Al-Muslim.
Representatives of the Palestinian Joint Action Committee in the Sidon area accompanied the force.
Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Ajouri, who was commanding the force, gave the signal for the deployment, while Maj. Gen. Subhi Abu Arab, Palestinian national security commander, accompanied the operation.
UNRWA, which is monitoring the cease-fire, postponed the start of the new academic year in the Ain Al-Hilweh camp until further notice.
Schools in the rest of the region will resume teaching on Oct. 2.
More than 11,000 students attend schools in the camp, with the damaged school complex providing education to 5,900 students.
Dorothee Klaus, director of UNRWA affairs in Lebanon, said the safety of schools in the vicinity of Ain Al-Hilweh “is our top priority, and we are striving in every possible way to achieve that as soon as conditions permit.”
The agency is working to find alternatives so that children from the camp and surrounding areas can return to school as soon as possible, she said.
A preparatory meeting ahead of Friday’s deployment took place in the Sidon office of Sheikh Maher Hammoud, president of the International Union of Resistance Scholars, who is believed to be close to Hezbollah.
Representatives of Hamas and the Amal movement, an ally of Hezbollah, also attended.
Discussions took place on the possible handing over of eight suspects wanted for the assassination of Fatah leader Mohammed Al-Armoushi.
Representatives of Hamas and the Amal movement, an ally of Hezbollah, also attended.
As part of the cease-fire deal, the joint security force will prepare the way for those displaced by the fighting to return to their homes.
The final phase of the agreement involves the handover of wanted suspects.
A source dismissed rumors on social media on Thursday night that some of the wanted suspects had left the camp.
“There is an agreement that has been reached and it is fundamental, and the essential point is handing over wanted people,” the source said.
Hamas representative Ahmed Abdel Hadi described Friday’s deployment as “a step in the right direction,” adding that it stemmed from Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s initiatives to end the clashes.
Berri joined Palestine Liberation Organization leader Azzam Al-Ahmad and Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk in pushing for a cease-fire.

Follow

Topics: Lebanon Ain Al-Hilweh camp UNRWA Fatah

In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians celebrate Christmas together

In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians celebrate Christmas together

In Jordan, economic stress dampens Christmas holiday mood

Cairo embraces Christmas spirit with trees, bazaars and Santa suits

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Israel strikes Hamas post after violent protest in Gaza: army

Thousands take to streets in Gaza in rare public display of discontent with Hamas

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

Saudi Arabia, Arab world condemn deadly attack on Bahrain soldiers

Bahrain says officer, soldier killed in Houthi attack along Saudi-Yemeni border

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

FASTFACT

Libya flood deaths expose climate chasm in conflict-hit states

Libya flood disaster displaced over 43,000 people: IOM

Women play ‘prominent’ role as hundreds protest in Syria

Women play ‘prominent’ role as hundreds protest in Syria

Syrians in Lebanon ‘economically displaced,’ not ‘refugees’: Justice minister

Lebanese Army kills van driver smuggling Syrians into the country

Joint security force occupies Lebanon refugee camp

Joint security force occupies Lebanon refugee camp

Cease-fire in Ain Al-Hilweh falls through despite Fatah-Hamas agreement

Clashes kill one in Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp: Fatah

Latest updates

Robert Kennedy Jr. to run as independent, could complicate Trump, Biden 2024 contest

Trump animates California Republicans with calls to shoot people who rob stores

Turkish film festival canceled over censorship controversy

Kosovo welcomes a NATO decision to bolster its troops following weekend violence that left 4 dead

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Recommended

UNESCO listing of Uruq Bani Ma’arid Reserve puts Saudi conservation efforts in the limelight

Eritrean diplomat asks: ‘Why is the Sudan conflict not an important issue’ for the UN?

Sustainability, youth empowerment, new destinations top agenda on first day of World Tourism Day conference in Riyadh

Search form

Print Edition

Search form

Search form

You are here

In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians celebrate Christmas together

In Gaza, Christian and Muslim Palestinians celebrate Christmas together

Related

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Related

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

Related

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

FASTFACT

Related

Women play ‘prominent’ role as hundreds protest in Syria

Related

Joint security force occupies Lebanon refugee camp

Related

Latest updates

Recommended

Search form

Print Edition