Jerusalem Story talked to Palestinian Christians from various walks of life and asked them for their reflections during this Christmas season. They lamented the current situation in Palestine and expressed hope that 2025 will bring with it a turnaround in the status of Palestinians as a whole and Jerusalemites in particular.
Credit:
Adam Rouhana for Jerusalem Story
Christian Jerusalemites Reflect on Hopes and Wishes for a Better Year in 2025
Richard Zananiri, principal of St George’s School in Jerusalem
Credit:
Courtesy of Richard Zananiri
Richard Zananiri, Principal, St George’s School
With the birth of Jesus, the king of love and peace, we all hope and pray for peace and justice in Palestine. Our country is the birthplace of holy religions, and we need to turn this season into a time of happiness for the appearance of the Christmas star in our homeland. We hope that the new year will bring the good news of the establishment of our independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, with our heroic prisoners released from jail.
This Holy Land needs prayers from all of us so that the injustice our people are facing is lifted and we can live in freedom. Palestinian Christians and Muslims breathe from the same lungs, and we grow up on the sound of the church bells and the mosque calls for prayer. We want those sounds to echo worldwide in a call to end injustice and oppression. Our Palestinian people truly want to live in freedom and dignity. We are the last people on earth who are living under an oppressive occupation.1
George Sahhar, Palestinian Jerusalemite and community leader
Credit:
Courtesy of George Sahhar
George Sahhar, Community Leader
Peace is a product of justice, and Jerusalem needs to be rebuilt back to its rightful role as a holy city free from military occupation. May happiness prevail, and may God hear our prayer.
During this time of Christmas and New Year 2025, we stand at a moment that is the closest in time between the past and the future. The past years in Jerusalem, under occupation, have witnessed house demolitions, land confiscation, a Separation Wall, and checkpoints. The scenes on the ground contradict the image and feeling of Jerusalem as it exists in our hearts. My prayer, hope, and dream for the future is that justice prevails in Jerusalem and that the future generations will live in peace. Peace is a product of justice, and Jerusalem needs to be rebuilt back to its rightful role as a holy city free from military occupation. May happiness prevail, and may God hear our prayer.2
Adel Zumot, Morning Show Host at Yaboos Radio
Credit:
Courtesy of Adel Zumot
Adel Zumot, Popular Morning Show Host at Yaboos Radio
Christmas is a special occasion celebrated by Jerusalemites, reflecting their hopes and wishes for love and peace. We hope peace will prevail in the Holy City and everyone will live safely, far from conflicts and disputes. These wishes reflect the spirit and message of Christmas and embody the human values that Jerusalemites seek to preserve.
In Jerusalem, we look forward to the New Year being the beginning of economic prosperity, especially within the walls of the Old City and its surroundings, which have suffered and continue to suffer from stagnation due to the ongoing closures and occupation measures against citizens and vendors. We hope in the New Year that Jerusalem will remain a city that expresses its rich history and cultural diversity and that the holidays will carry with them the spirit of unity among all sects and religions in Jerusalem, with a focus on love and tolerance.
We hope to live a safe life away from conflicts and disputes to ensure a better future for future generations, enabling them to live with dignity and freedom.3
Nashat Filmon, Executive Secretary, Palestinian Bible Society, Jerusalem
This Christmas, we are hopeful for peace to dwell among us, especially in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. We are frustrated by the prolonged and never-ending crises and wars; however, we remain hopeful for the dawn of lasting peace to shine upon us all.
In this season, we are inspired by the birth of Jesus, which illuminated a path of hope amidst darkness that has overshadowed the earth. This extraordinary light serves as a powerful reminder of our hope for peace, dignity, freedom, restoration, reconciliation, and healing. May we all strive for a future filled with compassion and humanity, embracing the true spirit of this season.4
Yusef Daher, Middle East Council of Churches
Credit:
Courtesy of Yusef Daher
Yusef Daher, Jerusalem Coordinator of the Middle East Council of Churches
This Christmas, church leaders decided to celebrate Christmas modestly, because Christmas is not exclusive to our Palestinian town of Bethlehem but rather a global Christian event. But still, with the family and community circles, we, as Palestinian Christians, are still angry and mourning the unprecedented genocide watched by the same global Christian communities.
As if this Christmas, we remember the flight of the Holy Family and the killing of the Bethlehem children more than the nativity story. This we pray for the return of all Palestinians to their homes in Gaza, and to normal, peaceful life in the West Bank, and the light of Christ’s heavenly justice and peace to shed on all the inhabitants of this land made holy by his birth.5
Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, Christmas Message 2024
This Christmas, church leaders decided to celebrate Christmas modestly. Palestinian Christians are still mourning the unprecedented genocide in Gaza, live-streamed to global Christian communities. Jerusalem’s clergy issued the following joint statement:
“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.”
–Matthew 4:16, quoting Isaiah 9:2
In the midst of these dark days of continuing conflict and uncertainty in our region, We, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, remain steadfast in proclaiming to our local congregations and the wider world the eternal Christmas message of the True Light shining in the darkness: the birth of our Lord Jesus in Bethlehem (John 1:5).
For in Christ’s Nativity, the light of God’s salvation first came into the world, enlightening all who would receive Him, both then and now, and offering them “grace upon grace” to overcome the dark forces of evil that ceaselessly conspire to bring about the destruction of God’s creation (John 1:16).
John the Baptist later testified to the light as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3). As the above passage reveals, its divine rays first dawned upon our spiritual ancestors, who received the message of salvation while dwelling “in the region and shadow of death” (Matthew 4:16). Enduring many hardships, they went on to pass along the Holy Light of Christ’s Resurrection, becoming His witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout the Holy Land, and to the ends of the earth.
This ancient path of redemption leads us full-circle to our time, when wars still rage and untold millions in our region and around the globe continue to suffer grievously. Outwardly, little seems to have changed. Yet inwardly, our Lord Jesus Christ’s holy birth sparked a spiritual revolution that continues to transform countless hearts and minds towards the ways of justice, mercy, and peace (Micah 6:8; Ephesians 2:17).
For those families of the faithful who have remained in the Holy Land, as well as those who have joined us, it is our privilege to continue to testify to the sacred light of Christ in the very places where He was born, ministered, and offered Himself on our behalf, rising victoriously from the grave to a new resurrected life. We do this by offering Him our worship at the holy sites; by welcoming pilgrims and visitors into our midst; by proclaiming His sacred Gospel to all who will hear; by continuing His ministries of teaching, healing, and loving-kindness; and by advocating for “liberty for the captives, and release to the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18–19).
In this hopeful Christmas spirit, we give thanks to the Almighty for the recent ceasefire between two of the warring parties in our region, and we call for it to be expanded into Gaza and many other places, bringing an end to the wars that have plagued our part of the world. We likewise renew our appeal for the release of all prisoners and captives, the return of the homeless and displaced, the treatment of the sick and wounded, the relief of those who hunger and thirst, the restoration of unjustly seized or threatened properties, and the rebuilding of all public and private civilian structures that have been damaged or destroyed.
Finally, during this sacred Christmas season and beyond, we call upon all Christians and those of goodwill around the world to join us in praying and working towards this noble mission, both in Christ’s homeland and wherever there is conflict and strife. For by together doing so, we will indeed be truly honoring the Prince of Peace who was born so humbly in a stable in Bethlehem more than two millennia ago.6
Notes
1
Richard Zananiri, interview by the author, December 20, 2024.
2
George Sahhar, interview by the author, December 20, 2024.
3
Adel Zumot, interview by the author, December 20, 2024.
4
Nashat Filmon, interview by the author, December 20, 2024.
5
Yusef Daher, interview by the author, December 20, 2024.
6
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, “Christmas Message 2024,” December 13, 2024.