As Bethlehem lights up again, Palestinian-American Christians reflect on Christmas Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Thu, 12/25/2025 - 18:15 Middle East Eye shares insights on the first holiday season since the Gaza ceasefire was declared A general view for the Nativity Square with pilgrims and people before midnight mass at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on 24 December 2025 (Hazem/Bader/AFP) Off Two years ago, more than two months into what became Israel's genocide in Gaza , Reverend Munther Isaac of Bethlehem's Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church proclaimed that "Christ is under the rubble". The nativity display next to him, which lasted through 2024, said as much. The figure of a newborn Jesus Christ, swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh, lay in a pile of rubble. No Christmas tree was lit, and the celebrations slated for Christ's birthplace were cancelled. On 10 October, a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in Gaza. While there have been nearly 1,000 violations by Israeli forces since then, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, Palestinians have found reprieve from round-the-clock air strikes, and a suffocating blockade of food and medicine. Now, Bethlehem has turned its Christmas lights back on, and its Palestinian leadership prayed the tourists, with Israel's permission, would return. The move gave Palestinian Christians breathing room, both in the occupied territories and in the diaspora. But Israel had killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza alone, and steeply escalated its raids, arrests and settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. The Trump administration, which is the guarantor of the ceasefire and the only entity with any leverage over Israel, has largely left it to its own devices. Earlier this week, the Instagram account of the US embassy in Jerusalem dedicated for "Palestinian audiences" - per its own description - shared an Arabic-subtitled video of US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife walking through the streets of Bethlehem, meeting with Palestinian vendors, and taking photographs with the Palestinian mayor. Faith, politics and armed resistance: A Palestinian-Christian perspective Read More » "The United States... will always support your right to worship," Huckabee, a staunch Christian Zionist who has previously denied the existence of Palestinians at all, said in the video. To date, three percent of Gaza's Christians have been killed by Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023. In Bethlehem itself, "we say goodbye to another family every other week or so", Isaac, who for many years lived in Bethlehem before his own move to Ramallah, previously told Middle East Eye . "People have given up on the prospect of life with dignity in their homeland," he said, as deadly Israeli settler attacks ramp up, backed by US weapons and policy. MEE asked Palestinian-American Christians to share their reflections on this first post-ceasefire Christmas, as well as lessons learned. Their comments have been edited for length and clarity. 'Hope coming in darkness' Lydia el-Sayegh in Atlanta, Georgia, fellow at the Friends Committee on National Legislation : "We gather in hope and expectation. What I've learned about Christmas is that it's hope coming in darkness. Two thousand years ago... Jesus's family was forced to move at the whims of empire, survived the 'Massacre of the Innocents', and became houseless refugees - all experiences that Palestinians of today know too well. At the same time, we believe that Jesus's birth carried the profound hope of salvation and restoration. He is God coming to be with occupied, oppressed people; a king whose power is not in a throne. "This Christmas and these past few Christmases, we stay as close to one another as possible, knowing that God is not far and that hope is not delayed but present in the darkness of occupation and genocide." A man dressed as Santa Claus at the Nativity Square with pilgrims and people before midnight mass at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on 24 December 2025 (Hazem Bader/AFP) Alienation and contradictions Philip Farah in Vienna, Virginia, co-founder of the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace : "The symbolism is that there is birth and new hope in the middle of calamity. And what can be closer to that than the calamity that we are experiencing in Palestine? But Gaza, since 2023, has made me even more alienated from the church establishment. Frankly, I'm not even a member of a church. I go to churches only when I'm invited to speak about Palestine. This is my worship. We've got to free ourselves from the Christianity of empire. The [American] church is reluctant to engage in anything that's controversial. Bethlehem is portrayed as kind of something from Disneyland." Tariq Habash in Washington, DC, co-founder of A New Policy : "As a Palestinian-American Christian, Christmas comes heavy with contradiction. We celebrate the birth of Christ while watching children remain trapped under siege and occupation. We hear declarations of peace while violence persists and accountability remains absent. Relief exists, but it is fragile... Today's ceasefire has not stopped the bombs; it has only slowed them. "The devastation in Gaza continues to compound, and the escalating attacks across the West Bank bring urgency for one of the oldest Christian populations in the world. Our prayers this Christmas are not only for peace... but for a future where Palestinian life is valued." Abouna Bashar Basiel leads a Christmas morning mass at the Christ the Redeemer Church in the mostly Christian town of Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, on 25 December 2025 (Ilia Yefimovich/AFP) 'It's humiliation' Khalil Jahshan in Washington, DC, executive director of Arab Center Washington DC : "As I was talking to family in Gaza, they said they're still hearing some shootings taking place in the background, in addition to the drones flying over the house constantly all day long. And so it's Christmas, but it's not Christmas at the same time. "In Haifa, even Santa was arrested . So occupation is still the theme. Occupation is continuing. It's not relenting. In my own hometown of Nazareth they had to interrupt the Christmas parade because Israeli police, aside from earlier attempts to limit the parade, just decided to join without permission, without agreement by the locals... It's more than intimidation. It's humiliation." Daniel Bannoura in South Bend, Indiana, theologian and adjunct professor at University of Notre Dame : "It's encouraging to see the lights and decorations and celebrations... but there's a bit of a sense of despair and frustration with the reality on the ground, especially now with the checkpoints and increased confiscation of land where my family is from in Beit Sahour. It was announced that settlers are taking over the Aish Ghraab area, east of Beit Sahour, and it's going to become a settlement. They have erected several gates between Beit Sahour and that area. "The Palestinians are invisible, right? Has [Huckabee] been protecting our right to go to Jerusalem to worship? Have they been protecting the rights of Christians in Gaza to worship? That's part of the narrative, right? That Christians are a small minority who are dominated and oppressed by Muslims, and it is the Christians in the US who are the protectors of minorities... This is just propaganda that is used mostly to enforce Islamophobic rhetoric." Israel's genocide in Gaza News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0