Christmas should have been a time of joy – instead, Gaza is mourning

Editorial: Christ in the rubble was the symbol chosen to highlight the sufferings of the civilian people of Palestine

The Christmas message is that Jesus, who miraculously survived a massacre, was ‘born among the occupied and marginalised’ (Reuters)

In his Christmas sermon, the Reverend Dr Munther Isaac, of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, referred to the church’s unusual nativity display, which featured the baby Jesus, draped in a Palestinian keffiyeh, lying amid rocks rather than oxen, wise men and shepherds: “If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza.”

Christ in the rubble was the symbol the pastor chose to highlight the suffering of the civilian people of Palestine, and to underline that the population of Gaza includes a small Christian community. His address deserves to be treated as historic, not least for its powerful invocation of the true meaning of this season: “It is not about Santa, trees, gifts, lights, etcetera. My goodness, how we have twisted the meaning of Christmas. How we have commercialised Christmas.” Instead, said Rev Isaac, the Christmas message is that Jesus, who miraculously survived a massacre, was “born among the occupied and marginalised. He is in solidarity with us in our pain and brokenness.”

The reverend spoke of mass killing and of how those in the West who have failed to prevent it are “complicit”.