Image: Anas-Mohammed
by GRACE JOHNSON
Many Palestinian Christians are choosing to forego celebrations this Christmas in light of continuing atrocities in Gaza.
The Palestinian Christians in Australia group (PCiA) estimates there are around 20,000 Palestinian Christians in Australia, with most of them being based in Sydney and Melbourne.
While the majority of the 2 million people in Gaza are Muslim, there is a small community of around 1000 Christian Palestinians, most of whom are Greek Orthodox, but there are also Roman Catholics.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 20,000 people have been killed in the enclave since 7 October.
Suzan Wahhab, President of PCiA, spoke with City Hub, saying “We don’t feel that Christmas has come this year.”
“For us, there’s no reason to celebrate Christmas. We can’t even feel Christmas.”
“We started with the seventh of October and all of a sudden, it’s Christmas. We’ve had a lot of trauma in our community from that day, as we knew there was going to be a huge disruption of Gaza as a result of these tragic events.”
From the first week of Israeli air bombings, most of the Christian Palestinian community’s houses, businesses, shops and office buildings were destroyed in the first week, Ms Wahhab told City Hub.
“Most of them have been sheltering in the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church for the past two months. They’ve lost everything,” she said.
The ongoing bombardment has instilled fears in Palestinian Christians regarding their existence in the strip, who have begun seeking refuge in local churches.
These fears have only intensified after 18 people were killed in the bombing of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza and the third oldest in the world, dating back to the fourth century.
Just a few days ago on 16 December, two Christian women were killed by an Israeli sniper inside the Holy Family Parish, according to a statement released by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Palestinian land holds a significant historical connection with Jesus and his birth. Bethlehem, believed to be his birthplace, lies in the West Bank. But this year, churches there have cancelled Christmas celebrations.
“We are not decorating our trees. No lights. We’re just going to go and pray at the church, no celebration. We don’t want gifts, especially when you see people have lost everything.”
“We’re asking our kids to save their money. Instead of buying gifts, we’re putting that money towards helping our families in Gaza, or the people coming here.”
Difficulties getting to Australia
According to SBS News, the government is assisting more than 80 Australian citizens, permanent residents, and family members still stuck in Gaza, whose names have been provided to authorities.
But many in Gaza are still waiting to be able to come to Australia. Some have died in the process.
The Department of Home Affairs tightened their restrictions to only allow “immediate family members”, which they define as a spouse or de facto partner and children.
Previously, visas were granted if the applicant simply had a family members in Australia, whether that be an aunt or a second cousin.
“They’re not treating us equally,” Ms Wahhab said.
The PCiA helps Palestinians in Gaza apply for visas. Ms Wahhab told City Hub that one of her cousins, who was born in Israel and has Israeli citizenship and an Israeli passport, but is Palestinian, was approved the same day to come to Australia. But her husband, children and grandchildren have Palestinian ID. Weeks later, their visa application still says “subject to review”.
“The Australian Government is not taking us as equal citizens as the Israelis or the Jewish people.”
The situation in Gaza is increasingly dire and people are far from being able to book a ticket and fly to Australia.
“They can’t drive. They’ve been bombed. They are waiting for food and water,” said Ms Wahhab.
Together with other organisations, PCiA is raising funds to support Palestinians arriving in Australia.
As the crisis wages on and innocent civilians are killed each day, PCiA has organised community prayers each night, which are held live on Zoom and uploaded to YouTube, praying for the atrocities to stop.
You May Also Like
