In the lead-up to Christmas, a number of mainstream media outlets have been lamenting the misery inflicted on Gaza’s Christians. And no prizes for guessing who the Grinch is.
Exhibit A: This report from ABC Australia:
In the Palestinian territories, being a Christian is not so easy this Christmas.
Christians in the Gaza Strip have been attacked, and in Bethlehem – as in the rest of the West Bank – the number of Christians has been dwindling.
But some brave Christians are attempting to bring a little cheer to the Holy Lands.
In the run-up to Christmas, it is an unseemly sight – a dozen Santas ending up in a scuffle with Israeli troops.
Leader of the Santas, Sami Talhami, says the Santas want to bring a hopeful message.
“From Bethlehem, from where Jesus was born, from where the apartheid wall is being built around our villages and cities, we say, yes there is hope and there is a chance for peace,” he said.
“It needs the world to realise that there is injustice happening here, and for the world to say we will work for peace in the Holy Land.”
Mr Talhami was leading a group Palestinians, and western peace activists, dressed as Santa to demonstrate against the barrier Israel is building to separate the Jewish state from the West Bank.
The barrier has already been built across Bethlehem, making access difficult to the birthplace of Jesus.
Retired Catholic archbishop Francis Carroll has visited Bethlehem as part of a high-level Australian church delegation.
“I come from there with very mixed feelings,” he said.
“I suppose the sight of the wall, the barrier almost being in sight all the time, it’s very sobering, but I found it a very profound thought, that a land in which Jesus was born probably bore a great deal of resemblance to the present in that sense of occupation.”
Exhibit B: This report from Canada’s CBC News:
Israel will let 500 Palestinian Christians living in Gaza travel to the West Bank to spend Christmas in Bethlehem. But for the 2,500 staying behind, their first Christmas under Hamas rule will be sombre.
Their priest preaches hope, but sometimes even he despairs.
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“Christmas is destroyed, it’s smashed in Gaza,” says Father Musallam Manue of Holy Family Church. “There is no more joy in Gaza and because of that there is no more peace in Gaza.”
These are tough times in the territory, the CBC’s Nahlah Ayed reports.
Under an Israeli blockade imposed after Hamas fighters seized control of Gaza in June, the economy has collapsed, prices have gone through the roof and Gaza is even more isolated than in the past. That’s why so many Christians want out, even if just for the holidays.
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Border crossings are mostly sealed. Hamas denies Israel’s right to exist, and under its rule militants regularly fire rockets into Israeli territory. The Israeli government has responded with military strikes.
With most imports and exports blocked, seasonal supplies bound for Husam Mourtaga’s shop have been sitting in port for months, and few have come to buy his old Christmas stock.
“This Christmas is very bad, really, very bad for all people,” he says. “For me, I think, and for people.”
Call me old fashioned, but I would have thought there’s nothing like fearing for your life to spoil your Christmas. And surely no longer having your local bookstore to pick up a book of carols – not to mention the bookstore owner – would put a dampener on things. Yet these things are not mentioned in the aforementioned MSM reports, save for a reference to attacks on Christians (but by whom?), and a reference to “Hamas fighters” (not “terrorists”) seizing control of Gaza.
Ahhh, there’s nothing like the sweet smell of media bias to bring on that holiday cheer.
Update: And then there’s this AP report which although does mention Hamas’ murderous campaign against Gaza’s Christians, minimizes it with this:
Community leaders say an unprecedented number of Christian families are already migrating from Gaza — rattled by the religious tensions and tough economic sanctions Israel imposed on the area after the Hamas takeover.
Update: Frequent Israellycool contributor Elder of Ziyon has some more examples.
Update: I guess it’s an obvious topic: Aaron Klein says the same thing.
