In “mourning and honor” of Palestinians killed in Gaza, the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, has announced the cancellation of traditional Christmas festivities. In Bethlehem, we’re joined by the president of Dar al-Kalima University, Reverend Mitri Raheb. Reverend Raheb relates the story of Jesus, a refugee whose mother had no place to safely give birth, to the plight of displaced Gazans facing a dearth of medical care. “The Christmas story actually is a Palestinian story, par excellence,” he tells us, yet “we don’t hear the Christian community actually doing much about the atrocity happening in Gaza today.” As the world turns its back on the ongoing genocide, Rehab says he fears this could be “the end of the Christian presence in Gaza.”
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