Christians in Syria marking the birth of their Lord and Savior have scaled down Christmas festivities in a show of camaraderie with residents of Gaza.
“In Syria we canceled all official celebrations and receptions in our churches in solidarity with the victims of the bombing on Gaza,” Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo Mor Dionysius Antoine Shahda told a European news agency on Sunday. “In Palestine, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, people are suffering,” Shahda said.
Syria, home to some of the oldest Christian communities in the world, is usually decorated with lights and Christmas trees in the squares of areas where Christians reside this time of year, and rejoicing in holiday parades by Santa Claus-clad revelers, fireworks displays, and many other customs typically seen in Europe and North America.
This year is different, with the Syriac Catholic, the Melkite Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox patriarchs issuing a joint statement announcing that festivities would focus on religious services and prayers.
“Given the current circumstances, especially in Gaza, the patriarchs apologize for not receiving Christmas and New Year greetings,” the three churches said.
The patriarchs’ decision to greet the Yuletide season in a subdued manner has been matched by many holiday goers as well. “This year was very sad. It began with the earthquake and ended with the Gaza war,” Damascus resident Rachel Haddad told media, referencing the February 2023 earthquake which claimed t he lives of over 7,000 Syrians and nearly 46,000 Turks. “There was no opportunity for joy.”
Regular power cuts also put a damper on the holidays, Haddad said. “If there is no electricity, how will you see the decorations and light anyway?” she asked.
Once enjoying energy self-sufficiency, Syria has suffered years of energy starvation thanks to the US occupation of the country’s oil and gas-rich northeastern territories.
The country’s 1.2 million-strong Christian community was threatened with extinction after 2011, when the US and its regional allies launched a dirty war against Damascus aimed at ousting President Bashar Assad. The danger escalated in 2014 with the rise of Daesh (ISIS),* with jihadist militants capturing, executing or enslaving thousands of Christians and other minorities in their self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ before being beaten backed and crushed by Syrian Army forces with the help of Iran, Russia, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militias in 2017.
Syria’s Christians aren’t the only ones to have scaled back Christmas festivities this year. In Bethlehem, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, churches and religious leaders have similarly announced plans to limit festivities to religious ceremonies in solidarity with Gaza. Palestine’s small Christian community, whose churches and church-run hospitals have been hit by Israeli air strikes amid the Gaza war, is also naturally marking the holiday in a muted way.
* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.