Syrians cancel christmas celebrations in solidarity with Gaza

This year the festive atmosphere has disappeared from the bustling streets of Syrian cities. The primary churches have scaled back their Christmas celebrations, opting instead for prayers as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinians enduring the ravages of war in Gaza.

Azizia, a city in northern central Syria, lacks the usual festive spirit and Christmas decorations that adorned its streets in previous years. The once vibrant atmosphere, bustling with people and holiday joy, is notably absent this season.

Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Mor Dionysius Antoine Shahda said “in Syria we canceled all official celebrations and receptions in our churches in solidarity with the victims of the bombing on Gaza.”

The Syriac Catholic Church was not the only church to stop Christmas celebrations this year, the major three Syrian churches, the Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic patriarchs, also declared that they were canceling Christmas festivities and limiting celebrations to religious ceremonies.

Since the war on Gaza started over 20,000 lives have been lost, with a significant majority being women and children. Additionally, a large portion of the Gazan population has been forcibly displaced, facing daunting challenges in securing basic necessities such as food and shelter.

Rachel Haddad, a 66-year-old resident of Damascus, shared her sorrow over the situation in Gaza, revealing that she couldn’t bring herself to place a Christmas tree this year.

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Haddad said, “this year was very sad. It began with the earthquake and ended with the Gaza war,” referring to February 6th earthquake in Turkey and Syria, that led to the death of over 55,000 people. 

The New Arab Staff & Agencies