Xmas tree in Knesset would chip away Jewish identity


December 19, 2014
Sarah Benton


Fireworks explode during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 6, 2014. Photo by Mussa Qawasma / Reuters

Christmas trees offensive to Jews, Knesset speaker says

Lawmaker’s request for a holiday tree in parliament is part of an Arab campaign to chip away at Israel’s Jewish nature, says Yuli Edelstein.

By Falastin News Staff
December 18, 2014

Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein says he refused to display a Christmas tree in the parliament because of the “painful memories” it evoked among Jews.

Edelstein told Israel Radio Thursday such a public display of a Christian symbol could be construed as offensive.

Earlier this week, Edelstein rejected the request of a Christian-Arab lawmaker. He said the parliamentarian could display a tree in his office and party’s conference room.

Edelstein says the initiative is part of an Arab campaign to chip away at Israel’s Jewish nature. He warned that if he had agreed he would then likely face further requests to display a cross and crescent in parliament reported Haaretz

On the other hand, hundreds of Palestinian Christians and Muslims on Saturday crowded in the manger square next to the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, to announce the beginning of Christmas celebrations and lighting the biggest tree in town, followed by magnificent fireworks for the nights.

The event was attended by Palestine prime minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah, Vatican Envoy Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, Governor of Bethlehem Jibreel Al-Bakri, adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Christian affairs Ziad Al Bandak, minister of Tourism Rula Maayah, Mayor of Bethlehem Vera Baboun, Bethlehem commander General Sulaiman Qandil, Nuns, Bishops, representatives of police department, members of Bethlehem municipal council, and representatives of Palestinian National Authority and Parishioner Officials.

Dr. Hamdallah in a speech to the crowds announced the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the Holy Land of Palestine. He added that the land blessed by God, and the home of the Annunciation will still send the message of peace and divine justice to the whole world, despite Israeli successive violations against Christian and Muslim sanctuaries, and putting restrictions on their worshippers.

Hamdallah added that lighting the christmas tree is a message of the Palestinian steadfastness on its land and cultural humane civilization. PM finally called on the international community to protect the sanctuaries from Israeli Judaization and erosion.

Mayor of Bethlehem, Vera Baboun, said that time and place connect to the heavens, in a menial grotto in Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born to call for justice. She added that the slogan of this Christmas was Justice, which Palestinian needed to obtain its rights and peace, which Palestine still struggles for, and still handed down by the generations.

Baboun said that this Christmas was special, since it was accompanied with the international year of solidarity with the Palestinians, and brings us close to Palestinian statehood recognition.

The celebration included displaying the movie of the Christmas, Hymns by Luna Amin, a musical passage by Rock the Bells and another for the Choir of St. Catherine’s Church.



The 2014 Christmas tree ceremony in Ramallah

Gaza plight mars Christmas tree lighting in Ramallah

Deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip seemed to take the pleasure out of the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Ramallah

By Anees Barghouthy, Anadolu Agency
December 07, 2014

RAMALLAH– Scores of Palestinians converged onto central Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday to be part of the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the city.

All over the city, the streets were decorated, while residents – both Muslims and Christians – put on their best clothes in preparation for the annual event.

However, deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip seemed to take the pleasure out of the event.

“I arrived from my village, Aboud, northern Ramallah, to watch the lights and ornaments of the Christmas tree,” Grace Abdo, a Christian Palestinian female, told The Anadolu Agency as she and others took part in the event.

“Unfortunately, we celebrate Christmas this year, while our brothers and sisters in Gaza live without shelter or joy because of the Israeli brutal war against them,” she added.

She and other Palestinians were keen to be part of the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony on this chilly night.

Behind Grace, some revellers were rubbing their hands together to feel warm. Others brought their children who wore red Santa Claus uniforms with them to the ceremony.

The Christmas tree – a 12-meter high object that buzzed with life and was decorated with 1,400 red balls and 2,500 lights – was placed on Yasser Arafat Square in central Ramallah.

The square is named after the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the man who led the Palestine Liberation Organization for more than three decades.

Arafat died at a French hospital in 2004, even as he continues to live in the minds of the Palestinians as a symbol of the Palestinian struggle for liberty, dignity and statehood.

“My family and I insisted to come here despite the cold weather,” Mohammad al-Khal, another ceremony participant, said.

“I cannot let such an occasion go without sharing the Christmas joy with Christian brothers and sisters,” he added.

The tree was lit at 16:00 GMT and is expected to continue lighting until January 12.

A few kilometres away from where this ceremony was being held, other Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued to reel under the effects of Israel’s 51-day offensive on the coastal Palestinian territory.

The extent of the damage left behind by the war, which came to an end on August 26, is just untold.

Thousands of homes were either totally or partially ruined, Gaza’s infrastructure was left in a deplorable condition, and the territory’s future does not seem to be promising in the lack of international support.

More than 2,160 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza, while more than 11,000 others injured.

These losses seem to be leaving an indelible effect in the minds of every resident of Gaza, even as the world prepares to receive a new year.

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