A Christian leader accused Hamas of being responsible for Christmas celebrations being canceled in Bethlehem this year.
The Rev. Johnnie Moore, who serves as president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, said it was Hamas and not Israel that “cut off the Christmas lights in Bethlehem,” according to Fox News Digital.
“Hamas tried to sabotage Christmas in the Holy Land for the world’s 2 billion Christians. Jesus is the prince of peace. Hamas hates peace,” said Moore, who is also a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Moore went on to say that while Palestinian leaders in Ramallah and Bethlehem should have chosen to host “the biggest celebration they could imagine to spread the message of the Prince of Peace, Jesus” in Bethlehem, they chose instead to “[take] a page from Hamas by further politicizing religion[.]”
Moore contrasted the lack of Christmas celebrations in Jesus’ birthplace with the holiday festivities in nearby Israeli-controlled Jerusalem.
“One only has to drive a mile to Jerusalem where Christmas is alive and well,” he said. “Jerusalem is alive with holiday celebrations because Israel is, even now, fiercely protecting its sanctity during this time of terror and war.”
“Or, if you want a dose of hope that peace is not only possible but will come, then drive up north to beautiful Haifa,” he added. “It is a city where Jews, Christians and Muslims live in peace with one another and not only side-by-side but by sharing their lives, joys and sorrows together.”
Christmas in Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank, was unusually subdued this year amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has been raging in the region since Hamas attacked Israeli border communities near the border with Gaza on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,400 civilians and over 30 Americans.
Tourists typically pour in by the tens of thousands to visit Bethlehem during a typical Christmas season, with the number reaching an all-time high of approximately 150,000 people in 2019, according to The Associated Press.
This year, streets in the historic city are mostly darkened and empty, shops are shuttered, traditional parades were canceled, and rubble adorns many of the Nativity scenes.
Citing the “thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, [who] have died or suffered serious injuries,” the patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem issued a statement on Nov. 10 that called on their congregations “to stand strong with those facing such afflictions by foregoing any unnecessarily festive activities.”
The heads also encouraged priests and the faithful “to focus more on the spiritual meaning of Christmas in their pastoral activities and liturgical celebrations[.]”
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza has reported that more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 amid Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to Axios.
The number of Christians in Palestinian-controlled territories has dwindled to roughly 1,000 in recent years. The majority of Christians in Gaza are Greek Orthodox, while others identify as Roman Catholic, Baptist and other denominations, according to a 2014 survey by the YMCA.
Most of the Christian community in Gaza has sought shelter in the St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church and the Catholic Holy Family Church, both of which have been damaged by airstrikes.
Earlier this month, the Holy Family Church was damaged by Israeli army strikes targeting nearby buildings, and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem claimed that a “sniper of the IDF murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families have taken refuge since the start of the war.”
The patriarchate claimed the women, identified as Nahida and her daughter, Samar, were “shot in cold blood inside the premises of the Parish, where there are no belligerents.”
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “an IDF investigation” found “this claim is not true.”
In a statement last week, the IFD said in part:
Following the reports of two women that were shot in the area of the Latin Church in Shejaya, the IDF has finished conducting an initial review of the incident. The review found that on December 17th, in the early afternoon, Hamas terrorists launched a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at IDF troops from the vicinity of the church.
The troops then identified three people in the vicinity, operating as spotters for Hamas by guiding their attacks in the direction of the IDF troopers. In response, our troops fired towards the spotters and hits were identified.
The IDF takes claims regarding harm to sensitive sites with the utmost seriousness — especially churches — considering that Christian communities are a minority group in the Middle East.”
In November, an airstrike reportedly destroyed the Rosary Sisters School, which served 1,250 Christian and Muslim students, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. An ACN project partner in Gaza claimed at least 53 Christian families’ homes have been destroyed.
In October, an Israeli airstrike struck the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios, killing at least 18 people.
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