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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Catholic leader calls off midnight Mass in Gaza

2006-12-25

The head of Gaza's tiny Roman Catholic community on Saturday cancelled Christmas eve's Midnight Mass celebration, citing recent Palestinian infighting between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements. Father Manuel Musallem said Christian children in Gaza are scared, especially after the three young sons of a Palestinian security officer were gunned down in broad daylight as they went to school two weeks ago. "The children told me Santa Claus won't come this year because it's too dangerous," he said.

Musallem planned to celebrate evening Mass but called off Midnight Mass and Christmas day celebrations. He said the community was protesting the infighting, which has claimed 17 lives since the young children were killed, as well as the international boycott of the Hamas-led government.

The sanctions have caused widespread hardship in Gaza. About 300 Christians attended a protest on Saturday outside of the parliament building in Gaza. Only about 3,000 Christians live in Gaza, a crowded conservative Muslim society of roughly 1.4 million people. The Roman Catholic community has roughly 300 people, most of the area's Christians are Greek Orthodox.

Posted by:Fred

#3 Bravo!

Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-12-25 01:17

#2 "The children told me Santa Claus won't come this year because it's too dangerous,"

I'll probably come off like some sort of sentimental SOB but, dammit, there is something so very wrong about with this. That any child should ever feel as though Santa has passed them by is simply vile.

Some backstory: I firmly believe that Christmas is meaningless unless you have the same sense of giving and generosity in your heart all year round. It's pretty easy to say that Jesus would agree with such an idea. Still, the magical notion of Santa remains something particularly special, just because it is so outrageous and delightfully wacky.

Towards that end, I have always tried to keep the idea of Santa alive in my own neighborhood. For almost two decades I have done my level best to make sure that, as they've grown up, the kids next door and across the street get a visit from Santa every year.

None of these children are deprived or anything close to it. That matters not one bit. It's far more important to me that they discover that despite all their own parents do there is still some sort of unexpected surprise connected with Christmas.

Every year, waiting on their doorstep each Christmas morn is a red plush stocking with an orange in the toe, a Lifesaver Book, a box of animal crackers, a mesh sack of foil wrapped coins, a package of Pez, a chocolate Santa Claus, a bottle of bubble blowing soap and one or two toys to boot but always a balsa wood glider.

I can't imagine not doing this.

However little sympathy I have for the Palestinians in general, right down to their children, I'll still confess that the notion of their idiotic violence causing little kids to think that Santa has foresaken them just pisses the living hell out of me.

Yup, I'm a sentimental SOB and proud of it.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-12-25 01:10

#1 Earth to any Christians still in Gaza: GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN STILL BREATHE!

Geez.

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-12-25 00:32

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