Wed Dec 24 08:37:10 UTC 2025: News Article: Palestinian Pastor Reclaims Christmas: A Story of Empire, Not Just Celebration

Bethlehem – A Palestinian pastor is urging Western Christians to reconnect with the true meaning of Christmas, arguing that the modern holiday has been divorced from its origins as a story of resistance against empire and solidarity with the oppressed. In an opinion piece published by Al Jazeera, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, a Palestinian theologian, challenges the sanitized and commercialized version of Christmas prevalent in the West.

Isaac argues that Christmas is fundamentally a Middle Eastern story, rooted in the lived experience of a Palestinian Jew born under Roman occupation. He draws parallels between the injustices faced by the Holy Family – displacement, fear of violence, and imperial decree – and the daily realities of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation today.

“Christmas is a story of empire, injustice and the vulnerability of ordinary people caught in its path,” Isaac writes. He criticizes the tendency of some Western Christians to overlook the plight of contemporary Bethlehem, a city surrounded by walls and checkpoints, in favor of a romanticized, idealized past.

This year, Bethlehem is celebrating Christmas after two years of cancelled public festivities, because of the genocide unfolding in Gaza. “We could not celebrate the birth of Jesus while children his age were being pulled dead from the rubble,” Isaac explains. Instead, the celebration is an act of resilience, a declaration that Bethlehem remains the capital of Christmas, and that the story this town tells must continue.

Isaac calls on Western Christians to remember the real Bethlehem, a town where people still cry out for justice, dignity, and peace. By remembering Bethlehem, he says, they will remember that God stands with the oppressed and that the followers of Jesus are called to do the same. His message serves as a powerful reminder that Christmas is not merely a cultural tradition, but a call to action rooted in the lived experiences of those living in the birthplace of Jesus.

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