Fw: No Christmas in Bethlehem this yeare1
From: Riad Elsolh Hamad [mailto:pcwfaustin@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, December 24, 2004 7:10 PM
To: Riad Elsolh Hamad
Subject: Re: No " Merry Christmas " to me this year please!
Dear Friends,
Please do not send me a Hallmark Christmas card because the town of Christmas is now a prison for children of God who were entrusted with Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem.Please do not bother go to Walmart and buy me a Made in China novelty that I have no use for when it will only end up in my 60 gallon recycling bin.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year and please do not feel offended. No, it is not because I was born and raised a Muslim and am supposed to celebrate only the Eid Al-Fitre and the Adha Eid. Christmas was a holiday to celebrate the King of Peace in the land of peace where everyone lived together in peace.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year because the hometown of the King of Peace is now a prison that has forgotten the meaning of joy and is awash with the blood of its inhabitants even though Someone Else’s blood was shed for them 2004 years ago.
Please, tell me how I can celebrate Christmas when there are more Christians from Nazareth in Sydney, Australia than in Nazareth, Palestine because “the Chosen people” have built a wall and have driven millions of the children of Abraham and followers of the King of Peace away from their homes. The Christians of Nazareth now celebrate Christmas with a “Made in China” tree rather than with the palm trees that had shaded them for millennia.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again. How can I celebrate Christmas when the children of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Gaza and Jayyous are waiting for someone else’s charity to live and to eat? These children whose ancestors have taught humanity what charity is and have given humanity, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad: the messengers of mercy and charity.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again. How can I celebrate Christmas when the Christians of Nazareth cannot break bread with their brethren and fellow Christians in Bethlehem?
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again. How can I celebrate Christmas when the believers in Cairo, Beirut and Damascus are welcomed with guns and humiliation at checkpoints to the homes of their brethren who welcomed them for centuries in peace and love?
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again because I will only celebrate Christmas when the people of Bethlehem can go to Halab Al Shahba * and follow the footsteps of Abraham and Sarah to the town of Khalil Al Rahman** and visit the grave of Rachel.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again until I can ride a donkey from Halab to Damascus and Beirut to visit the Capucian churches where the Muslims who attended the services with their Christian brothers and sisters shared the joy of Christmas just like the Christians shared with them the joys of Eid Al Adha.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again until I can walk the streets of Beirut, Al Jazayer Street, Wadi Abu Jamil, Souk Al Tawileh..Souk Ayas, Wakf Alrrom with my friend Henry P. who now lives in San Francisco, Californai. Henry, the Jew, who left his home in Beirut because someone thought that his Jewish faith meant he supported the fascists who have tarnished the land of peace and the Jewish faith. Henry, we will go to Beirut soon and drive to Jerusalem to celebrate peace and justice for all and bury the hatred and violence that has been imposed on us for the last one hundred years. The hatred and violence perpetrated by people whose only connection to Judaism is a flag that flanks the star of David with two blue vertical lines.*** They are not the face of Judaism that we were taught, mercy, kindness and charity to your fellow humans, animals and yes, olive trees.
Please NO “Merry Christmas” to me this year again until Abdul-Massih of Cairo and Alexandria joins his family in Jerusalem to light the candles under the palm trees where Jesus walked. Abdulmassih who was jailed just because he dared to cross an artificial border to do his holy duty and kiss the ground where the King of Peace walked two millennia ago.
Please No “Merry Christmas” to me this year again until they stop uprooting OUR olive trees, the olive trees of the people who look to Palestine for hope, peace and justice for all: Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Til then, there is NO Justice, and there is NO Peace. We will wait another year. We will say Merry Christmas in Beitlehm when WE RETURN.
* The historical events recorded indicate that father Abraham milked his cow at the gates of the city to feed his children hence the name of the city Halab Alshaba. Halab means milked and Alshaba means the cow in the Arabic langauge.
** Alkhalil is the Arabic word for Hebron. Alkhalil means an intimate friend, The Muslims belief that Abraham was an intimate friend of God because of his piety and holiness. Alrahman in Arabic means the Merciful, one of the 99 names of Allah/ God in Arabic.
*** The two vertical lines in the flag symbolize the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers that the Zionists claim are the borders of their “promised land.”
Thanks for your friendship and support
Salamat
Riad Hamad
http://www.pcwf.org , http://www.paypalestine.com, Palestine Children's Welfare Fund. 201 W. Stassney # 201, Austin, Texas 78745 Click to buy Palestinian arts and crafts online, sponsor a Palestinian child ,buy a flag or a kufiya, donate a book to teach one or plant an olive/ orange tree in Palestine to honor a loved one
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http://www.pcwf.org , http://www.paypalestine.com, Palestine Children's Welfare Fund. 201 W. Stassney # 201, Austin, Texas 78745 Click to buy Palestinian arts and crafts online, sponsor a Palestinian child ,buy a flag or a kufiya, donate a book to teach one or plant an olive/ orange tree in Palestine to honor a loved one
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posted by carol wolman @ 8:38 AM
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