Attallah Tarazi recently participated in a round of songs with other Palestinian Christians after receiving Christmas gifts that included socks and a scarf to protect him from the winter in Gaza.
The gifts and hymns gave the 76-year-old a taste of the holiday in a devastated Gaza, where many customary celebrations are being dampened by the losses of the Israel-Hamas war and the continued challenges of displaced people, despite a shaky ceasefire providing some relief.
Despite the devastation and uncertainty all around them, Tarazi and a large portion of the small Palestinian Christian community in Gaza are attempting to preserve some of the spirit of the season. He claims that his faith and optimism have gotten him through the conflict.
I believe that our happiness over the birth of Christ must outweigh all the resentment we’ve experienced,” he remarked. He has been staying at the Holy Family Church property in Gaza for almost two years. During the Christmas season, a church group that included choir members visited displaced persons there, he added.
Shadi Abo Dowd will celebrate Christmas for the first time since his mother was killed in July when an Israeli attack struck the same Catholic church compound where Tarazi resides and has been hosting displaced persons.
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