Christmas in Beirut seems to be, on some level, like Christmas anywhere else. The emphasis seems not on the spirit of the holiday, but on shopping and consumption. Here, however, the economy is far more fragile than in the U.S. and so there has been an attempt to pour lots of money into getting consumers to shop–especially in Hariri territory downtown. The specific campaign here, seen on the Christmas ornaments and around the bottom of the tree, says “I Love Life” in Arabic, English, and French. Simple enough sentiment and seems banal enough at first glance. Perhaps one might think of it like the “I Love New York” campaign. But in fact, this campaign is actually in specific reference to the unfortunate and heinous statement made declaring that Shi’a people reperesent a “cult of death.” Hence the reference to loving life is a negation or refutation of this uninformed and stereotypical idea about the Shi’a. All of this is done in the name of getting people to shop downtown in the streets that are directly across from the opposition sit-in (where one can hear lots of Christmas carols coming over the loudspeakers as people continue to camp out around around fires, family, and friends). Shopping downtown is akin to supporting the March 14th coalition and thus these slogans are way of the government resisting the stalemate.

The opposition forces downtown are not only a reminder of what happened this summer–and what still needs to be done to make people’s lives bearable again in terms of meeting their basic needs. They are also a reminder of the history of Israel violating Lebanese (and Palestinian) soverign land and brutally destroying people, their homes, their land, and their lives. Thus while Christians around the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ I would like to ask them to consider recalling just where it is that Jesus was born and what life is like for Palestinians not only living in the jailed city of Bethlehem but also all over Palestine. While Christians unload lots of excess on their family and loved ones I would like to ask you to also consider donating money to organizations like the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which directly takes care of people’s basic needs in Palestine. If money is too difficult to come by, here is a list of things you can do that only require a little time:

1) Learn more about history (Palestine Remembered) and the isolation of Palestinians and infringement on their religious and civil rights (Ma’an NewsOpen Bethlehem Electronic Intifada). Learn more about suffering of Iraqis and Lebanese.

2) Support the Palestinian Civil Society call to action; for boycotts, divestment and sanctions from Israel until it complies with human rights and International law.

3) Write letters to the editor (150-200 words) and/or op-eds (700-800 words) to your local or national newspapers about the issues.

4) Write and call your TV and radio stations and ask that they interview native people from these areas on issues of religious freedom and the plight of Muslims and Christians in Iraq and Palestine and beyond.

5) Write and call your elected officialsand ask them to help end Israeli apartheid.

6) Contact local churches in your area and ask that they bring Palestinian Christians to speak to their congregations and that they pray for justice and peace.

7) Contact mosques and ask that they dedicate a Friday Prayer to Donate to worthy causes that help the suffering populations and/or those that educate and lobby to stop policies of oppression and deprivation.

Take time to teach children about what is going on in Palestine. Give them copies of this book titled A Little Piece of Ground by award winning author Elizabeth Laird or Naomi Shihab Nye’s Habibi and discuss it with them.

9) Hold a teach-in, a vigil, a forum or other community gatherings to bring attention to the plight of people in need.

10) Send this message to your relatives, friends, co-workers and acquaintances and ask them to act. Forward to other listserves.

Merry Christmas.