من هناك
12-26-2007, 05:17 PM
"You media people!" Father Musallam boomed at me when I first poked
my head around his door.
"Hamas this, Hamas that. You think we Christians are shaking in our
ghettos in Gaza? That we're going to beg you British or the Americans
or the Vatican to rescue us?" he asked.
"Rescue us from what? From where? This is our home."
...
"Of course, I am a Christian believer, but politically I am a
Palestinian Muslim. I resist Israel's military occupation, obviously
not with weapons.
=====
Christmas under Hamas rule
By Katya Adler
BBC News, Gaza City
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/71541
34.stm
Earlier this year, the Islamist Hamas party took control of Gaza,
home to a thriving Christian community now preparing to celebrate
their first Christmas under Hamas rule.
Manawel Musallam - priest, headmaster and Gazan - is a rotund,
avuncular man, fond of wearing berets.
I have come to his office to ask how Christians in Gaza were faring
on this, their first Christmas under the full internal control of
Hamas.
"You media people!" Father Musallam boomed at me when I first poked
my head around his door.
"Hamas this, Hamas that. You think we Christians are shaking in our
ghettos in Gaza? That we're going to beg you British or the Americans
or the Vatican to rescue us?" he asked.
"Rescue us from what? From where? This is our home."
Extended family
The pupils at the Holy Family School, Gaza City, all call Manawel
Musallam "Abunah" - Our Father in Arabic.
His is a huge family of 1,200 children and, although the school is
part-funded by the Vatican, here, as in all of Gaza, Christians are
the minority.
Ninety-nine percent of the pupils here are Muslim. This is one of the
reasons Fr Musallam says he does not fear the Islamists.
"They should be afraid. Not me," he chuckled.
"Their children are under my tutelage, in my school. Hamas mothers
and fathers are here at parents' day along with everyone else."
But there is more that binds Christians and Muslims in Gaza than
their children's shared playground.
After the bloody scenes of Palestinian infighting this year, it is
easy to assume Gazan society is irreconcilably split - both
politically and along religious lines.
There were those chilling incidents in June when men with beards were
shot for looking like Islamists.
Men without beards were shot by Islamist extremists who thought they
were non-believers, even traitors.
But actually the situation is far less clear cut.
Take the music room-cum-prayer hall at the Holy Family School.
Nativity play
On one of the walls hang huge photos of what the irreverent might be
tempted to describe as the Gazan Catholic's Holy Trinity - the Pope,
the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the (Muslim) Palestinian president.
I found a group of 10-year-olds on stage, rehearsing their Nativity
play, watched, with great enthusiasm, by a group of their Muslim
friends.
Mary and Joseph squatted on stage. The girl playing Mary, clasped a
tube of scrunched-up brown paper wrapped in a scarf, which, for
rehearsal purposes, was posing as baby Jesus.
"You see," Fr Musallam told me, as he gazed indulgently at the goings-
on on stage. "Our identity is a multi-layered one."
"Of course, I am a Christian believer, but politically I am a
Palestinian Muslim. I resist Israel's military occupation, obviously
not with weapons.
"The Jihad can never be mine but with my words, my sermons, I am a
Palestinian priest."
On stage, four wise men, instead of three (probably due to a casting
struggle) were paying their respects to the paper bag.
"We have lived alongside Muslims here since Islam was born," said Fr
Musallam, waving his arm at the stage.
"They have a special word for us, the Christians of Palestine. They
call us Nasserine - the people of Nazareth. They recognise that we
have always been here.
"Even the more extreme Muslims see a difference between us and other
Christians they regard as enemies and call Crusaders."
There is no evidence to suggest the Hamas government here officially
discriminates against Christians but its takeover in Gaza - its
military wing's leading role in armed resistance against Israel,
along with the Islamic Jihad faction - have all led to the increasing
Islamisation of Gazan society.
And that has encouraged some extremist Muslims to take action.
A Christian bookshop owner was killed here a couple of months ago.
There was a kidnap attempt on another Christian recently.
And a number of Christian families we spoke to say they had received
death threats.
They question Hamas' willingness to take action to protect them.
However, it was under Hamas armed escort that we met the Latin
Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, on a special pre-Christmas
visit to Gaza.
It was quite a spectacle.
The Patriarch, dressed in a purple cassock, stepped out of a black,
shiny Mercedes at the Latin Church in Gaza City.
'God's creatures'
A crowd of police cars screeched to a halt all around him, lights
flashing and sirens screaming. Bearded gunmen dressed in black jumped
out to guard him.
In previous years, the Patriarch's Christmas sermon has concentrated
on the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli military occupation
but this year he preached steadfastness in the face of intimidation
by Islamist fanatics.
"They forget we are all God's creatures," he told a concerned-looking
congregation.
"But nobody can tell us Christians how to dress, how to live or how
to pray".
The patriarch called on the Hamas government to take responsibility
and to protect the Christian citizens of Gaza, along with everyone
else.
As the crowded church was belting out hallelujahs, I stepped into the
church courtyard for some fresh air.
The Muslim call to prayer was beginning to echo from the myriad of
mosques all around.
I thought how this reflected the situation in Gaza in Christmas 2007 -
that while the muezzin were on loudspeaker, the church bells here
are played from a cassette tape.
A nervous young nun adjusted the volume - loud enough to peel through
the church but not to penetrate its walls - it might risk offending
Muslim Gazans passing by.
my head around his door.
"Hamas this, Hamas that. You think we Christians are shaking in our
ghettos in Gaza? That we're going to beg you British or the Americans
or the Vatican to rescue us?" he asked.
"Rescue us from what? From where? This is our home."
...
"Of course, I am a Christian believer, but politically I am a
Palestinian Muslim. I resist Israel's military occupation, obviously
not with weapons.
=====
Christmas under Hamas rule
By Katya Adler
BBC News, Gaza City
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/71541
34.stm
Earlier this year, the Islamist Hamas party took control of Gaza,
home to a thriving Christian community now preparing to celebrate
their first Christmas under Hamas rule.
Manawel Musallam - priest, headmaster and Gazan - is a rotund,
avuncular man, fond of wearing berets.
I have come to his office to ask how Christians in Gaza were faring
on this, their first Christmas under the full internal control of
Hamas.
"You media people!" Father Musallam boomed at me when I first poked
my head around his door.
"Hamas this, Hamas that. You think we Christians are shaking in our
ghettos in Gaza? That we're going to beg you British or the Americans
or the Vatican to rescue us?" he asked.
"Rescue us from what? From where? This is our home."
Extended family
The pupils at the Holy Family School, Gaza City, all call Manawel
Musallam "Abunah" - Our Father in Arabic.
His is a huge family of 1,200 children and, although the school is
part-funded by the Vatican, here, as in all of Gaza, Christians are
the minority.
Ninety-nine percent of the pupils here are Muslim. This is one of the
reasons Fr Musallam says he does not fear the Islamists.
"They should be afraid. Not me," he chuckled.
"Their children are under my tutelage, in my school. Hamas mothers
and fathers are here at parents' day along with everyone else."
But there is more that binds Christians and Muslims in Gaza than
their children's shared playground.
After the bloody scenes of Palestinian infighting this year, it is
easy to assume Gazan society is irreconcilably split - both
politically and along religious lines.
There were those chilling incidents in June when men with beards were
shot for looking like Islamists.
Men without beards were shot by Islamist extremists who thought they
were non-believers, even traitors.
But actually the situation is far less clear cut.
Take the music room-cum-prayer hall at the Holy Family School.
Nativity play
On one of the walls hang huge photos of what the irreverent might be
tempted to describe as the Gazan Catholic's Holy Trinity - the Pope,
the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the (Muslim) Palestinian president.
I found a group of 10-year-olds on stage, rehearsing their Nativity
play, watched, with great enthusiasm, by a group of their Muslim
friends.
Mary and Joseph squatted on stage. The girl playing Mary, clasped a
tube of scrunched-up brown paper wrapped in a scarf, which, for
rehearsal purposes, was posing as baby Jesus.
"You see," Fr Musallam told me, as he gazed indulgently at the goings-
on on stage. "Our identity is a multi-layered one."
"Of course, I am a Christian believer, but politically I am a
Palestinian Muslim. I resist Israel's military occupation, obviously
not with weapons.
"The Jihad can never be mine but with my words, my sermons, I am a
Palestinian priest."
On stage, four wise men, instead of three (probably due to a casting
struggle) were paying their respects to the paper bag.
"We have lived alongside Muslims here since Islam was born," said Fr
Musallam, waving his arm at the stage.
"They have a special word for us, the Christians of Palestine. They
call us Nasserine - the people of Nazareth. They recognise that we
have always been here.
"Even the more extreme Muslims see a difference between us and other
Christians they regard as enemies and call Crusaders."
There is no evidence to suggest the Hamas government here officially
discriminates against Christians but its takeover in Gaza - its
military wing's leading role in armed resistance against Israel,
along with the Islamic Jihad faction - have all led to the increasing
Islamisation of Gazan society.
And that has encouraged some extremist Muslims to take action.
A Christian bookshop owner was killed here a couple of months ago.
There was a kidnap attempt on another Christian recently.
And a number of Christian families we spoke to say they had received
death threats.
They question Hamas' willingness to take action to protect them.
However, it was under Hamas armed escort that we met the Latin
Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, on a special pre-Christmas
visit to Gaza.
It was quite a spectacle.
The Patriarch, dressed in a purple cassock, stepped out of a black,
shiny Mercedes at the Latin Church in Gaza City.
'God's creatures'
A crowd of police cars screeched to a halt all around him, lights
flashing and sirens screaming. Bearded gunmen dressed in black jumped
out to guard him.
In previous years, the Patriarch's Christmas sermon has concentrated
on the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli military occupation
but this year he preached steadfastness in the face of intimidation
by Islamist fanatics.
"They forget we are all God's creatures," he told a concerned-looking
congregation.
"But nobody can tell us Christians how to dress, how to live or how
to pray".
The patriarch called on the Hamas government to take responsibility
and to protect the Christian citizens of Gaza, along with everyone
else.
As the crowded church was belting out hallelujahs, I stepped into the
church courtyard for some fresh air.
The Muslim call to prayer was beginning to echo from the myriad of
mosques all around.
I thought how this reflected the situation in Gaza in Christmas 2007 -
that while the muezzin were on loudspeaker, the church bells here
are played from a cassette tape.
A nervous young nun adjusted the volume - loud enough to peel through
the church but not to penetrate its walls - it might risk offending
Muslim Gazans passing by.