“If Jesus - Peace be upon him - were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble. In Gaza!”

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.

22 December 2023

Sunday was Christmas Eve, but the usual festive spirit was noticeably absent at Christ’s birthplace in Bethlehem, located in the occupied West Bank.

Thousands of Christian Palestinians, residing in the land where Jesus Christ was born, chose not to celebrate Christmas as they have for countless centuries.

The Nativity Scene of 2023 at the Lutheran Church of Bethlehem

The question arises: how can they celebrate when their fellow Palestinians are victims of the most severe genocide since the Nakba of 1948?

According to assessments by the Washington Post, based on interviews with Western experts, UN officials, and satellite imagery, Israel has waged one of the deadliest wars of this century in Gaza, lasting 80 days.

In this post, I will share the sentiments and actions of Christian Palestinians in Bethlehem during Christmas. 

This year, the usual festive mood was replaced by a sombre atmosphere.

The traditional Christmas tree and lively traditional Christmas Eve Procession by the renowned Palestinian scouts of the Patriarch of Jerusalem were absent.

Instead, the procession of the Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem scouts to Bethlehem turned into a silent protesting march in gloomy rainy weather as the heavens wept.

Can you imagine the terror of escaping a military bombardment in a densely populated city? 

This was the reality for Joe Jayyab, a young Palestinian content creator once dubbed “Palestine’s Youngest Travel Blogger” who turned into a military correspondent.  

A week ago, Jayyab and his brother ventured to a market in Rafah to purchase food supplies.

In a video captured by Jayyab, you can see just how close the shelling is to civilians.

According to Jayyab, Israel was targeting a UNRWA school that had become a refuge for hundreds, if not thousands, of families. Amidst the chaos, people were still attempting to buy their supplies in the market.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Saturday that the border area known as the "Philadelphi Corridor" or as known in Egypt “Salahudin Corridor” between Gaza and Egypt should be under Israeli control.

"The Philadelphi Corridor, or more precisely, the southern checkpoint (in Gaza), must be under our control. It must be closed. Any other alternative arrangement will not ensure the disarmament we are seeking." Netanyahu emphasized this in his weekly press conference following his cabinet meeting.

Expressing his belief that Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza and other regions would persist for several more months, Bibi with a face botched with a makeup that failed to hide the impact of the war he launched on his health spoke about his plan concerning the Philadelphia Corridor despite Egypt’s warnings.

In October, Egypt issued a warning to Israel against conducting any military operations within the 100-metre-wide corridor, a region governed by the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979.

Last week the Egyptian informed sources denied that the Israeli army was operating in the Philadelphia Corridor according to Israeli media reports.

The week before, Israeli TV channel KAN reported that Egypt rejected a suggestion from Israel to deploy a joint security a joint Egyptian Israeli force on the Philadelphi axis near the border with the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian state is not stupid to be dragged to the fight.

Happy New Year 2024

I am angry and frustrated.

I find myself feeling angry and frustrated because I’ve come to realize that this world once again does not really care for us truly as Arabs and Mideasterners as well as Muslims.

A baby survived an Israeli shelling in Gaza by Belal Khaled

What has been happening for over 85 days did not only change me, it changed all of us. Generations of Arabs and Muslims especially young ones who still had hope in this world, were let down.

South Africa has made history by being the first country to bring Israel, a state often criticized for disregarding numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 

The case is about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and it is going to kick off next week inshallah.

On Wednesday the ICJ announced that it will hold public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measure submitted by South Africa in the African country’s case vs. Israel on 11 and 12 January.

South Africa has filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide concerning Palestinians in Gaza.

As per a statement from the South African Presidency, the government decided in a special meeting on 8 December to approach the ICJ, also known as The Hague, to seek an order directing Israel to abstain from any actions that could be classified as genocide or a related crime under the aforementioned Convention.

Merry Christmas to all those Celebrating Christmas on 7 January eve around the world above them in Egypt and a very Merry Christmas to the Christians celebrating it in Gaza and the Armenian quarter in East Jerusalem.

You might not be aware, but the Saint Porphyrios Orthodox Church in Gaza recently held a Christmas mass. The service was attended by the remaining Palestinian Christians who could participate, sending a powerful message of resilience.

The third oldest Church in the world still stands high in the old Gaza district mostly destroyed by the Israeli shelling.

This post was intended to be published on the first day of the year, but with the numerous events unfolding in Gaza, Sudan, and Egypt, it became challenging to maintain the schedule.

The Palestinian children have been paying the price of this war more than once.

Displaced Palestinian children at a displaced refugees camp  in Gaza's Deir El-Balah by Majdi Fathi on Saturday

According to the latest reports, the death toll in Gaza stands at 22,430 people, which includes 9,730 children and 6,830 women.

This count does not include at least 7,000 missing individuals.

Additionally, more than 57,600 people have been reported injured.

According to UNICEF, over 9,000 children have suffered injuries in the Gaza Strip.

 It also added that in just one week starting December 17, the number of diarrhea cases in children under five years of age surged from 48,000 to 71,000.

This equates to an alarming 3,200 new cases per day. The rapid escalation in such a short period strongly suggests a swift deterioration of child health in the Gaza Strip.

Local estimates indicate that nearly 1,000 Palestinian children underwent limb amputations without anaesthesia or painkillers. 

Two Palestinians, including a boy with amputated legs, are at Shahuda Al-Aqsa Hospital, as documented in November by award-winning photographer Majdi Fathi

Every ten minutes a child is killed and more than 10 children lose one or both of their legs in Gaza.

I had to share with you those facts at first.

So what do the children in Gaza wish for in the new year/Christmas? Spoiler: It's not much but it seems hard to achieve now.

Here is a Happy New Year message from Gaza by Lama Jamous, the youngest war correspondent in Palestine.

Sunday marked the 100th day since the start of Israel’s bloodiest war on Gaza. Yes, we are on day 103 but it feels like 102 years for Palestinians in Gaza as well as many Arabs across the world.

Now we have the following numbers that speak alone about what has been achieved so far. These numbers I noticed did not make it to global mainstream media as usual. 

Reports speaking about the Israeli war as one of the most destructive in recent history do not make it to TV despite they are reports made by news agencies like AP.

In Gaza, children carry their baby siblings to the grave

US President Joe Biden issued a statement for this occasion, but it was only about the Israeli captives ignoring the fact that over 23,000 human beings were killed.

There were 23,843 Palestinians killed in those hundred days. 

That number represents those who reached the hospitals including 10,400 children and 7,100 women.

A little child was killed at one of the hospitals in Gaza on day 100  by Hamdan Dahdouh

There are 30,843 missing people including those who are still under the rubble.

On Thursday, the news came from Gaza to the world. The Israeli shelling killed Mohamed El-Dora’s brother.

Gamal El-Dora said farewell on Friday to his son Ahmed El-Dora who was killed the day before by Israeli shelling in Al-Buriej camp

In case you do not know who Mohamed El-Dora was or you forgot who he was here is a short reminder of yet another war crime committed by the world’s most moral army.

In 2000, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a civilian man and his son killing the 12-year-old boy despite the pleas of his father at Salah El-Din Street in middle Gaza during the second intifada. 

The iconic shot that has been etched into Arab memory and  shaped a whole generation, my generation

The whole incident which took place for 26 minutes was caught on camera by the AFP photographer and videographer Talal Abu Rahma.

The video turned Mohamed El-Dora, a father of ten children into an iconic martyr symbol of the second intifada as well as the child martyr of Palestine. The scream of his father, Gamal when he knew that his son was killed “The boy is dead” turned the Arab world upside down.

On Thursday, Gamal El-Dora tragically lost another son, Ahmed, who was killed along with 21 others in an Israeli army shelling that targeted the Bureij Refugee Camp.

I do not feel that I have the luxury to write another nostalgic post or another political post about the #Jan25 Revolution. Aside from the fact I already believe that the real revolution started on 28 January, not 25 January; I feel there is nothing more to be said especially now. I feel angry, frustrated and sad.

In the spirit of the 25 January revolution, I continue to write about Gaza and the ongoing Israeli genocide killing everything living in that open-air prison while the world is still watching and doing nothing for 111 days now. Maybe something will change inshallah.

On this occasion, I would like to share with you this photo taken on 8 February 2011 at 10 AM by the late Pierre Sioufi’s famous balcony overlooking Tahrir Square during that 18-day sit-in.

"Gaza is in the heart of Egypt" at Cairo's Tahrir Square on 8 February 2011 by Pierre Sioufi

Yes, Gaza is in the heart of Egypt despite all that happened, is happening and will happen.

The Israeli officials are doing what they had been doing best besides killing and occupying other people’s territories, they are spinning the truth and once again the Western media spread the Israeli version of the events in a way the Pravda in the Soviet era would be proud of.

The Israeli officials went into Western media in the past 48 hours claiming that the ICJ threw out South Africa's attempts to get an immediate stop to the war and it did not demand Israel to stop its military operation against Hamas.

Actually, what happened is the opposite somehow.

The ICJ rejected the Israeli claim that it was acting in self-defence and that it had no jurisdiction, in this case, accepting the case of South and ordered Israel to take measures to prevent a potentially ongoing genocide.

“The ICJ treated with contempt the argument from Israel that the case should be dismissed as it is exercising its right of self-defence. This argument took up over half of Israel’s pleadings. Not only did the court find a plausible case of genocide, the court only mentioned self-defence once in its interim ruling” former UK Ambassador and human rights activist Craig Murray said on his blog on Sunday.

Murray pointed out that unlike most of the EU and the United States, the ICJ did not affirm Israel's right to self-defence. This was only mentioned once in the court's defence, under the pretext that this is what the Israeli government claimed in its defence. 

Furthermore, according to Murray, the ICJ's order delved into far more detail about the evidence of genocide than was necessary.

"Do you want to witness a war crime?" asked a Palestinian man to the young aspiring TV journalist seeking a story with a different humane angle in Northern Gaza during a brief truce in late November between the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas.

"Go to Al-Nasr hospital," the man, walking with his wife, directed Mohammed Baalousha on that morning in late November.

On the morning of November 27, Baalousha who was employed by a newly launched Dubai-based TV channel ventured into the streets of North Gaza. The objective of this daring endeavour was to document the lifeless bodies of Palestinian civilians left in the streets during the truce.

These individuals had been killed by the Israeli army and their remains were left in the open, serving as further evidence of war crimes.

However, nothing could have prepared Baalousha for the sights he was about to witness and capture on his iPhone within the confines of the deserted children’s hospital.

What he filmed on that morning would be among the main examples South Africa would use in its lawsuit in front of the International Justice Court against Israel demanding a cease of military operations in Gaza immediately. "FYI, I started working on this post before the hearings"

Once upon a time, two children's hospitals became one

Situated approximately six kilometres south of the Israeli border in the Al-Nasr neighbourhood, El-Nasr Hospital was established in 1961 and transitioned into a children's hospital in 1973.

Al-Nasr Hospital of Gaza in the year 1978 during the Israeli occupation  "Ahmed Saad Sharab Archives"

In 2019, it became part of the Al-Nasr Medical Complex, including an eye hospital and psychiatric hospital, sharing a block with Al-Rantisi Children's Cancer Hospital. 

Zoom in to see the map showing the three hospitals in Gaza that formed a complete medical complex

The eye hospital, psychiatric hospital and Al-Rantisi Children's Cancer Hospital were considered the first of their kind in Gaza. 

Many Palestinians, as well as Arabs, have been asking themselves for nearly five days now: where is little Hind Hamada?

Hind Hamada is a 6-year-old girl from Gaza.

Her mother let her go with her uncle’s family to seek supposed safety after the Israeli army issued a warning on Monday that it would target West Gaza and that Palestinian residents should head to Deir El-Balah.

But there was no safety on their way.

Hind went with her 44-year-old uncle, Bashar Hamada, and his 43-year-old wife, Anam, along with her four cousins, including 15-year-old Layan, 13-year-old Sana, 12-year-old Mohamed, and 4-year-old Sarah.

They were driving a black Kia Picanto, and imagining all those people in this small car made me feel more stressed.

While they were allegedly heading for safety, the Israeli army’s tank opened fire.

Only Layan and Hind survived but were injured.

To get help, bleeding Layan called her uncle Mohamed Salem Hamada, who lives in Germany’s Frankfurt.

From Germany, her uncle Mohamed called the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in the West to start a saga that would suit a Netflix horror thriller, but unfortunately, it is not fiction. It is real life in Gaza.

On January 31st, Haaretz, an Israeli publication, released an investigative report uncovering how a local ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteer group exploited the tragedy of the October 7th attack for financial gain.

This group, which led the efforts to collect the bodies of the Israelis killed in the attack, propagated false and horrifying narratives about the events of that day. These fabrications have been used to justify one of the most egregious genocides of the 21st century thus far.

Despite the credibility of Haaretz's findings, which have not been refuted but rather corroborated by other Israeli media outlets, no mainstream Western media organization has deemed it newsworthy to share this information.

The organization in question is Zaka, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish non-governmental organization entrusted with handling unnatural deaths in Israel. Its primary function is to collect bodies, body parts, and blood and ensure their burial according to Jewish religious law.

Following the October 7th attack, Zaka was involved in a poorly executed operation to gather the victims' remains, according to reports from the renowned Israeli leftist newspaper. However, this is merely the surface of the issue.

According to Haaretz, Zaka and its head of operations in South Israel, Yossi Landeau as well as Israeli army officials spread unsubstantiated claims of atrocities committed against Israeli citizens, particularly children and the elderly. 

These claims were presented during tours of the affected settlements and reported by foreign media without verification. All those claims were made to gain donations worldwide according to the investigation.

Watch the official advisory opinion of Egypt at the International Court of Justice “ICJ” on Israeli violations in Palestine on Wednesday at the Hague

Egypt’s statement in the hearing is read by Dr Jasmine Moussa, the legal advisor in the office of Egypt’s Foreign Minister.

Along with the oral argument, Egypt submitted two written memoranda to the court concerning Israel's violations since 1967.

This post was originally intended for Valentine’s Day, as a reminder to a world celebrating love that love also exists in Gaza. 

The idea began as a plan to share a glimpse of Gaza before the war, during Valentine’s Day, when gift shops celebrate the occasion despite the city’s conservative nature and the presence of “Khamas”.

The "Love" heart cushion survives after all in a destroyed house in Gaza by Duaa Tuaima

I then decided to share the pleas of those lovers who lost their significant others in the war.

Last week, photos and videos have emerged of a young couple who married while living in a displacement, offering a glimmer of hope and changing the course of this post yet again.

Palestinian newlywed Shaima Qazeet and Mahmoud Akhiziq inside a Deir Al-Balah displacement camp by photographer Majdi Fathi

Their names are Mahmoud and Shaima.They were engaged and had already conducted a marriage contract ceremony before October.

This is the first true Egypt-centric post after weeks of covering the Gaza war. “I will continue covering this war, this post is exceptional.”

In case you do not know the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee “MPC”, in an extraordinary meeting, decided on Wednesday to increase the deposit and lending rates for overnight and the main operation rate of the Central Bank by 600 basis points, reaching 27.25 %, 28.25 %, and 27.75%, respectively.

Additionally, credit and discount rates were raised by 600 basis points to reach 27.75 %.

As a result of this decision, the Egyptian pound experienced a significant drop on Wednesday, declining by 6.2 % to approximately LE 50.1 against the US dollar and LE 54.5 against the euro.

Following the announcement by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the Egyptian government revealed that it had signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extend the current $3 billion loan deal to $8 billion.

According to the officials, these measures “which are actually a main condition to get the IMF loan” are needed to curb the inflation and the foreign currency black market as we used to have two US dollar prices.

Today marks International Women’s Day and the world celebrates it superficially under slogans of “empowerment” and “gender equality” while women suffer all over the world in one way or another.

It is not really a “happy International Women’s Day” in Gaza “nor in Sudan or Congo or in Syria too FYI”

The following are facts the world is ignoring actually why it is a sad International Women's Day.

• At least 9,000 women have been killed, and many more are under the rubble.
• On average, 63 women are killed in Gaza per day - 37 are mothers who leave their families behind.
• In North Gaza where there is ongoing famine, 95% of pregnant and breastfeeding women face severe food poverty.
• Nearly 9 in 10 women find it harder to access food than money.
• 4 in 5 women indicated that at least one of their family members had to skip meals in the past weeks.
• 95% of the mothers in North Gaza are going without food.
• More than 690,000 menstruating women and girls currently have no privacy and limited access to menstrual hygiene supplies.
• There are approximately 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza who are at risk of malnutrition.
• Abortion without any medical care follow-up skyrocketed in Gaza by 300%

The source of this info is the UN agencies.

I do not know how I missed this, but you must watch the official advisory opinion of the League of Arab States “LAS” at the International Court of Justice “ICJ” on Israeli violations in Palestine earlier this month at the Hague.

If you like the official advisory opinion of Egypt then you will be amazed at what international law veteran expert and professor Ralph Wilde said.

LAS is among 52 countries and 3 international organizations the United Nations General Assembly requested from the ICJ their advisory opinion regarding the legal consequences of the Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem in 2022.

Wilde spoke about the right of self-determination and how for over 70 years the Palestinians have not enjoyed it like the rest of the peoples in the world.

This violation of Palestinian self-determination is ongoing, and unresolved. Two key elements are: First, Palestinian people not displaced from the land proclaimed to be of Israel in 1948, and their descendants, have been forced to live as citizens— presently they constitute 17.2 per cent — of a State conceived to be of and for another racial group, under the domination of that group, necessarily treated as second class, because of their race.

Second, Palestinian people displaced from that land, and their descendants, cannot return.

These are serious breaches of the right of self-determination, the prohibitions of racial discrimination and apartheid, and the right of return. They must end, immediately.

Many people were disappointed and shocked that LAS chose a non-Arab to represent it in front of the ICJ but honestly, Ralph Wilde made an argument to remember.

It is not about Arab or non-Arab at this time.

One must admit we did not expect the LAS’ argument would be that strong because LAS is truly a dead useless organization when you think about it.

First, Ramadan Kareem

Second, I cannot post the usual Ramadan 1001 Arabian Audio Nights as I have done in the past years and there are two genocides taken on Egypt’s borders whether in Gaza or in Sudan.

1001 Arabian Audio Nights are another Egyptian entertainment tradition to celebrate the Holy Month, but it is not time to celebrate and entertain when millions of people including Arabs and Muslims are displaced and starving by the worst kind of armies and militias in both nations as the world especially our shameful Arab world is just a spectator.

Ramadan decorations in an Egyptian alley in a Giza working-class area The Palestinian flag "Muhammed Hamdy"

There is another Egyptian tradition that we have been taught since childhood, do not raise the sound of music or hold any festivities if your neighbour has lost someone and is in mourning. I was taught that lesson personally by my own grandma may Allah bless her soul. 

Two of our closest neighbours are not only mourning but they are also displaced, starved and killed.

We can’t enter the aid and we can’t stop the genocides yet the least thing we can do to them is to lower the TVs and radios. 

This is what I believe and honestly, I have no appetite whatsoever to watch any TV series or gossip show in that TV Ramadan marathon.

FYI: I had hopes for the truce and even prepared something if the truce was made but then Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu does not want a truce or any ceasefire because he knows it is his end for real.

Third, despite there will be no 1001 Arabian Audio Nights this year, there are other important things to share that it is timely. 

From Alexandria by Ahmed Emad

For instance: This post shows you how working-class and rural Egypt celebrated Palestine and Gaza during Ramadan.

“I will shock you, ask me what is the price of this huge red lantern?” The old vendor at Al-Sayeda Zeinab Ramadan Makeshift market told me.

“Shock me” I replied.

That huge big handmade lantern made of cloth is sold for LE 4,000

“It is sold for LE 4,000,” he told me.

This is the price of the largest size of the Egyptian handmade traditional lantern whether made by cloth like the one above or like the traditional glass and tin.

Usually, those sizes are sold to restaurants, companies, embassies and shops as well as exported to other Arab countries.

Ramadan Kareem again

This post is not your usual Ramadan celebratory post celebrating Egypt’s traditional Ramadan lanterns and markets because it comes at a time of economic crisis.

Lanterns sold in front of El-Sayeda Zeinab Mosque in Cairo

Although there has been a ban on imported lanterns since 2015 “I think the ban was older than that” which made the Egyptian traditional lanterns not only survive but also regain their power regionally, the prices of the lanterns went up by 20%-40% compared to the last year.

So, I am sharing this new documentary released and produced by Al-Jazeera Documentary “Stern: The Man, the Gang and the State”

Directed by Egyptian documentary filmmaker Hossam Serhan, this is a highly and timely documentary about one of the founding fathers of Israel and its army.

The documentary is about Avraham Stern and his Zionist militia “Lehi”.

Lehi and its members above them Stern were officially recognized as terrorists by the British occupation.

We are in the last tenth days of Ramadan and here we are with the video I filmed before the Holy Month would start from El-Sayeda Zeinab Ramadan Market or as Western Muslims prefer to call it “Ramadan Bazaar”. I prefer the word “Souk” or “Market” instead of bazaar.

Ramadan Lanterns for sale in Cairo's Bab El-Khalk

That market stretched from Bab El-Khalk to the great Cairo’s Bab Zuwaila.

Ramadan Lanterns for sale in Cairo's Bab El-Khalk

Today marks the 54^th anniversary of the horrifying Israeli bombing of Bahr El-Baqar school in Egypt’s Sharkia governorate where over 40 people were killed including 30 children and over 40 others were injured in an attack that left its mark in the collective Egyptian mind till now.

On Wednesday 8 April 1970 at 9:20 am, Israeli Air Force F4 Phantom II bombed a single-floor school made of three classrooms and a Land Reclamation Authority workshop with Five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles.

Out of 150 students, 30 were killed right away and over 50 were injured. The attack also killed 11 civilian men who were working in the workshop that was beside the school. 

I wrote about the Bahr El-Baqar massacre on its 50th anniversary but this year the anniversary comes in time of the Gaza war. It hit a cord.

A doctor helping an Egyptian pupil from the injured who suffered from burns due to the Israeli airstrike at El-Husseina Hospital  "Bettmann Archives/Getty Images"

It is like the worst rewind for what happened 54 years ago but on a mega-scale. We are seeing children suffering from burns all over their bodies in 4k instead of black and white photos.

This year I saw Al-Ahram archives photos of Bahr El-Baqar school injured children suffering burns in the same position as the Palestinian children 54 years later in Gaza.

An injured Egyptian pupil who survived an Israeli airstrike sleeping  at El-Husseina Hospital  "Al-Ahram Archives"

Happy Eid El-Fitr to the dear readers of the Egyptian Chronicles around the globe especially those who are observing.

A very special Happy Eid El-Fitr to the people of Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Despite the death and destruction, Palestinians are endeavouring to celebrate Eid El-Fitr as best they can.

A Palestinian woman with her Eid Kahk aka cookies by  Majdi Fathi in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip April 8, 2024

Women and children have gathered to make Eid cookies or Kahk, which differs from ours, despite being at the Internal Displacement Camps (IDC), using mud ovens like their ancestors did in 1948.

I read that in Palestinian Rafah, where a million and a half Palestinians have taken refuge, there are two hairdressers with queues of women and children since early Tuesday.

I see videos on Instagram of men having their hair cut in makeshift barbershops inside the tents.