A church in Bethlehem has created a nativity scene resembling the situation in war-torn Gaza, as Christmas this year approaches amid brutal Israeli onslaught on the besieged enclave.
The nativity scene at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church shows a toy baby wrapped in the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh and placed in debris and rubble.
While the keffiyeh symbolizes Palestinian identity, history, and struggle, the debris represents destruction in Gaza, where over 16,000 people have been martyred by Israeli indiscriminate war, most of them children and women.
The toy baby, symbolizing Prophet Issa (Jesus), is believed to represent the thousands of children buried beneath the rubble in Gaza.
“Church families met last week and built it together. It was a moving experience for our families. During the service on Sunday, some people were in tears,” Reverend Doctor Munther Isaac, the church’s pastor, told The New Arab on Tuesday.
Bethlehem is believed to be the birthplace of Prophet Issa (AS). Thousands usually flock to the West Bank city every year on Christmas to celebrate his birth anniversary.
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