BURLINGAME – The war in Gaza is changing the way people observe holidays in the Middle East. There is an immense sense of pain and loss.
Christian Palestinians in the Bay Area are struggling to celebrate as Christmas approaches.
Yasmine Rafidi, her husband and their children were visiting her parents in the West Bank on October 7 and realized they had to leave quickly.
“At that point, they told them they wouldn’t let them pass,” Rafidi said.
They drove east to the Jordanian border, knowing it would be safer, but knew his parents without U.S. passports would face a different situation.
“I just wanted my children’s safety, so I took them of course, without thinking twice. I will cross (the border). But that also meant saying goodbye to my parents,” Rafidi said.
Choking back tears, the Burlingame resident feared her parents would return to a Palestinian town that could become a war zone like Gaza overnight.
“He said goodbye to me and hugged us all. They turned back and left for Ramallah,” Rafidi said.
As Israeli airstrikes intensify after a brief ceasefire, Rafidi, like so many others, tries to get news from his loved ones.
Rafidi is Christian, but is not decorating the trees in her yard this year.
A cousin leaves a message explaining that Palestinians in Bethlehem do not celebrate Christmas in the same way.
Lights and decorations are noticeably absent. A baby Jesus rests in the rubble of a church in Bethlehem.
“This is what Christmas looks like in Palestine, with the occupation, with the destruction, with the bombing of children. While the world celebrates, our children are under the rubble. While the world celebrates, our families are displaced and their homes are destroyed. “So it’s Christmas for us in Palestine,” said Pastor Munther Isaac.
“A lot of children, men and women are being massacred and we are celebrating this? This is not right,” Rafidi said.
His family has already lost friends and loved ones.
“The idea that they were hiding in the church thinking it was safe. They’re all gone. A father and some of his children, his sister and his brother. It’s sad,” he said. said Rafidi.
At a time of celebration around the world, Yasmine desperately tries to maintain hope, even as so many of her people face death and total darkness.
“Where are they going? Where?” Rafidi asked.
Rafidi was eventually reunited with his parents, who today remain in Jordan.
