Solidarity Speaks! (No. 11)
We joined together on Wednesday, December 20th of 2023 for Solidarity Speaks, the eleventh and final session of our emergency webinar series giving people around the world a forum to hear directly from Palestinian human rights defenders calling for an permanent ceasefire, a release of all the hostages, and an end to collective punishment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Christmas festivities were literally canceled in Palestine. Palestinian Christian leaders decided not to proceed with the annual festivities in Bethlehem in solidarity with the people of Gaza. There were no public celebrations, no shimmering Christmas trees, and the nativity scene in one church depicted the infant Jesus laying in the rubble.
We joined the week before Christmas with Omar Haramy of Sabeel, the ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem, to discuss how they draw on Christmas narratives and teachings as a source of resilience in the face of military occupation and strive to develop a spiritual practice that centers the sanctity of the marginalized. We were honored to have him join to share words of hope and peace as we approached Christmas, the new year, and what we prayed would be better days.
This recording of the webinar is free and open to the public, but you can become a member or contribute at the following link to sustain the Green Olive Collective and our work to challenge the violence of occupation and advocate for a democratic future.
